When it comes to learning to read and write, copy work and dictation activities offer students the terrific opportunity to practice newly introduced material and to review previously taught information. Incorporate this activity into your weekly lessons for Hatchling, Volume 1 for Kindergarten, Hatchling, Volume 2 for 1st Grade, and Earlybird for 2nd Grade.
Copy Work places the focus on what the student actually sees. Copy work always begins with reading, decoding what is on the page before picking up the pencil to write.
Dictation places the focus on what the student hears. Listening carefully to the phonemes (sounds) being spoken, tying to encode (write) what is heard to using graphemes (symbol) on the page is no small task! But utilizing both newly taught information, while simultaneously reviewing previously taught information will help students to move toward mastery.
So how is this accomplished? At first the exercises are limited to tools available to the student. This silly sentence is for review only, utilizing short vowels, sight words the, on and to, plus consonant blends sw, tr, fr, and cl is just right for a student during the middle of Kindergarten:
Can the dog swim on the trip to the frog club?
This silly sentence reviews short vowels, blends, digraph, utilizes sight words: the, a, and to plus utilizes new material long vowel pattern a_e. Utilize a sentence like this for students at the beginning of 1st Grade:
Can the dog bake you a cake to take to the lake for the trip to the twin’s ship club?
By the time students enter the 2nd grade, they will have been introduced to the whole gambit of phonics for reading and writing, will have learned to read and write a hefty collection of sight words, and will have practiced constructing all four types of sentences with Hatchling, Volume 1 and Hatchling, Volume 2. These students are ready to tackle passages from the books they are exploring.
Move from gentle:
“One winter morning Peter woke up and looked out the window. Snow had fallen during the night. It covered everything as far as he could see.” ~from The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
To more complex:
“They made such a noise that Michael came running, waving his arms and blowing his whistle. He planted himself in the center of the road, raised one hand to stop the traffic, and then beckoned with the other, the way policemen do, for Mrs. Mallard to cross over.” ~from Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
As students get older, progressing to CORE Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and beyond, passages from books are longer, words and phrasing becomes beautifully complex:
“His sympathy made tears spring to Lina’s eyes. Doon looked startled for a moment, and then he took a step toward her and wrapped his arms around her. He gave her a squeeze so quick and tight that it made her cough, and then it made her laugh. She realized all at once that Doon—thin, dark-eyed Doon with his troublesome temper and his terrible brown jacket and his good heart—was the person that she knew better than anyone now. He was her best friend.” ~from The City of Ember by
FIVE Tips to GUIDE the Exercise
ONE. Create a Copy work/Dictation Notebook. Pre-bound composition books work great as a space to house this work. Date each entry and skip lines between entries. Dedicate a single page for longer entries.
TWO Type up what is to be copied or dictated.
THREE. READ! For copy work, the student reads the sentence or passage aloud slowly before beginning to copy. For dictation, first read the sentence or passage as a whole. Next begin reading phrases slowly, encouraging the student to repeat when necessary. Having your student read aloud before beginning copywork, or repeating dictation when necessary will help to be present in the activity and to press what is being learned into memory.
FOUR. Don’t hover over the student! Don’t interupt with corrections during copy work or dictation. Letting mistakes happen will help you to assess what the student has actually mastered.
FIVE. When the copy work or dictation exercise is complete, ask the student to re-read what has been written. If there are no mistakes—Bravo! If there are mistakes point them out and have the student re-copy, mistake free. Remind them that mistakes are opportunities to learn.
Thomas Edison once said: “I have not failed one thousand times. I have successfully discovered one thousand ways to NOT make a light bulb.”
~Kimberly