60-day returns • free shipping on USA orders $129+
Dictation question
- This topic has 5 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 1 month ago by
.
Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
- Posts
I am new to CM method and just starting ELTL with my fifth grader- im not clear if i should be reading the excerpt aloud to her for dictation or if she’s just supposed to write it out from memory?? That seems like a lot of lines to remember after studying it for 10 minutes
No, they don’t have to memorize it. You dictate to them in manageable chunks. We set a timer for 10 minutes and just do as much of the passage as we can in that amount of time since some of the passages in Spelling Wisdom are really long. 10 minutes seems to be right at the edge of what my 11 year can handle, so it pushes him a bit, but also he knows that it won’t go on indefinitely.
Also with dictation, there should only be a few new words for the student. So taking the time to study won’t be studying every word, it should only be a few words. My DD (5th grade) usually has 3-4 new words that take time to study. The rest are more commonly used words or words that she came across and learned in previous lessons (I really like SW for this!).
After the student studies the passage, then you dictate a few words at a time as the student writes down what you are saying. Currently our diction passages take less than 5 minutes (using SW) but know later in the year they will grow in length, so likely I will either set a timer, or just a mental “cut off” point so that I don’t get going too long.
Sonya posted a great video blog post about how dictation works, why it works and how to do it with the student, here on the SCM forum.
Found it 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGqakdjcS_U&feature=youtu.be
Just wondering about punctuation of the prepared passage. Do they need to remember this too or is it prompted?
I remind them to look at the punctuation as they study the passage. They make corrections of anything they miss, but I don’t usually make a big deal of it…they usually get it all correct or at most miss a comma. I don’t prompt anything as I read, but commas or semi-colons tend to be natural places to pause as I read, so it gives them a bit of a hint.
Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
- The topic ‘Dictation question’ is closed to new replies.