Do you correct Story Starters?

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  • January 12, 2016 at 12:23 pm
    rutsgal
    Participant

    I started using story starters with my 4th grader . We have only done a few . I was wondering do you correct them? Should I go over any misspelled words or light punctuation errors ( capilization , periods at end of sentences etc . ) ?

    I watched Sonya’s video about how to do prepared dictation . The CM idea that you don’t want them to see the word spelled incorrectly has me thinking about misspelled words in a story starter.

    Should I just be looking at creativity and the ability to just write something??

    Suggestions? Thanks so much !!!

    Jamie

    January 12, 2016 at 9:34 pm
    Julie
    Participant

    Hi Jamie….I don’t have any answers 🙂 but would love to know if your 4th grader likes Story Starters? I have a 4th grader and have been thinking about picking it up and giving it a try.

    Julie

    January 13, 2016 at 5:02 am
    Raines
    Participant

    “The CM idea that you don’t want them to see the word spelled incorrectly has me thinking about misspelled words in a story starter.”

    Yes, I would definitely correct the spelling.  My son, age 8, writes stories on his own and even though I hate to do it, I correct the spelling as gently and as encouragingly as I can.  His spelling was good, but it is definitely improving.  He is learning the grammar as it comes up, but I am more lenient on that.

    For formal instruction, we use Spelling Wisdom and Using Language Well and they both are wonderful.

    We have Story Starters but have not begun using the book yet, so feel free to take my advice with a grain of salt.

    Rachel

     

     

    January 13, 2016 at 3:30 pm
    sarah2106
    Participant

    I come from a different thought.
    i do not correct spelling, but I do tell my DD I am going to check something specific like using correct capitalization or punctuation. I will some times remind her I want all the simple words like “they” “our”… to be spelled correctly. She can get going fast and spell the simple words incorrectly even though she knows. It is about encouraging her to slow down and take her time.

    For early writing I do not want to squash the joy of writing by marking up their pages showing errors. I select one thing to focus on for a few weeks, then move onto something else. I also ask her to read it before handing it to me to see if it sounds correct and feel free to ask questions if unsure.

    Oh, my oldest is in 4th and both my older kids really enjoy writing right now.

    January 13, 2016 at 5:51 pm
    rutsgal
    Participant

    Hi ladies !

    Thanks for your responses !

    Julie  to answer your question – yes my son loves story starters. He enjoys being creative and  deciding how the story will end.  It is flexible and in the front of the book it discusses different ways to use the book. For example you could just use the picture as a prompt and have them write something based on the pictures ( not reading the beginning of the story ) or for younger ones they could narrate  a story to you based upon what is happening in the picture  (to build their oral narration skills). So far it’s  a win for us and we will continue to use it . I just wasn’t sure about whether or not to let errors slide for the sake of creative writing or correct them.

    Rachel – Thanks for your input ! Yes, I definitely do not want to overwhelm him with too many things to focus on or fix . I need to remember 1 thing at a time and to be gentle about it. I don’t want to take the joy out of this whole process  🙂

    Sarah – What a great idea !! I never thought of having him read it to himself to spot check it or see if things sounded ok. I will start doing that for sure .

    Thanks again ladies !!

    Jamie

     

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