REWARDS WRITING:

1
REWARDS WRITING

• Sentence Refinement

2

• Anita Archer, Ph.D.
• Mary Gleason, Ph.D.
• Steve Isaacson, Ph.D.
• Published by Sopris West
• Go to www.rewardsreading.com or
• www.sopriswest.com

3
REWARDS WRITINGSentence Refinement

• Multi-module writing program
• Intermediate and Secondary Students
• Modules on
• Sentence Refinement
• Informational Writing
• Persuasive Writing
• and other genres
• Procedures consistent with Writing Next (Graham
  Perin, 2007)

4
REWARDS WRITINGSentence Refinement

• Sentence Refinement
• Supplementary program
• 75 mini-lessons
• 20 to 30 minutes a day

5
REWARDS WRITINGSentence Refinement

• Goals
• Students will be assisted in
• 1. selecting more precise, interesting words,
  (Word choice)
• 2. improving the quality, sophistication, and
  variety of their sentences, and
• (Sentence Fluency)
• 3. editing sentences and paragraphs.

6
(No Transcript)
7
REWARDS WRITINGSentence Refinement (Paragraph
of 6th grader)

• My father and I wanted to go fishing. We went to
  the campgrounds. We put up a tent. We put out our
  sleeping bags. We set up a camp kitchen. Then we
  went fishing. We fished every day. I caught 11
  trout. My father caught 24 trout. It was a good
  trip.
• Little variety in sentence length or complexity,
  good deal of repetition, limited word choice.

8
REWARDS WRITINGSentence Refinement (Desired
outcome)

• For several years, my father and I had dreamed
  of fishing together. In August, we traveled to
  the Cascade Mountains to fulfill our dream. My
  father reserved a campsite at a beautiful,
  secluded lake. When we arrived at our spot, we
  quickly assembled a small pup tent, spread out
  our warm down sleeping bags, and fashioned a
  temporary outdoor kitchen. When we finished
  creating our camp, we headed for the lake with
  our sturdy fishing poles. By the end of the week,
  I caught 11 humongous trout by using marshmallows
  for bait. My father is an experienced fisherman,
  so he caught 24 trout that week. The highlights
  of the trip were spending a whole week in the
  mountains with my father and catching my first
  trout.
• Better word choice, additional information,
  sentences combined, more sophisticated
  sentences.

9
REWARDS WRITINGSentence Refinement

• Three major strands
• 1. Sharpening Your Word Choices
• 2. Polishing Your Sentences
• 3. Editing Your Paragraph

10

• See the Tour of Book page.

11
REWARDS WRITINGSharpening Your Word Choices

• Goal--
• Students will
• select more precise words,
• move away from overused words, and
• match subjects and verbs.

12
REWARDS WRITINGSharpening Your Word Choices

• Students select words that are more precise,
  grammatically correct, and more interesting by
  using the Word Choice Help Book.
• He walked into the big building.
• He wandered into an enormous department store.

13
REWARDS WRITINGSharpening Your Word Choices

• Students edit sentences by replacing common,
  overused adjectives.
• nice, big, bad, pretty, hot, little, smart, cold,
  good, happy, terrible, funny, dirty, wonderful,
  scared, sad, old, clean, mean, hard

14
REWARDS WRITINGSharpening Your Word Choices

• Students edit sentences by replacing common,
  overused verbs.
• made, liked, walked, ran, ate, took, grew, got,
  went, saw, knew, used, gave, let, said, had,
  lived, talked, found, stayed, wanted, put,
  helped, build, thought

15
REWARDS WRITINGSharpening Your Word Choices

• Students will also
• replace general nouns with specific nouns
  (building vs. department store) and
• check subject-verb agreement.

16
REWARDS WRITINGSharpening Your Word Choices

• See examples.

17
REWARDS WRITINGPolishing your Sentences

• Goal --
• Students will polish sentences
• by combining ideas into one sentence
• OR
• by expanding sentences through answering
  questions such as when, where, why, and how.

18
REWARDS WRITINGPolishing Your Sentences

• Sentence-Combining Activities
• Recommended in Writing Next
• (Graham Perin, 2007)
• Have positive effect on students writing
• (Evans, Venotozzi, Bundrick, McWilliams, 1988
  Howie, 1979 Kanellas, Carifio Dagostino, 1998
  Pedersen, 1977 Saddler Graham, 2005 Stoddard,
  1982)

19
REWARDS WRITINGPolishing Your Sentences

• Sentence-Combining Activities
• Students start with a stem sentence and combine
  it with one to four other sentences.
• Try out the following items with your partner.

20
REWARDS WRITINGPolishing Your Sentences

• Start Linda grabbed a seat.
• Add Bobby grabbed a seat.
• Add The seats were adjoining.
• Add The seats were on the bus.
• Add The bus was crowded.
• Create

21
REWARDS WRITINGPolishing Your Sentences

• Start As the cubs grow fur, they spend periods
  of time outside the den.
• Add The fur is thicker.
• Add The periods of time are short.
• Add The den is warm.
• Add The den is protective.
• Create

22
REWARDS WRITINGPolishing Your Sentences

• Start Jared will finish shopping for school
  supplies.
• Add He will shop this afternoon.
• Add He will shop at the mall.
• Create

23
REWARDS WRITINGPolishing Your Sentences

• Start Everyone ate birthday cake.
• Add The birthday cake was chocolate.
• Add Everyone ate vanilla ice cream.
• Add Everyone ate candy.
• Create

24
REWARDS WRITINGPolishing Your Sentences

• Start Porcupine caribou are large mammals.
• Add Porcupine caribou are hoofed mammals.
• Add They live in northern Canada.
• Add They live in eastern Alaska.
• (Use that to make one sentence.)
• Create

25
REWARDS WRITINGPolishing Your Sentences

• See examples.

26
(No Transcript)
27
REWARDS WRITINGEditing your Paragraph

• Goal -- Students will edit paragraphs by using a
  strategy called SCORE.
• Sense (sounds good)
• Combining ideas
• Omitting unnecessary words or sentences
• Replacing overused words, less precise words, or
  grammatically incorrect words
• Expanding sentences through questions such as
  when, where, why, and how

28
REWARDS WRITINGEditing Your Paragraph

• Revising The writer focuses on the big picture
  by asking questions such as Did I include all
  the necessary information or arguments? Is my
  product well-organized? Do I need to move or
  delete any sections of my product?
• Editing The writer focuses on the quality of the
  sentences.
• Proofreading The writer carefully checks the
  conventions, including punctuation, spelling, and
  capitalization.

29
REWARDS WRITINGEditing Your Paragraph - SCORE
Strategy

• S Sound good? (Does your paragraph sound good?
  Do your sentences sound good?)
• C Combine? (Could you combine sentences into
  one sentence so that the paragraph is more
  interesting and has fewer repeated words?)
• O Omit? (Could you omit words, phrases, or
  sentences because they dont go with the topic or
  add to the quality of your paragraph?)
• R Replace? (Could you replace overused words,
  less precise words, or grammatically incorrect
  words?)
• E Expand? (Could you create more complete,
  interesting sentences by answering some of the
  following questions in when, where why, and
  how?)

30
REWARDS WRITINGEditing Your Paragraph

• See examples.