VI. WORD WORK POSSIBILITIES IN 3RD DRAFT
Word work could include phonics (rhyming, consonants, vowel sounds ), structure (homophones, plurals).
These are some possibilities with the third draft:
A. Rhyming words
1. In the story:
Mike, like
2.Forming other rhyming words not in the story.
bike, hike,
3.Forming new sentences with learned words.
I like the bike.
I like to hike.
Mike likes to hike.
B. Consonant Sounds
1. There are two words in the story that begin with "m" : mother, Mike
2. Two words begin with "T" : to, too
The concept of homophones can be introduced here.
C.Long Vowel Sounds
"E" as in read
"I "as in I and MikeD. Adding 's'
like--likes
read- reads
book- books
VI. ADDING A FEW MORE WORDS TO THE STORY
A great way for children to learn reading is to participate in the writing of a story. They might be able to help in adding a few more words to the story.
Names are a good way of adding rhyming words.
If we added the last name of the child, we could also
include the mothers name as Mrs. --------. In this story, we could add a name, perhaps "Hill." ( If the 'girl' version of the story is used, with the name Jill perhaps the last name could be "Hood."Now we have Mike Hill, or perhaps Mike Hood, or Jill Hood. You might even use the name Hill for Jill.
The mother would be Mrs. Hill or Mrs. Hood.
Since there are quotations in the story, the word "said"
might be added as well.This would be the 4th draft of the story:
Mike Hill LIKES BOOKS
Mike Hill likes books.
Mike's mother, Mrs. Hill, likes books too.
Mrs. Hill likes to read books.
Mrs. Hill reads books to Mike too .
"Mike, I will read books to you," said Mrs. Hill.
I like to read the books to you,Mike.
"Good,good,good, mother," said Mike.
" I like the books you read."
" Mother, I will read the books too."
"I will read books to you."
" Good,Mike," said Mike's mother.
WORD COUNT : 77
WORDS USED: 15WORD LIST
1. books 10
2. good 4
3. Hill 6
4. I 5
5. like, 2 likes 4
6.Mike 9
7. mother 4
8.Mrs. 4
9.read, 6 reads 1
10. said 3
11. to 6
12. too 3
13. will 3
14.the 3
15. you 4VII. COMPREHENSION AND CRITICAL THINKING
There is no point in reading words without adequate text comprehension. Questions should be asked of the child who is reading to be sure he or she comprehends the story.
Questions which require some critical thinking is also helpful.
l. Who likes books? ( Mike and his mother)
2. Who reads to Mike? (Mike's mother, Mrs. Hill)
3.How does Mike feel about his mother reading to him? (Happy)
What word or sentence makes you believe that he is happy when she reads to him?(good) ( I like the books you read.")
4. Do you think that Mike knows how to read well yet? (no, he is learning.)
5. What makes you think that Mike does not read well yet-- that he is just beginning to learn to read? (If Mike already could read well, then there would not be a need for his mother to read to him)
5. What word makes you think Mike has the intention to read to his mother? (will)
*
PART II :CREATING A MORE ADVANCED STORY: LEVEL 2
( Part II is still under construction)
The new story will be realistic fiction on Level 2 .
Now to find a specific topic.
By the middle of first grade, many children have or will soon have a
Level 2 reading ability.
Perhaps the topic of WORK AND STUDY ATTITUDES might be of interest.
THINK ABOUT THE TOPIC!
When children “graduate” from kindergarten, they are taking their first step away from early childhood.
The work day is more formal, and academic subjects are introduced.
Many children would rather play than work.
Most adults feel the same way.
We all love recreation. However, we must all do what we must do.
Ah! I have an idea!
Two young siblings hate to work. They are in the early grades, and must tackle subjects such as reading and math. They only want to play. What must they learn about school and life in the real world?
They must learn:
LIKE IT OR NOT, DO WHAT YOU MUST DO.
(a level 2 story)
Great! I have a title.
STEP 1: THINK ABOUT CHARACTERS
I originally decided to write about two sisters, May and Fay Mills—simple names, best of all, the first names rhyme. My first draft is about these two little girls.
My final draft, however, is about a sister and a brother.
The children who will use the story are boys, as well as girls.
One more character will be the children’s mother, Mrs. Mills.
STEP II: THINK ABOUT A PLOT
What is going to happen in the story? Look at your title. (sometimes the title will come to you after a story is written).
The two little girls do not like to work in school. They prefer to play all the time.
Oh dear! That won't do!
They have to learn that life is not always a game. Who will teach them? In this story, their mother is the advisor.
STEP III: WRITE A SIMPLE TEXT
TRY TO KEEP THE WORDS SHORT AND SIMPLE. TRY TO REUSE WORDS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. (But remember—this is only your first draft
HERE IS MY FIRST DRAFT OF:
LIKE IT OR NOT, DO WHAT YOU MUST DO
Meet May Mills.
Meet May’s sister, Fay Mills.
Fay Mills is the little sister.
May Mills is the big sister.
May and Fay go to the same school.
May and Fay like to play in school.
So May and Fay like playtime most of all.
May and Fay Mills do not like to work in school.
“I only like to play in school,” says May Mills.
“I do not feel like working in school, at all.”
“I only like to be in school if I may play all the time.”
May’s little sister Fay feels the same .
“I only feel like playing in school, too, “ says Fay.
“I do not like to work in school at all.”
“I only like to be in school, if I may play all the time.”
Mrs. Mills is May and Fay’s mother.
Mrs. Mills says,
“You must work in school.
You must work in school to be smart.
Do you like to be smart?”
“Yes,” says May
“I do like to be smart.”
“I like to be smart, but I do not like to work , at all.”
“I only feel like playing .
“I only like to be in school, if I may play all the time.
May’s little sister Fay feels the same.
Fay says what May says.
“I do like to be smart, but I do not like to work at all.”
I like to play so much.
Fay and May’s mother says,
“You will not be so smart if you play all the time.”
“If you like to be smart, you must work too.
So, like it or not, you must do what you must do.
Work is what you must do in school.
“Will you do what you must do at school.?
“Will you do work?”
“Yes,” says May,
“I will if I must!”
“But I will not like it!”
“I will not like it at all.”
“I feel the same, “ says May’s little sister Fay.
“I will do the work, but I will not like it at all.!
“Hmmm,” says Mrs. Mills.
Fay and May, do you like to read stories in books?”
“Yes,” says May.
“I like to read stories in books, but only a little bit.”
“Yes,” says Fay, I feel the same.”
“I like to read stories in books, but only a little bit.
“Most of all, I like to read big, big books.”
“Hmmm,” says Mrs. Mills,
“So , you like reading in school a little bit.”
“Reading is work.”
“So, you like to work a little bit in school.”
“Yes, mother,” say Fay and May.
“Hmmm,” says Mrs. Mills,
“Do you like writing stories too?”
“Yes, I do, “ says Fay.
“I like writing stories, so much
“But I do not like doing math at all.”
“I do not like writing stories,” says Fay.
“But I like doing math, so much.”
“So,” says Mrs. Mills.
“You do like to read a little bit in school.
You like reading stories, a little bit.
Fay, you like writing stories so much,
but not doing math.
May, you like doing math so much, but
you do not like writing stories.”
“So you do like working a little bit in school.
“You do like working so much too.”
You do not ONLY like play time.”
“Yes, say May and Fay.
“But mother, “says May,
“Fay and I like playtime most of all.”
“If you go to school, you must do work,” says mother.
“You must do work or you will not be smart.
“And, You must go to school, like it or not.”
“You may like playtime most of all, but you may not
play all the time.”
Some work you do not like to do.
Some work you like only a little bit.
Some work you like so much."
“In school, you may only play sometimes, not all the time.
“You must do what you must do, like it or not.”
“Yes, mother,” says Fay
I like to be smart.
I like some work.
I do not like some work
But I must do all the work in school, like it or not.”
Fay says,
"I feel the same,” says Fay’s big sister May.
So, like it or not, I must do what I must do too.”
Now that the first draft is written, I will use the tool option to find the total word count.
It is 723.
My first impression of the story is that there are many "word work" possibilities but that it goes on and on and on. I realize that in future drafts many modifications will be made in the text.
Before facing that challenge, we must have a word list , and figure out how many times each word is used.
STEP IV: Word List of Words Used
1.and
2. all
3. at
4. be
5. big
6. bit
7. books
8.but
9.do, doing
10. Fay
11.feel
12.big
13.go
14. hmm
15. I
16. if
17. in
18. is
19.it
20. like
21. little
22. math
23. May, may
24. meet
25. Mills
26. Mrs.
27. most
28. mother
29. much
30. must
31. not
32.of
33. or
34. only
35. play,playing
36. playtime
37.read
38.same
39.says
40. school
41. sister
42. smart
43. so
44. sometimes
45.stories
46. the
47. to
48. too
49. what
50. will
51. work, working
52. writing
53. yes
54. you