Welcome to part three of my Literacy Improvement Mini-Series, with examples from the English side of my kindergarten and first grade TWI classes (In our 50/50 model, I teach first grade in the morning while kindergarten is in Spanish, then we switch. Read more about the program in which I teach and who I am here.). If you’d like to see the previous posts in this series, check out the Oracy Development blog as well as the Vocabulary: When and How blog. This contribution:

Phonics: Dictado

Me: “On your mark, get set, WHICH!”

Student A: “Capital W, everyone!”

Student B: “Which itch makes me twitch, w-h-i-c-h.”

Student C: “Remember the silent h!”

Student D: “Make sure your h doesn’t look like an n!”

Student E: “Double check – W-h-i-c-h! We got it! We got it!” Hands are flying in the air, some kids are out of their seats.

This is Wednesday in first grade. A little loud, a little crazy, but everyone is engaged and having fun. And they’re learning and applying phonics!

Phonics instruction can be more than spelling patterns and colorful charts. What makes word-study and phonics instruction effective, especially for our biliterate learners, is giving it context and purpose.

I use the Dictado (or Dictation in English) daily in first grade; the schedule below is our routine. At the beginning of the school year, I carefully map out which high frequency words I will use each week, aiming to tie them in with the unit of study and thinking about phonics instruction as well. In kindergarten, I introduce the Dictado in January and use it once or twice weekly to give context to our high frequency words.

We have developed a routine around our Dictado that works for us. This routine is just a suggestion and I encourage you to play with how Dictado can be effective with your students. Beeman and Urow have great ideas around Dictado implementation in Teaching for Biliteracy. Check out pages 126-128 for suggestions.

On Monday morning I introduce our new words. Click here for a recent example. There is ALWAYS a mnemonic device to help my students. We see the word, read it, have a chant that usually gives it context, and do an action or gesture while learning how to spell it. Students then trace the word on the carpet (or on their arm, shoe, tummy, or their Thinking Partner’s back, etc.).

Then they turn to their Thinking Partners to use the word in context in a complete sentence. Remember that Thinking Partners need to be intentionally paired, with at least one student able to provide that model use of the word in the language of instruction.

After hearing a few sample ideas from the students, the actual Dictado begins. In my class, though, because it is English, we call it Dictation.

In our Dictado, the paper we use is very intentional. The size of the boxes is different depending on the grade (the kindergarten boxes are larger than the first grade boxes). There is one line of open boxes followed by one line of grayed-out boxes. With time being so precious in Two-Way Immersion, Dictado provides an opportunity to teach handwriting, not taking up a separate block of time. The boxes provide context for letter size, and the gray “under-boxes” are a visual and physical space for those letters “with a tail.” Feel free to try out our first grade or kindergarten paper!

Come along with me for a week!

Monday: Introduction. My students are provided with and produce a perfect example of spelling and usage for our sight words for the week. I go through the sentence(s) word-by-word, using a document camera to project it, while students write theirs on their paper. We always use the words in context related to our unit of study. We go through this first exposure together, paying attention to punctuation, spelling, and capitalization. This is also where I introduce certain spelling patterns of words and give direct instruction on grammar. Check out this short clip from a recent spelling pattern lesson.

This is my copy from an introduction day. Our words are “where” and “when”, and this sentence puts those words in context with our unit on the desert, Next Generation Science Standard K-PS3-1 Make observations to determine the effect of sunlight on the Earth’s surface.

The completed Dictado is checked for accuracy, and we circle the words for the week using highlighter. Then the students write the words on the back in highlighter. They take it home to write each word five times and practice the dictation sentence.

Tuesday: Patterns and Practice. At this point we very specifically talk about spelling patterns and phonics. I keep a Vowel Chart in my classroom, where we add the week’s words based on the vowel sound, and then we analyze the numerous spelling patterns that make that same vowel sound.

My teaching partner and I had tremendous Green Guilt when we first started doing Dictado – we felt terrible about how much paper we were using. We problem-solved by laminating a class set of the Dictado paper, on which our students use erasable markers to write the sentences. Other ideas include using a Dictado notebook, where they write and practice each day, or use dry erase sleeves (similar to the lamination idea). Please share your additional brilliant paper-saving solutions!

These are our laminated papers. Green for first grade, pink for kindergarten (the kinder boxes are slightly larger).

This second day we work as a class to spell the words correctly. I take volunteers to spell the words and we celebrate with a single clap. We help each other with the trickiest words and give reminders about conventions. When finished, we rotate our papers clockwise and check one another’s work for accuracy.

Wednesday: Team Challenge. This is their favorite. They work as a table group to help everyone spell the dictation sentence successfully word-by-word.

“On your mark, get set, (WORD)!” At that point they help their teammates so that each person spells the word correctly and has proper handwriting. First team where everyone spells the word correctly gets…. to spell the word for the class! They go berserk. Simple. Motivating. Free. Works for me!

Thursday: Individual Challenge. This is essentially their practice test. I give them the whole dictado and they spell as much as they can as accurately as they can. They can access the posted words and peek at a friend’s work, but I remind them that if they find themselves using those supports that they need more practice. At the end, we again rotate clockwise and check each other’s work. They give each other feedback and take note of what they still need to practice for mastery. (Here I teach them editing – what marks to use, how to give feedback without destroying someone’s self-esteem, etc.)

Sometimes we do extensions to the Dictado, such as this example. Our words this week were “which”, “these”, and “those” and our focus was Social-Emotional Learning. I had the students add their own ideas to the end of dictation each day so that they could think about what good choices they work hard to make.

Friday: Test. I give my spelling test. The dictado sentence is the same that we have worked on throughout the week. They confidently use the words in context and prove their mastery. Yippee!

Occasionally throughout the week I will change the sentence from day to day, but on Friday I always test the original sentence given on Monday’s dictation. Dictado provides me a place to teach about sentence variety and structure.

For example, I varied the sentences during one of the weeks when first grade studied our home state, Nevada.

Sight words: live, our, we, me    Unit of study: Nevada

Monday: We live in Nevada. It is our state. It is home to me.

Tuesday: We live in Nevada. It’s our state, and it’s home to me. (Note the intentional change from “it is” to “it’s”.)

Wednesday: We live in Nevada. It is our state and home to me.

Thursday: We live in Nevada, our state – and home to me.

Friday: Spelling test including dictation of: We live in Nevada. It is our state. It is home to me. (Monday’s dictado)

Try Dictado in your classroom! Vary it to work for your grade level and group of students. It is a SIMPLE yet effective way to teach phonics (and handwriting, and grammar), and I encourage you to play with it.

Give that phonics purpose and context!

Join me mid-June for the power of the LEA (Language Experience Approach). This is one of my favorite teaching strategies, so I am very excited to share!