Marking Sentences

I thought it would be useful to post this video of how sentences should be marked during dictation. This

Example of how to mark up sentences. 

is a practice that we do almost every day and has become second nature to the class, but is new for some of our families. The important thing to remember is that only controlled sentences should be marked up.  Under the video I have listed several 3.1 controlled sentences that you can use with your children at home. The purpose of marking up sentences is that it arms the student with concrete strategies to check their own writing. I like to call this their built in spell-checker. Remember that we are only working with closed syllables at this time, and in a closed syllable all of the vowels make the short sound. The only time a vowel is long is when there is a closed syllable exception i.e "old" "olt" "ost" etc.

Some sample sentences to use are:

• Sid did not miss the sunset.
• Bob got a sunfish with his rod. 
• Dad will dust the cobweb in the den. 
• Did Bret get the shellfish for Mom? 
• The dog in the bathtub is a mess. 
• The kids went to rent the Batman flick. 
• Frank thinks that he will finish last. 
• The wild bobcat hid in the shed.
• Beth did not get upset when she lost. 
• Jill had fun with the magnet.
• Do not drop the album in the slush.
• Fill the basket with shells.*
• Did Kim admit that she felt a chill?
• Stan put the napkin on his lap.*
• Kevin did not get upset with Jill.*
• Kim went to the shop to finish the job.*
• Ed went to the cabin by the pond. 
• Bill fell but did not get upset. 
• The big blast upset the pup. 

*These words have a spelling option (k/c). It is okay to tell them to use the a "k." 

Also, full disclaimer that I did not make up these sentences, they are part of the Wilson Reading System. (Besides, who would want to admit making up a sentence like "Jill had fun with a magnet." anyway!)