More Predictable Sentence Support

The Predictable Chart is an activity from Month by Month Reading and Writing in Kindergarten by Dorothy Hall and Pat Cunningham.

During this activity each child completes a predictable sentence that the teacher writes on a chart.

Sentence topics go with our high-frequency words that the children are learning. Some teachers connect the sentences to the shared reading book of the week or a theme or a holiday.

Possible types of sentences are:

I can . . .
I like . . .
I do not like . . .
I _____ in the snow.
I have a . . .
I wish I had . . .
I wish I had 100 . . .
I see a . . .
I want some . . .
I wish . . .
I saw . . .
I want to be a . . .
I am a . . .
I dream about . . .
I gave a . . .
I will . . .
I went to . . .
I love . . .
I would go to . . .
I would fly to . . .
I want to . . .
I like to eat . . .
I wouldn’t want 100 . . .
I am thankful for . . .
I can . . .
I love . . .
I will be a . . .
I like to play with . . .
I made a . . .
I had a . . .
I would like a . . .
I could . . .
(For Halloween) I will be a . . .
I am thankful for . . .
In the summer I can . . .
In my garden, I will plant . . .
I would like 100 . . .
I could eat 100 . . .
In the snow I . . .
Santa please bring me . . .
Dear Santa, thanks for the . . .
I want…
I need…
(Yuk Soup) I want some _____. Yum!

As the sentences are written, the teacher points out conventions of print such as capital letters, leaving spaces between words or punctuation. This activity must be conducted at a brisk pace to hold the children’s attention. The teacher decides on a variety of teaching points for each sentence depending on the child. The teacher frequently asks the students, “What do you notice?” Students notice, “All the sentences have the word …. I I I I I I in the sentence.”

In class, on Day 1 and Day 2 the children dictate sentences and we touch read the sentences (half the class on Day 1, half on Day 2). Children are invited to tell what they notice about various sentences and words. What do you notice about the letters? What do you notice about the words? What do you notice about the sentences? The teacher emphasizes the concepts of print.

-Model for students by being the first on to add to the predictable chart.
-Place your response on the chart, followed by your name in parentheses.
-Have each child give a patterned response.
-Record the response on the chart, followed by the child’s name in parenthesis.

It is important that the children speak in complete sentences. When the children give one word answers, this gives the teacher a chance to work on answering in complete sentences.

On Day 3 all the children sit in a big circle. Each student reads their own sentence. The teacher types the sentence the night before to prepare for this activity. Each child reads the sentence to a special beanie baby that is only used for this one purpose. The kids love this. If there are 24 kids it takes approximately 2o minutes. Keep the activity moving. All the kids read their sentence to the beanie baby. Then have the kids point to what they notice. Do you have a period? Do you notice your name? Do you have the word ______? Etc.

On Day 4 we play sentence builders. Write 3-7 several sentences from the predictable chart on sentence strips. The teacher will cut one sentence into word-sized pieces in front of the students. Model is this a word or a space. The students recreate the sentences in numerous ways. (I do not show the students all the sentences that I might use today until I use the sentences because I do not want them to get their hopes up about their particular sentence.) I model whole group at first, then place the children in small groups of 3-4 children. I hand each small group a sentence that is cut up into a group of words that make up that sentence. The children are given their sentence, they mix the words up, and arrange the words into the sentence. If the children need extra support, encourage the students to check the arrangement with the predictable chart. The children read the sentence to the teacher then the teacher gives the small group a new sentence.

On Day 5 the sentences are given to each student author. The student places the words in order, illustrates them and glues the words to the page. The student work is laminated or put into a sheet protector and then pages are put in classbooks for the children to read and reread during free reading. By the end of the week the children know their own sentence and often read many of their friend’s predictable sentences.