SCAFFOLD 4 SUCCESS – STRATEGIES 4 SUCCESS

STRATEGY NAME: Sentence Patterning Chart (SPC) “Farmer-in-the-Dell” “La cucaracha” “Frère Jacques” 两只老虎

From an enrichment class using pinyin color coded to focus on tones - immersion class would use characters.

SOURCE: Robert and Marlene McCracken – Customized adaptation of “Farmer-in-the-Dell” song to

reinforce academic learning. Shared via Project GLAD.

RATIONALE:• SPC lowers the affective filter and allows students to practice new vocabulary and the

syntax of the target language together. • It’s generative; it leads to collaborative and individual reading, writing, and poetry. • Introduces and reinforces parts of speech and sentence structures in context through a fun

chanting/singing activity. • The SPC chart also provides oral and reading practice with familiar text over time.

KEY POINTS:• Columns are drawn in black on large piece of white butcher paper (teacher just quickly

draws the lines without worrying about being perfectly straight—models valuing “content over form” since some students (often perfectionists) perseverate about irrelevant or inconsequential details when perfection isn’t the goal, and that prevents them from getting work done. The first copy of anything can be the “sloppy copy.”)

• Parts of speech are written color-coded across the top as teacher goes through the steps (see below). For example, the SPC color scheme might be: adjectives-red, noun-black, verbs-green, adverbs-orange, and prepositional phrases-purple. Teacher uses the color scheme for parts of speech in other strategies such as team tasks to be consistent as a scaffold for students just beginning to understand.

• Teacher will supply the noun—the only word in the noun column—in plural form (if the target language is English) as it is easier for subject-verb agreement and does not require an article to begin the sentence. It is recommended to choose an animate object for that

Information compiled by Sally Fox, 2015

SCAFFOLD 4 SUCCESS – STRATEGIES 4 SUCCESSnoun so there are many verbs describing what it can “do.” In demonstration trainings, that noun should also appear in at least one of the poems or chants, or have been a signal word, etc.

• Sample steps to follow in creating the SPC in front of (and with participation from) the students are:

1. Teacher writes the word “noun” (lower case) in black at the head of the second column from the left. [Say it with me!] Teacher then says and writes the chosen noun in the column below the header row. The noun we’ll use today is “meteorologists.” [Say it with me!] It means a person with scientific training, or scientist, who studies weather phenomena in the atmosphere. Here’s a sketch of Jim Cantore on the Weather Channel. In Spanish (or other primary language) the word is meteorólogo. Teacher uses gesture or kinesthetic the class used for the word in the Here-There chant. Teacher says, the word “meteorologists” is a plural (that means more than one) noun. Teacher points to the header word, “noun.” [Say it with me!]

2. Teacher asks the class to raise their hands if they know what a noun is. Teacher tells students to turn to a neighbor/elbow partner/friend and tell them what they think a noun is. Then teacher says, tell me (choral calling)…go ahead, just tell me.

3. Students usually say something like, a noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Teacher validates that or anything they say that’s accurate and makes a little column of four icons next to the word “noun” in the same header: a stick figure person, a mountain or house for place, a ball or hat for thing, and a light bulb for idea. The word meteorologists is a noun. What are they—people, places, things, or ideas? [Students call out answer] Right, meteorologists are people. [Say it with me!] Teacher circles the stick figure. Teacher also sketches a meteorologist next to the word, and uses a gesture or kinesthetic movement to support emergent readers’ comprehension of the word.

4. Teacher then goes to the first column on the left and writes the word “adjective” (lower case) in red at the head of the column. [Say it with me!]

5. Teacher asks, what do you know about adjectives? Students choral call their ideas. Teacher validates what’s accurate and says, adjectives are words that modify nouns, that is, they describe them and tell us more about them. Teacher writes the word “describe” in the header and draws an arrow from it to the word “noun” in the next column. [Say it with me!]

6. Teacher gives the prompt, meteorologists are so ___________, to elicit adjectives about meteorologists from the students. If students are not choral calling ideas right away, teacher models some examples (perhaps by referring to a Here-There chant) and tells them to put their heads together and tell a partner some ideas first. With the red marker (following our color scheme listed above), teacher writes the words as fast as the students say them, thinking aloud about spelling conventions that may come up in the words, and modeling putting (sp) for “spelling” next to words s/he is unsure about. (See “variations” for ways to work on superlatives, comparatives, synonyms and antonyms using the SPC.) Teacher also sketches next to the word, and uses a gesture or kinesthetic movement to support emergent readers’ comprehension of the word.

7. Teacher goes to verb column to the right of the noun. In the header row, teacher writes the word “verb” (lower case) in green at the head of the column. [Say it with me!]

8. Teacher asks, what do you know about verbs? Students choral call their ideas. Teacher validates what’s accurate and says, verbs are words that convey the action of nouns, that is, they tell us what the noun is doing. Teacher writes the word “action” in the header and draws an arrow from it to the word “noun” in the previous column. [Say it with me!]

9. Teacher gives the prompt, meteorologists can ___________, to elicit verbs about meteorologists from the students. If students are not choral calling ideas right away, teacher models some examples (perhaps by referring again to a Here-There chant) and tells them to put their heads together and tell a partner some ideas first. With the green marker, teacher writes the words as fast as the students say them, thinking aloud about spelling conventions that may come up in the words, and modeling putting (sp) for “spelling” next to words s/he is unsure about. This prompt should elicit verbs in the third person singular, indicative tense, which is identical to the infinitive. (See “variations” for ways to work on verb tense using the SPC.) Teacher also sketches next to the word, and uses a gesture or kinesthetic movement to support emergent readers’ comprehension, retention, and recall of the word.

10. Teacher goes to prepositional phrase column at the far right. In the header row, teacher writes the words “prepositional phrase” (lower case) in purple at the head of the column. [Say it with me!]

Information compiled by Sally Fox, 2015

SCAFFOLD 4 SUCCESS – STRATEGIES 4 SUCCESS11. Teacher asks, what do you know about prepositional phrases? Students choral call their ideas.

Teacher validates what’s accurate and says, prepositional phrases are words that tell us where and when the action takes place. Teacher circles the root “position” in the word prepositional. Think of it as the “position in time and space.” [Say it with me!] Teacher writes the words “time and place” in the header and draws an arrow from it to the word “verb” in the previous column. [Say it with me!]

12. Teacher gives the prompt, where or when do meteorologists ___________, to elicit prepositional phrases about meteorologists from the students. If students are not choral calling ideas right away, teacher models some examples (perhaps by referring again to a Here-There chant) and tells them to put their heads together and tell a partner some ideas first. With the purple marker, teacher writes the phrases as fast as the students say them, thinking aloud about spelling conventions that may come up in the words, and modeling putting (sp) for “spelling” next to words s/he is unsure about. This prompt should be amplified to encourage a variety of prepositions, not just “in” and “on,” which should be contextualized with gestures for “over,” “under,” “through,” “beyond,” “next to,” etc. (See “variations” for ways to work on prepositional phrases using the SPC.) Teacher also sketches next to the phrase, and uses a gesture or kinesthetic movement to support emergent readers’ comprehension, retention, and recall of the words in the phrase.

13. For grades 3-8, teacher goes to adverb column at the right of the verb column (which was skipped). In the header row, teacher writes the words “adverb” (lower case) in orange at the head of the column. [Say it with me!]

14. Teacher asks, what do you know about adverbs? Students choral call their ideas. Teacher validates what’s accurate and says, adverbs are words that modify the verb. They tell us how the action happens. They describe the action. Teacher circles the root “verb” in the word prepositional. [Say it with me!] Teacher writes the words “how” in the header and draws an arrow from it to the word “verb” in the previous column. [Say it with me!] Most, but not all, adverbs in English end with –ly. [Say it with me! – ly ] I’ll write –ly here in the column header to remind you. It can be tricky, though, because some words that end in –ly are NOT adverbs, like “ugly” (adjective) [Say it with me!] or “Kelly” (proper noun) [Say it with me!]. You’ll find there are usually exceptions to every rule—an exception is something that doesn’t follow the rule and yet it’s still correct!!

15. Teacher gives one “freebie” adverb: well. Teacher says, I’m going to give you one of the adverbial exceptions that does not end in –ly for free. This is an adverb that many people, even well-educated, well-spoken people, forget to use when they’re talking casually with friends. However, they use it when they write! It’s an adverb that you really must learn to use correctly because when you’re in high school and college you’ll need it. And you’ll need to know how to use it in order to write at high levels—that will help you get a high-paying job someday. That adverb, my friends, is “well.” [Say it with me!] Teacher writes “well” in purple in the column. [Say it with me!]

16. Teacher gives the prompt, how do meteorologists ___________ (verb), to elicit adverbs from the students. If students are not choral calling ideas right away, teacher models some examples (perhaps by referring again to a Here-There chant) and tells them to put their heads together and tell a partner some ideas first. With the orange marker, teacher writes the phrases as fast as the students say them, thinking aloud about spelling conventions that may come up in the words, and modeling putting (sp) for “spelling” next to words s/he is unsure about. This prompt should be amplified to encourage a variety of adverbs that related to what students have learned. Teacher may make some suggestions if they aren’t using the high-level words from the unit. Teacher also sketches next to the word whenever possible, and uses a gesture or kinesthetic movement to support emergent readers’ comprehension, retention, and recall of the word.

17. Once the SPC is filled out with enough adjectives (three times as many as there are teams for K-2; twice as many as there are teams for grades 3-8), verbs (at least as many as there are teams), adverbs (at least as many as there are teams for grades 3-8), and prepositional phrases (at least as many as there are teams) as are needed to play the extension/variation games later, it’s time to chant together using the “Farmer in the Dell” melody!

• Sample steps to follow in chanting the SPC with the students are:1. Teacher models “finding” or “making” a sentence with the SPC by saying, I’ll find a sentence now by

putting Post-it Notes © next to three (for K-2) or two (for grades 3-8) adjectives…hmmm, I like this one because _______, [Say it with me!] and this one because _______ [Say it with me!] . I don’t have a choice for my noun, it’s ________ [Say it with me!] . Okay, here we are with the verbs. I’ll choose one verb… (put the Post-it Note © next to it). I want this adverb to go with it…that’s funny (or

Information compiled by Sally Fox, 2015

SCAFFOLD 4 SUCCESS – STRATEGIES 4 SUCCESSscientific, or whatever)! (Put the Post-it Note © next to it.) Finally, I’ll choose one prepositional phrase (put the Post-it Note © next to it).

2. Teacher then models the chanting using the tune to “The Farmer in the Dell.” For example, from the sample SPC below could be made the following chant:

adjective noun verb adverb prepositional phrase

niceoldcurioussmartintelligenthard-workingstudious

scientists studydrinkeatcollect (data)researchdiscoverfind

wellhappilyquicklycarefullyslowlylaboriouslypersistenly

at schoolunder the seain the libraryin the laboratoryon the playgroundon top of the tablebeyond the universe

(Grades K-2 – no adverb column)Curious, hard-working scientists,Curious, hard-working scientists,Curious, hard-working intelligent scientists research in the library.

(Grades 3-8)Curious, hard-working scientists,Curious, hard-working scientists,Curious, hard-working scientists research carefully in the library.

3. Teacher then invites a volunteer to come forward, saying, now one of you may come forward and choose (two or) three different adjectives, and different verb, adverb, and prepositional phrase. Then you’ll point while the rest of us chant your new sentence! This volunteer does not have to chant, his/her job is to choose and point and enjoy!

4. The volunteer then chooses another child (if necessary, teacher prompts to “pick a girl” or “pick a boy”) to come forward and “find” or “create” a new sentence. Then the class chants that sentence. This can be done several times! They have so much fun with it that they can almost do it ad infinitum, and the more it is repeated, the stronger and more internalized the syntax becomes!! Even a beginner in the target language can be successful in both chanting and choosing/manipulating new sentences. This is truly the “blue ribbon” strategy in Project GLAD!

5. Leave the SPC posted in the room for future writing activities and to model for team and individual tasks later

VARIATIONS:• For grades K-2, the SPC has four (4) columns in English: adjective, noun, verb, prepositional phrase. • For grades 3-8, the SPC has five (5) columns in English: adjective, noun, verb, adverb, prepositional phrase. • For all grades, direct objects may be written in parentheses in the verb column if students think of them, or

may be added later as a grammar lesson about direct objects. Similarly, indirect objects may also be taught by adding a column to the chart later.

• For all grades, a variation or extension of the SPC is to place a blank strip of butcher paper (the size of a column) next to the adjectives and brainstorm (one-to-one correspondence as much as possible with the adjective in the SPC column) a synonym for each adjective. Another strip could then (or later) be used to do the same thing with antonyms—another for comparatives, and another for superlatives.

• For all grades, another variation or extension of the SPC is to place a blank strip of butcher paper (the size of a column) next to the verb column and brainstorm (one-to-one correspondence with the verbs in the column) a synonyn for each verb possible. Another strip could then (or later) be used to do the same thing with antonyms (this often provides an opportunity to teach prefixes). Then the same process could be done for different tenses and especially, irregular forms: present/present progressive/present perfect; past/past progressive/past perfect; future/future progressive/future perfect; intensive present/past; habitual past (imperfect); “going to ___’ present and past subjunctive; and modals/auxiliaries (do/did, shall, may, might,

Information compiled by Sally Fox, 2015

SCAFFOLD 4 SUCCESS – STRATEGIES 4 SUCCESScould, should, must). Examples with a few common English verbs (in the first person singular) are listed in the chart below:

TENSE/MODE/ETC. To eat To work To sing To teachPresent (basic) I eat I work I sing I teachPresent (progressive) I am eating I am working I am singing I am teachingPresent (perfect) I have eaten I have worked I have sung I have taughtPresent (intensive) I do eat I do work I do sing I do teachPresent (subjunctive) (if) I be eating (if) I be working (if) I be singing (if) I be teachingPresent (modal: normative) I should eat I should work I should sing I should teachPresent (modal: conditional) I would eat I would work I would sing I would teachPresent (modal: ability) I can eat I can work I can sing I can teachPresent (modal: obligation) I must eat I must work I must sing I must teachPast (basic or preterite) I ate (irreg.) I worked I sang (irreg.) I taught (irreg.)Past (progressive) I was eating I was working I was singing I was teachingPast (perfect) I had eaten I had worked I had sung I had taughtPast (intensive) I did eat I did work I did sing I did teachPast (habitual) I used to eat I used to work I used to sing I used to teachPast (subjunctive) (if) I were eating (if) I were working (if) I were singing (if) I were teachingPast (modal: possibility) I could eat I could work I could sing I could teachPast (modal: ability) “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “Past (modal: likelihood) I must have eaten I must have worked I must have sung I must have taughtFuture (basic) I will eat I will work I will sing I will teachFuture (progressive) I will be eating I will be working I will be singing I will be teachingFuture (“going to…”) I am going to eat I am going to work I am going to sing I am going to teachFuture (“future in the past”) I was going to eat I was going to work I was going to sing I was going to teachFuture (modal: command or prophecy)

I shall eat I shall work I shall wing I shall teach

Future (modal: possibility) I may eat I may work I may sing I may teachFuture (modal: possibility) I might eat I might work I might sing I might teach

• For all grades, the reading game is a variation or extension of the SPC. The steps are:1. Teacher copies the words from the SPC onto sentence strips that are then cut into short strips of one

word (or the entire prepositional phrase) using the same colors as the parts of speech on the SPC.2. Teacher organizes sets of words (closed sets) that have exactly enough words in each category (2-3

adjectives, 1 noun, 1 verb, 1 adverb, and 1 prepositional phrase) and passes out one set to each team.

3. Teacher says, when I say the signal word, each team looks at the words in your set. Read the words aloud. Make sure everyone on the team can read all the words, right-side up. Then you will put the words together into a sentence following the pattern on the sentence patterning chart. I will model the pattern for you. Teacher goes to SPC and points at the column headers, singing the “Farmer in the Dell” tune with the header words/parts of speech, first for the students then with them, as follows:

(Grades K-2) (Grades 3-8)Adjective, adjective, noun. Adjective, adjective, noun.Adjective, adjective, noun, Adjective, adjective, noun.Adjective, adjective, adjective, noun. Adjective, adjective, noun, verb.Verb, prepositional phrase. Adverb, prepositional phrase.

4. Teacher then says the signal word (Remember, everyone reads right side up! Solve that problem! By the way, teams will earn points for working together and helping each other!) and teams put their sentences together. Teams practice reading and chanting their sentences.

5. Teacher makes the “quiet sign” or “zero noise signal” and students stop chanting and reading their sentences. Teacher then has each team present their sentence by chanting it or reading it aloud, chorally, for the rest of the class. Applause!!! Teams earn points for everything the teacher wants to reinforce: working together, helping each other, using clear voices, smiling, etc. Just explain/teach it and write it on the T-graph for social skills if it’s not already there.

• For all grades, the trading game is a variation or extension of the SPC. The steps are:1. Teacher uses the same copies of the words from the SPC used in the reading game.

Information compiled by Sally Fox, 2015

SCAFFOLD 4 SUCCESS – STRATEGIES 4 SUCCESS2. Teacher organizes sets of words (open sets) that have the same number of words used in the

reading game (above), but not enough in each category (for example, 4 adjectives, 0 noun, 0 verb, 1 adverb, and 1 prepositional phrase) and passes out a set to each team.

3. Teacher says, when I say the signal word, each team will cooperate to look at the words in your set. Read the words aloud. Make sure everyone on the team can read all the words, right-side up. See if you put the words together into a sentence following the pattern on the sentence-patterning chart. If you have too many of one type of word, you may trade it with teams that need that type of word. If you need a word because you don’t have that part of speech, you may trade words you don’t need for words you do need. Once you have the right number of the parts of speech, you may also trade words to form a sentence you like better than the one you have.

4. Let’s refresh our memory of the sentence pattern on our SPC. Teacher goes to SPC and points at the column headers, singing the “Farmer in the Dell” tune with the header words/parts of speech, first for the students then with them, as follows:

(Grades K-2) (Grades 3-8)Adjective, adjective, noun. Adjective, adjective, noun.Adjective, adjective, noun, Adjective, adjective, noun.Adjective, adjective, adjective, noun. Adjective, adjective, noun, verb.Verb, prepositional phrase. Adverb, prepositional phrase.

5. Teacher also models how to trade cards by having two students (say, Carlos and Aimee) come up to the front with their teams’ sets. Teacher says, if Carlos’s team has too many adjectives and they need a noun, Carlos can ask to trade an adjective for a noun with Aimee’s team. Carlos MAY NOT say he needs “a black one for a red one!” I will be listening to be sure everyone is using the academic language of the names of the parts of speech. If you forget, where can you look? [Everyone points to the SPC on the wall.] Carlos and Aimee return to their teams.

6. Teacher then says, remember, use the correct names for the parts of speech, and everyone reads right side up once you make your sentence! Of course, teams will earn points for working together and helping each other! When I say the signal word, you may begin. (Teams trade to complete their set of words. Then teams practice reading and chanting their sentences.)

7. Teacher makes the “quiet sign” or “zero noise signal” and students stop chanting and reading their sentences. Teacher then has each team present their sentence by chanting it or reading it aloud, chorally, for the rest of the class. Applause!!! Teams earn points for everything the teacher wants to reinforce: using academic language, working together, helping each other, using clear voices, smiling, etc. Just explain/teach it and write it on the T-graph for social skills if it’s not already there.

• For all grades, the team flip chant is another variation or extension of the SPC. The steps are:

o Teacher prepares sets (stapled or hole-punched on rings) of sentence strips (n = number of teams + 1 for teacher modeling) with to follow the pattern of the Here-There chant, leaving the key parts of speech from the SPC blank, but indicating each missing word or phrase with a line in the color of the SPC color-coding scheme.

o Teacher models creating a flip chant by taking it to the SPC and filling in the missing words, as desired by the students, who call out the words they want from the SPC. The noun may be done in advance for the modeling, but students will have the opportunity to fill in the nouns on their flip chants.

Information compiled by Sally Fox, 2015