If you are looking for something to help make copywork and free-writing a regular habit this year, as well as encourage the kids to read, then I have just the thing....
Showing posts with label Grammar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grammar. Show all posts
Using copywork to develop penmanship, grammar & punctuation...and having fun whilst doing it!
I was introduced to the practice of copywork maybe three or four years ago when I stumbled upon the World of Bravewriter, and I've been hooked ever since.
It really is such a simple activity which packs a powerful learning punch, yet is often so undervalued or misunderstood.
Copywork is so much more than just the art of copying text....it offers a multitude of important writing skills, helping budding writers work on not only their penmanship, but also gives opportunity to analyse some one else's writing, work on spelling, punctuation and go through the inner-mechanics of grammar.
Copywork is so much more than just the art of copying text....it offers a multitude of important writing skills, helping budding writers work on not only their penmanship, but also gives opportunity to analyse some one else's writing, work on spelling, punctuation and go through the inner-mechanics of grammar.
Naming Nouns... a free Lapbook
Homeschooling with Brave Writer
One of the most common questions I get from sisters contacting me is about Brave Writer. If you see me on Facebook, Instagram or any Whatsapp groups we share, I'm always recommending it and so you come to me wanting to know more. I feel as though Brave Writer really should be paying me because so many conversations I have with mums are like sales pitches convincing them why Brave Writer is so awesome.
I'm going to set out in this article everything I love about Brave Writer and explain what it is so that you can understand it a little better. I kindly request if you have questions about which programme you need for your children, to please contact Brave Writer directly to help you with that....I'm not a Brave Writer employee (I felt that needed clarifying).
I totally get why Brave Writer causes a little confusion. We tend to be more familiar with English and Literature studies through the eyes of workbooks, textbooks and worksheets. Brave Writer uses non of these things, so we are puzzled. How does Brave Writer work if there isn't a textbook in sight?
I'm going to set out in this article everything I love about Brave Writer and explain what it is so that you can understand it a little better. I kindly request if you have questions about which programme you need for your children, to please contact Brave Writer directly to help you with that....I'm not a Brave Writer employee (I felt that needed clarifying).
I totally get why Brave Writer causes a little confusion. We tend to be more familiar with English and Literature studies through the eyes of workbooks, textbooks and worksheets. Brave Writer uses non of these things, so we are puzzled. How does Brave Writer work if there isn't a textbook in sight?
Brave Writer introduction and a Gracious Space Giveaway!
Printable nouns folder....a spin on the traditional worksheet!
Plural Rules: Free printables for interactive note books!
The goal I have; is to produce something hands-on to understand Grammar, which can be used to reference back to throughout the year inshaAllah.
We are going right back to basics with this covering previously learnt material to ensure understanding is consolidated as new topics are introduced and taught inshaAllah.
In this post I'm sharing our work on plural nouns.
All the printables used can be downloaded at the end of the post.
The first thing we did was go over and explain singular and plural nouns using flaps which are stuck directly onto the page and lifted to show the answer.
We then followed by learning the general rules for making singular words plural - something which as adults we do automatically without much thought, but when you really delve into it realise there is a lot to remember and understand!
We made a lift the flap chart to stick into the note-book to help define and show the rules for differently spelt words. On the left side is the word spelling type, and on the left examples.
Of course, as with most (non-Islamic) rules, these rules are not true 100% of the time, so we made a small poster page to help get to grips that sometimes these rules just won't apply - and the only way of knowing this is to literally learn how to spell these plurals along with the singular counterparts.
The last thing I set up was a pluralised spelling test (with permission to look at the rules chart). I took small rectangular papers and wrote out singular nouns. I folded the end of the paper over so that on top, the plural ending had to be written on. To make a little easier, I did use the same colour paper for each spelling rule.
To download the printables used, just click on the high-lighted text below:
Noun Poster
I find that the more approaches we can use to learn or revise a concept, the easier it is for K to understand and retain information alhamdulillah, especially if something is a little more hands-on and visual.
Today we put together an A4 poster showing some noun examples, using the Montessori noun symbol above each word as revision.
Inshallah we will complete a poster for each of the grammar rules as we learn them and perhaps bind them together to form a booklet.
K decided to turn the poster into a spider diagram connecting lines to the centre title mashAllah! Its nice to see her developing her own work ta barakAllah.
A couple of days ago K also completed a couple of these noun worksheets available HERE!
Montessori style grammar chart!
I wasn't sure whether to post this now or after completion inshallah - but figured sharing now may give some one else out there an idea to start this or something similar if they are working on early stage grammar like us too!.....
This afternoon we recapped nouns, speaking about what they are and giving examples of both what is and what is not a noun.
To help K (and admittedly maybe myself!) remember what each grammar rule is, we began work on a Montessori style grammar chart. I've seen online a few of these charts ready-to-print, but thought it would be of greater benefit to allow K to make one herself inshallah!
We looked in the children's dictionary to find the definition for grammar, which K then copied out to make the poster tittle. She also cut out the Montessori noun symbol (the black triangle), and wrote out its rule.
The plan is to add each new rule and its symbol each time we learn one inshallah (hence why most the poster is still empty!)....note how I say each time we learn :)
Although I am using Jolly Grammar, I do find using the Montessori hands-on resources alongside, are an excellent asset alhamdulillah. It definitely helps to give a greater understanding of what for most people, can be quite boring (.....or is that just me?).
This afternoon we recapped nouns, speaking about what they are and giving examples of both what is and what is not a noun.
To help K (and admittedly maybe myself!) remember what each grammar rule is, we began work on a Montessori style grammar chart. I've seen online a few of these charts ready-to-print, but thought it would be of greater benefit to allow K to make one herself inshallah!
We looked in the children's dictionary to find the definition for grammar, which K then copied out to make the poster tittle. She also cut out the Montessori noun symbol (the black triangle), and wrote out its rule.
A3 Sugar paper
Cut strips of lined paper to write on before using another colour to border.
Will probably add another sheet at the bottom to fit all the rules once we get that far inshallah!
The plan is to add each new rule and its symbol each time we learn one inshallah (hence why most the poster is still empty!)....note how I say each time we learn :)
Although I am using Jolly Grammar, I do find using the Montessori hands-on resources alongside, are an excellent asset alhamdulillah. It definitely helps to give a greater understanding of what for most people, can be quite boring (.....or is that just me?).
Nouns
I'm no Montessori expert....so i apologise in advance to anyone who has studied the Montessori method for my clumsy hap-hazard attempt at implementing some concepts!
There are many good Montessori blogs around.....I took this lesson from Montessori for everyone.
I like the Montessori ideology, and wish I'd known about it years ago so I'd have had time to learn properly instead of rushing around now trying to find quickly some lesson to try with K! K generally responds well to Montessori lessons as they are visual and hands on...something which definitely helps K to learn I find, alhamdulillah.
A little while ago I'd made the Montessori grammar symbols, however I decided to invest in purchasing a set alhamdulillah. I've had them a few weeks now, and thought I really should start using them inshallah!
Some months back we did a lesson regarding nouns and proper nouns following Jolly Grammar. So as it was something K had some experience with, I decided to start with this.
I explained again what a noun is, giving some examples and said that we would use the large black triangle to help us to identify which words are nouns inshallah.
After placing the black triangle above the nouns, K copied some sentences from the board, identifying the nouns using a template to mark the black triangle above.
I'm sure if i had learnt grammar in this way when I was at school, I'd have had a much better understanding (and memory) of what all the grammar rules are today!
I really like the Montessori grammar symbols, as eventually a young child should be able to dissect each word in a complete sentence, knowing which is a noun, verb, adverb, pre-position etc etc....something I think most adults can't even do!
Changing Tense
Yesterday we did a random introduction to changing Tense! How it came about, was the other day I printed out THESE WORKSHEETS about Tense from TES Connect. (you will have to sign in, in order to view the sheets - TES connect is a teacher resource sharing site - it only takes a minute to register and you can find some beneficial lesson plans, activities, and worksheets shared by teachers).
Anyway, I thought yesterday we would fill them in - basically the worksheet is just simple sentences asking you to fill in the blank - for example the first sentence would be:
"Yesterday Jack went to the park"
and the second sentence would be "Tomorrow Jack ________to the park".
So the child just fills in the missing word to show how it changes according to what tense you use.
It may sound silly, but I thought K would be able to just fill this in without much direction - she speaks using Tense naturally so its something automatically she knows how to do (as any child does when they learn to speak!) - however before I gave her the sheet I realised that she doesn't have a clue what "Tense" means in regards to the past, present and future (I've never explained it before), so I thought it would be silly not to give an introduction to this first (obviously!).
So anyway, I drew a table up on the white board, and explained what the Past, the Present and the Future means. It took a bit of time before she understood that "present" in this context, does not mean a gift! I started with "the Past" and wrote a simple explanation as to what that means, before asking K to copy into her exercise book.
Then I moved onto "the future" with its simple explanation and asking K to copy. So in this way, I wrote out and discussed each section so that K could copy in small manageable chunks. (If I asked her to copy the whole table out at the end, it would have been too overwhelming for her).
I didn't give K the worksheets to complete yet - I think I need to do another lesson on this topic first to ensure she has fully comprehended how the tense changes. As I was doing the washing up I kept asking her to explain each tense and mashAllah she seems to have grasped it alhamdulillah - I just want to ensure that it really stays in her memory and understanding though inshallah. (so that when she does the worksheet......there will be no tears inshallah!.....no seriously, I want her to be able to do the worksheet by herself without my help inshallah, so I want to make sure she is fully understands first inshallah.)
During this lesson, I showed K how to use the dictionary. I first introduced the dictionary a couple of weeks ago, and although I explained what it is I looked up the word with her.
This time, I helped K to look up the word with a bit of help. Anyone who reads the comments at the end of some postings will see my spelling is terrible, as there is no spell check!
So as we were writing on the white board, I wasn't sure of the spelling "tomorrow" so thought best to look up and it was a good opportunity to do this with K using the dictionary.
I explained again how we find a word and once found, I asked K to read out the spelling for me and I copied it onto the board.....she found this quite amusing telling me how to spell! lol.
The dictionary we have is the Collins First School Dictionary for kids. I think I bought it from ebay alhamdulillah in very good condition mashAllah.
K likes looking at this book of words, we have another rhyming dictionary which she looks at and has helped her understanding of rhyming words. (again bought 2nd hand on ebay alhamdulillah).
Anyway, I thought yesterday we would fill them in - basically the worksheet is just simple sentences asking you to fill in the blank - for example the first sentence would be:
"Yesterday Jack went to the park"
and the second sentence would be "Tomorrow Jack ________to the park".
So the child just fills in the missing word to show how it changes according to what tense you use.
It may sound silly, but I thought K would be able to just fill this in without much direction - she speaks using Tense naturally so its something automatically she knows how to do (as any child does when they learn to speak!) - however before I gave her the sheet I realised that she doesn't have a clue what "Tense" means in regards to the past, present and future (I've never explained it before), so I thought it would be silly not to give an introduction to this first (obviously!).
So anyway, I drew a table up on the white board, and explained what the Past, the Present and the Future means. It took a bit of time before she understood that "present" in this context, does not mean a gift! I started with "the Past" and wrote a simple explanation as to what that means, before asking K to copy into her exercise book.
Then I moved onto "the future" with its simple explanation and asking K to copy. So in this way, I wrote out and discussed each section so that K could copy in small manageable chunks. (If I asked her to copy the whole table out at the end, it would have been too overwhelming for her).
During this lesson, I showed K how to use the dictionary. I first introduced the dictionary a couple of weeks ago, and although I explained what it is I looked up the word with her.
This time, I helped K to look up the word with a bit of help. Anyone who reads the comments at the end of some postings will see my spelling is terrible, as there is no spell check!
So as we were writing on the white board, I wasn't sure of the spelling "tomorrow" so thought best to look up and it was a good opportunity to do this with K using the dictionary.
I explained again how we find a word and once found, I asked K to read out the spelling for me and I copied it onto the board.....she found this quite amusing telling me how to spell! lol.
The dictionary we have is the Collins First School Dictionary for kids. I think I bought it from ebay alhamdulillah in very good condition mashAllah.
K likes looking at this book of words, we have another rhyming dictionary which she looks at and has helped her understanding of rhyming words. (again bought 2nd hand on ebay alhamdulillah).
Montessori grammar symbols
Following on from Jolly Phonics, we have been using Jolly grammar since September. Last week we begun work on proper and common nouns.
However, to help understand the different grammar rules, I have decided to also use Montessori techniques inshallah, as it allows a more visual and tactile representation of all the rules.
If I had decided I would make these before I went into the city centre on Saturday, I'd have picked up another packet of craft foam, but since I didn't, I made do with the open packet I already had (each symbol should have a specific colour). (I bought it for abut 99p from The Works - ten coloured sheets and included a child's size pair of scissors...I have 3 pairs of these now alhamdulillah!!!)
I took one of each symbol to stick on the grammar description sheet (also printed off wikisori) so that i can learn and remember inshallah, what symbol means what!
However, to help understand the different grammar rules, I have decided to also use Montessori techniques inshallah, as it allows a more visual and tactile representation of all the rules.
My grammar knowledge is quite shocking!
The Montessori grammar symbols are fantastic as they make learning all these rules much easier alhamdulillah....I'm going to introduce them later today inshallah, so we will see if K responds as enthusiastically as me inshallah!
Search online, and alhamdulillah you will find a wealth of Montessori websites and blogs explaining all the concepts clearly...I won't do injustice to the lessons trying to explain them myself, but if you don't know much about the Montessori grammar symbols, this blog has a nice simple explanation (you need to read all 4 parts) Montessori for everyone.
So, after deciding yesterday that I will use the grammar symbols, I decided rather than buying the set (which is quite expensive!) I would make it! I'd read somewhere online during my research that a training teacher made herself a set using craft foam...so that's what I did.
The total cost for making the symbols is probably about 5p mashAllah when you look at how little foam you actually use! (although cutting them all out is abit fiddly!)
I used the black and white grammar symbols on wikisori to use as a template (so all my shapes would be the same size!) and cut out 11 of each symbol.
The lessons to go along with the symbols are easily found online, including on youtube. You can also find plenty of sites where you can simply print out the symbols in their correct colours and just laminate to use. I prefer the craft foam as I think it makes it a bit more tactile.
Montessori Print shop is a site I found where you can download and print loads of Montessori materials free (they also have a shop to purchase some files)
and of course wikisori which has loads of print outs, and lessons to follow.
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