Recipes for Reading: Syntax

Checklist (Look Fors) for Writing Instruction

Writing Craft

Text Structure

The Writing Rope

Resources for Content Area Writing

Syntax

Recipes for Reading

Critical Thinking

What Goes into Writing

Syntax

writing rope

THE

Begin with TAP: determining the Task, Audience and Purpose of the writing.

Writer's craft are techniques and devises related to the use of language that creates an effect on a reader. They include the teaching of:

• Writer's Voice- a writer's unique style, emotion, personality and narrative point of view (reflected in the writing) Accomplished by carefully chosen words
• Word Choice (including figurative Language)
• Narrative Point of View: first (narrator is a character in the story and told through their experience "I"), second (instructional writing "you", third (most common, writer is the narrating the story and talking about the characters "he, she, they"
• Literary Devices: allusion, dialogue, figurative language (metaphor, simile, analogy, etc...) flashback, foreshadowing and hyperbole

Writer's Craft

Revise: Guiding Questions

Write: Writing Template

Plan: Topic Web

Think: Two Column Notes

Strategies for Each Stage of WritingEach must be EXPLICITLY taught

The Process Writing Routine

Four Stages: Think, Plan, Write, Revise

Critical Thinking in Writing

Sentence Elaboration

• Expanded Kernel Sentences

Activities to Teach Sentence Combining

• Sort sentences into sentence typ
• Identify the sentence type and add punctuation
• Change the sentence
• Create and write sentences Find examples

Activities to Teach Sentence Basics

• Sentence Scrambles
• Sentence Parts Cards
• Add a Sentence Part
• Sentence or Fragment?

Content Teachers should know the basics of sentences and their structure:

• A sentence is a collection of words that come together to express a complete thought.
• subjects and predicates
• independent clauses
• simple, compound and complex sentence structures

Sentence Basics

Transition Words

Paragraph structure:

• Topic sentence
• supporting sentences
• concluding sentencts

Sentence Elaboration

• Expanded Kernel Sentences

Paragraph Templates

• Argument
• Cause and Effect
• Compare and Contrast
• Description or Explanation
• Information
• Opinion

Patterns of organization

• description
• explanation
• sequence
• cause and effect
• compare and contrast
• problem and solution

Text Structure

resources for content area writing