Giving Key Words At Each Step

On the previous page, we looked at an overview of Key Words and The Steps. Here we look in more detail. The examples given here are for a child who’s already able to draw. But if your child is not yet at that stage, you can have them do something else with the word you write for them. See Key Words With Preschoolers for other follow-up activities.

Also, for how to introduce one child or a group of children to this activity, see Introducing Key Words.

Protecting the Power of Key Words

As you’ll see, at the beginning of every session, the child goes through the words on their Word Ring and “reads” them aloud. It’s vital that if they come to a word they don’t immediately recognize, it must come off the ring. (Blame the word and toss it later.)

This isn’t “reading” in the traditional sense. It’s remembering a word that had special meaning for them — probably along with the entire experience of getting it. So if they don’t remember a word — that means it’s not a true Key Word and must come off the ring.

Occasionally, someone helping you give words will give the child hints. Don’t allow that!

Beginners will not recognize their Key Words elsewhere, and that’s not a problem. But if more than once a child doesn’t recognize a word on their Work Ring, see what to do here.

Now with that caution, we look at each step, in detail.

Step 1:

1) The child “reads” all the words on their Word Ring. Take off any word they don’t immediately recognize.

2) Ask some questions until you strike a chord: What’s your best toy? What’s something really scary? Do you have a pet — and if so, what’s it’s name, what does it like to do?

Wait for something heart-felt to emerge.

3) Talk about what the child has settled on. Encourage them to describe it in some detail: what’s happened, what it looks like, why it’s important, etc. The girl in this example has seen the book, Bedtime for Batman, and tells some of the story. Take plenty of time with this discussion. This is your chance to expand the child’s vocabulary, sentence structure, and listening skills.

4) Help the child decide the word(s) that best describes their thinking. Here, she has talked about both Batman and bedtime. You would have to listen carefully to hear whether you should write “Batman” or “bedtime” for her word.

It’s best not to ask, Do you want Batman or bedtime? That may cause the child to focus on both words equally, which might interfere with their thinking. This could cause trouble tomorrow, when they can’t remember which word it was. It’s better to say, What word should I write? That will tell you which “mind picture” and word they are already most focused on.

5) She has asked for Batman, so then say, “Now watch: I’m going to write Batman for you.” Write on sturdy card stock, as shown below. (See Materials Needed For Key Words.)

6) Say the NAME and/or SOUND of each letter as you write. (Most names include the sound, and many children already know the names through the Alphabet Song.) If the child’s eyes wander away, stop writing, and explain you can’t write until they watch.)

7) Once the entire word is written, have the child use the index finger of their writing hand to trace over the letters. If they go a different direction than your letter formation program requires, gently stop them, demonstrate with your finger the direction they are to learn to go. Then let them try it again. Do NOT try to guide their hand. See charts for examples of letter formation.

8) Make a duplicate of the word on newsprint, for the child to glue into their book.

8) Send the child off to the paper punch and Gluing Station — and remind them to make a picture about Batman.

9) Remind the child that they are to bring their finished work back for you to see.

In the classroom, you’ll need a way to signify each child’s work has been checked. For both school and home, you’ll need ways to manage the active work period. For both, see Managing the Active Classroom.

Also for school and home, be sure to see Introducing Key Words. There you’ll find Montessori-inspired strategies that have an amazingly positive effect on a child. You’ll be glad you took the time to read about the power of her Silent Demonstrations. For they make working with a child go very smoothly from the introduction of Key Words and other routines — forward.

At Step 1, then, the child is learning —

that written words are a means of communication,
correct letter formation,
use of the glue, pens, paper punch,
responsibility for completing work and having it checked,
finding a choice activity,
responsibility for not disturbing others, and
helping to straighten and clean up the room at the signal for the end of the work period. (I always flashed the lights.)

See Skills and Concepts At Each Of the Steps for an overview of all skills.

Moving Through the Remaining Steps

Once the children are familiar with the routine of carrying out the work, which usually takes a few days— most are ready to go to Step 2, adding a sentence.

The teacher is always the one who decides when they are ready to move on and spends at least two sessions with them to make sure they know what to do at the next Step. In the classroom, in the following days, they are assigned to an aide, parent or cross-age tutor. As time goes on, the teacher monitors their progress by calling them to the teacher’s table frequently. (If you are at home, an older sibling might enjoy this responsibility.)

Each step is just slightly more complex than the one before, and the teacher makes certain the child has mastered the requisite skills before moving them on. See Indicators Of Readiness before moving the child on to the next Step.

Step 2:

1) Have the child read all the words on their ring, and take off any they don’t immediately recognize. (Do not give hints or help them “sound it out.”)

2) Talk. This child may have said, for example, I want “robbers” today, ’cause my dad showed me a special comic book he had when he was a little boy and it had robbers. Superman was in it, too, and I really liked it. He’s really strong and so he can catch robbers. Then after that, we saw on TV some news about robbers, and my dad said there really are real robbers in the world…. In this example, the teacher said, What word should I write? (Not Do you want Superman or robbers?) And the child has asked for robbers for their word.

3) While writing the word robbers for the child, point out the spelling for ONLY ONE of the sounds that will be needed. More than one sound a day can be confusing. (For details about phonics cartoons and activities, see, Distinguishing Sounds & Integrating Phonics .(The directions here are for using the sound/story cartoons I had in my own classroom. I’m only using them here, because I already had pictures drawn of the word cards and corresponding books.)

Follow this procedure to show the child a sound they don’t already know. In this case, it’s the rrrr sound:

Remind the child of the cartoon or picture for rrrr in the phonics materials you’re using. In this example, a motorcycle is revving up, showing the letter “r” coming out of the exhaust.
Before you send them to look for the letter that’s on the cartoon, tell them that when they return they will need to show you the letter they find by making it with their finger on the table. Have the child make the rrrr sound again before they leave you to find what letter is on the cartoon,
When they return, have them form the letter on the table, with index finger of their writing hand.
If they have forgotten it while walking back, don’t tell them — send them to look again. (Having to keep the sound and letter in mind, while going back and forth — then also having to trace it on the table — they usually remember it from then on.)
Once they have correctly formed the letter on the table, write it for them on their word card.

4) The child traces over all the letters on the word card.

5) Help the child trim down what they’ve said, to be able to write just one sentence that’s easy enough to remember and ”read” back. This might be, Superman can catch the robbers.

The child watches as you write, and the two of you read the sentence aloud a couple of times. Touch each word as you both read. The child need only remember the word on the Word Ring, to keep it. They are not expected to accurately remember the sentence.

You are now introducing punctuation. You do this by associating sounds with periods, commas, and question marks. For this, you have the child listen to your voice as you write and then read back the sentence they’ve dictated. Make up your own sounds:

I used a click of the tongue for a period. I said huh? for a question mark. I also made the sound “uh” for commas.

For example, take the sentence, ” My new dress is red, white, green, and yellow. “ For this I’d use these sounds, “The girl’s dress is red uh, white uh, green uh, and yellow. (with a click of my tongue.”

Later, for an older child at Step 6, writing a story, I’d show how to use parenthesis. For that, I’d hold my hands on both sides of my mouth and whisper what was written between the (….) marks they had written. And they were fascinated with that.

After a child has been at Step 2 for awhile, though, try asking them to point to the words as you both read. Once they are able to do that accurately and can point to the correct word — as you ask for it out of order — they can move to Step 3. Again, see Indicators Of Readiness.

5) You make a duplicate, the child glues it in, makes a picture, and shows it to you when finished.

At Step 2, then, the child is learning —

the spelling for simple sounds (usually just consonants),
that clumps of sounds are written as separate words, with a space between them (start pointing this out by putting your finger after each word before you begin the next),
the meaning of “sentence,”
that sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a period or question mark, and
how to choose a few simple punctuation marks: .?, (By listening to your voice as you read it back, making a sound for the punctuation. Make up your own sounds. I used a click of the tongue for a period and a huh? for a question mark. I also used uh for commas — so I’d make the sounds as I read a sentence back. For instance, “The girl’s dress is red uh, white uh, green uh, and yellow click. “

Step 3:

Same procedure as in Step 2. Again the child helps supply the letters they already know and refers to the phonics materials you’re using to discover and trace on the table the letter that makes ONE more new sound per day.

This time the duplicate is written by the adult on a narrow strip of paper and the child cuts it up. Each word falls on the table, the child scrambles them up and reassembles them. The adult/tutor helps the child “read” the sentence aloud, perhaps scrambles it again and has the child reassemble it. Each time they read the sentence again together.

The child leaves the table, glues the words to recreate the sentence and completes their work, as before. I would keep the child at this Step a little longer than necessary, as long as they are not bored with it or impatient to move on. For reassembling the sentence a few times each day expands the base of sight words they can recognize and spell from memory. (If you’re working with an older child who’s been struggling to learn to read, begin this process with them at Step 3.)

A preschooler who still needs to learn to use a pencil (and may need help with scissors), also benefits from extra time at this step. For it allows more time for their motor skills to develop.

At Step 3, then, the child is learning —

more complex spelling for sounds (the remaining consonants, some short vowels, and perhaps a few digraphs, depending on what the child has already learned during the previous Step),
use of the sound-symbol relationship and configuration of the words as clues for identifying words,
the spellings for function/sight words, and
use of scissors.

Step 4:

Same procedure as before, except that the child begins to copy the duplicate: At the Beginning Step 4, the child traces over with a pen what the adult has written with a pencil. At Advanced Step 4, the child copies the word and sentence directly into their writing book — either on lined or unlined paper, depending on their motor skills.

At Step 4, then, the child is learning —

more complex spelling for sounds (remaining short vowels and digraphs, and perhaps long vowels by now, depending on what they have already learned),
to form letters independently, and
use of lined paper (not always, but perhaps, depending on motor skills).

Step 5:

Same procedure as before, except that the adult writes only the word and shows the child how to “build” a sentence from the supporting materials on the classroom walls: charts of any songs or poems the class has learned; chart of alphabetized, 2nd Grade Dolch High Frequency Words; and a class Wall Strip Dictionary. For more about the “living” Wall Strip Dictionaries, see Sound/Story System For Spelling.

At Step 5, then, the child is learning —

more complex spelling for sounds (whatever spellings remain unfamiliar by now),
how to spell words by “sounding them out,”
how to locate spelling for words needed on the child’s own Word Ring, songs, chants, child-dictated “Today’s News” charts, etc., and most importantly,
how to use the class Wall Strip Dictionary.

Step 6:

The child no longer gets a word. Instead they write long, complex stories and carry out projects on topics they’re interested in, related to math, science, or social studies. Children engage in two types of projects:

A Simple Project: This is basically a report of something the child has learned through reading, conducting interviews and/or surveys.

One example is making a map of the classroom to scale, writing about how they did it, and putting both on display. We used large, colored construction for a backing when displaying work. The child glued their writing on the right, which explained the procedure for measuring the classroom. The map was then glued on the left.

Another way of publishing a report — or just telling a story — is making a TV. Here you see the child has had someone cut a square hole in the front of a box. Then on a long strip of paper, the child marks off sections the same size as the hole in the box. The paper is secured to two pieces of wood, so the child can twist the story to display the sections in sequence.

Action-Based Project: This kind of project has a greater purpose in mind — to make a positive change, either doing it themselves or by influencing an authentic audience (i.e., someone or a group in a position to make the change). One example of this is extending the example above, by redrawing the map of the classroom, so that it shows how to make space for a new interest area — then presenting it to the teacher and the entire class to try to convince them, for instance, that they should rearrange one of the interest areas to allow for a puppet theater.

I developed the idea of Action-Based Projects in my work with older students for the California Dept. of Education, but these projects can also be simplified for younger children. For more detailed directions and project examples, see Projects. For a couple more examples of projects, see pp. 31 – 32 in my article Yes, A Balanced Approach, But Let’s Get It Right!

Kids Write To Read

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