Oral Writing: Speaking Essays

Once your students are fluently speaking in paragraphs, they can begin to speak ESSAYS!  This is where  the wonderful Triple Whammy Sentence comes into play, previously known as the Triple Gold Sentence.  You can read more about this, and the very important CLINKERS, HERE in one of my old blog posts. 

The Triple Whammy is a topic sentence frame that can fit any subject or material you are currently working on, and its purpose is to guide the format of the entire essay.  Start with practicing micro-essays orally with your students, and then it will be an easier transition into a 5 paragraph essay.  For those that think, "My students can't even WRITE an essay properly, there's no way I can get them to SPEAK them!" let me share with you the reality that our students don't write well because we do not give them enough PRACTICE!  We all know that our students speak how they write, so if we teach them to speak essays, and give them daily opportunities to practice them through Oral Writing, our students actual writing will  substantially improve!

Micro- Essay Format: 

• Triple Whammy Topic Sentence  ________, ________ and ________.
• Two Adders about first part
• Two Adders about second part
• Two adders about third part
• Concluder

5 Paragraph Essay Format: 

• Introduction with Triple Whammy Topic Sentence ________, ________ and ________.
• Paragraph about first part
• Paragraph about second part 
• Paragraph about third part
• Conclusion

*Remember that a paragraph should have at least 3 sentences!

The color coding helps students organize their essay even more.  I use the Triple Whammy with a baseball theme, the Phillies of course, to help students keep track of where they are in their essay as they speak it.  I put matching color coded bases (square papers glued unto magnets) on the board in the shape of a diamond under the Triple Whammy Sentence.  I found a picture of our team's mascot, the Phillies Phanatic, and glued him to a magnet as well.  As students speak their paragraphs, a chosen student leader moves the Phanatic to the base that corresponds to the part a particular student is on in their essay.  This baseball theme is where the whole "Let's Go ____! Let's Go!" originated.  Every Friday we have a  Phillies Phanatic Triple Whammy Review segment where we review material from the week, using different topic sentence frames.

For many students, talking about personal subject matter will make it easier to string adders together to create essays.  Here are some personal essay Triple Whammy starters:

Recess is _____ because _____, ______, ______.

My favorite sport is ________ because ________, _______, and ______.

Our class is the best because ________, _______ and ________.

I love my family because ________, ________, ________.

Three qualities that describe me are ________, ________, ______.

Three things I am good at are _______, _______, _______.

My favorite subject in school is _______ because _______, ______ and ______.

Here are some other open ended sample topic sentence frames, or essay frames that you start with for school subject matter.  Notice the magic rule of three:

The three most important points in Chapter ____ were _____, _______, and ______.

Three things I can interpret from the diagram  are _______, ________, ________.

Three things I learned today are ________, _______ and ________.

Three things that cause _______ are ______, _______ and _______.

Three details from the poem that show ________ are ________, ________, and _____.

The author thinks _______because ______, ______, and ______.

I like to use Triple Whammies for review orally, but now I also use them heavily for typical writing assignments.  We do a written 5 paragraph essay at least once a week.  After reading a chapter a day, this week I finished reading aloud The Bad Beginning, the first book in A Series of Unfortunate Events.  For their writing assignment, I wrote this Triple Whammy sentence on the board:

 The Bad Beginning, written by Lemony Snicket, was _____________ because ________, ________ and ________.

The students took out their slates and began to write similes or metaphors to use in their Triple Whammy Essays.  Once I approved theirs, they went on to complete their Triple Whammy sentences, being sure to have a partner check that they didn't have any CLINKERS. This is ALL we did on the first day.  Since the Triple Whammy guides the entire essay, I give them the time to make sure they are properly constructed.

Here is a sample Triple Whammy written by a Mid-level student:

The Bad Beginning, written by Lemony Snicket, was as dreadful as a nightmare because the Baudelaire's parents died, the children had to live with an evil man, and Sunny was trapped in a high tower.

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These are just some ideas to get you started, but you will find that it will be very easy to create Triple Whammy sentences that relate to the material you are working on in class.  Remember that the key is to PRACTICE!  Oral Writing should be integrated into EVERY part of your day.  If you have any open ended Triple Whammy sentence  frames you would like to share, please leave them in a comment!  The next post in this series will discuss citing evidence and using quotes in paragraphs.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Encouraging Classroom Confidence

I am not getting sidetracked from the Oral Writing Series, in fact I am addressing an issue that goes hand in hand with implementing Oral Writing in the classroom.  Whole Brain Teaching forces students to be vocal and animated, which for many shy students is intimidating.  Students do not like to participate because they do not like to fail.  If you create a supportive classroom environment where students  aren't able to fail,  then students will automatically gain more confidence.

"YOU'RE STILL COOL!"

Imagine a classroom where making a mistake means you hear a positive affirmation about yourself.  In a WBT classroom this is a regular occurrence.  Anytime I need to correct a student, I first give the gesture (like an "it's okay, no problem" wave) and the students exclaim enthusiastically, "You're still cool!"  After hearing that, many  times students realize the mistake and self correct on their own, but it really prevents the students from feeling bad about themselves.  Many of my students tend to forget they have this helpful rule, so while reading the Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids manual, I took note of the reminder to cue the class for the student by saying "Help him/her!"" I remember when I used to be in school and someone gave the wrong answer, you would hear snickers, smirks or "I can't believe she didn't know that"!  A WBT classroom is a place where it is okay to make mistakes or be given direction.   Heck, even I hear "Your still cool," several times a day, and it makes me feel SO cool :)

"HELP ME!"

Just like you get stuck sometimes while writing, it is natural for students to also find themselves stuck when giving oral answers!  A student might raise their hand and completely lose their train of thought, or you may call on a student and they are completely lost!  Instead of sitting there awkwardly in front of the class, teach them to simply say "Help me!" and throw their arms up.  That is the cue for the class to start throwing out suggestions aloud to answer the question.  The student will then find themselves with a multitude of hints to help them get "unstuck" and answer the question. In general, students will have more confidence participating and answering questions because they know they've got the support of their peers.

"AIIEE!  YOU FELL OFF TOPIC!"

 Some students get nervous when called upon, and ramble on and on about things unrelated to the question.  Other students like the spotlight and simply enjoy hearing themselves speak!  Regardless, students need to learn to stay ON topic  and answer questions confidently while keeping their answers focused.  All sentences in a paragraph must relate to the topic, and so the same rules apply with Oral Writing.  When students are answering a question, walk your fingers down your arm for each adder that stays on topic.  As soon as a sentence seems to veer off into left field, exclaim "AIIEE" and have your fingers bungee jump off your arm and return.  Students will repeat the gesture and say "Oh no! You fell off topic!" This is also great practice for students to decipher as a listener when a sentence is not directly related to the sentence before it.  If you train your students to fine tune their ears to  spot out when something in incorrect, it will be easier for them to prevent those same mistakes!  Part of being confident, is believing that you know what you are talking about, and having additional practice in this area will only help with student confidence!

"LET'S GO ____!  LET'S GO!

 This idea isn't a WBT thing, but it was something my class came up with for our Phillies Fridays and it became a staple due to popular demand.  When students stand, it is now suggested that we use  "All eyes on ____ " to get all students to focus their attention on one particular person. Students then respond with "All eyes on _____".   However,  immediately after we now  go into the sports chant, "Let's go _____.  Let's Go! Let's go _____. Let's Go!"  It instantly amps students up, and gives them that extra boost of belief in themselves to answer the question.  

Many times shy students feel safer in a partner setting such as in "Teach- Okay".  When rotating around to listen in on student answers and gauge their understanding, zero in on those "shy" students who try and be invisible when it comes time to share out to the class.  Whisper to that student that you may have them share their great answer to the class, so that they begin to prepare themselves.  Once they hear their classmates cheering them on, you see their enthusiasm and confidence instantly appear!  Wouldn't you have wanted  your own cheer squad back when you were in school?

 ***

These techniques can help students participate more and help them become more sure of themselves and their answers.  Make your room failure free, encourage peer support, and give as many opportunities for your students to hear positive affirmations about themselves.  This will give ALL your students the ability to soar.  

What techniques do you use  to encourage classroom confidence?  Please share!

Oral Writing Part 2: Speaking in Paragraphs

Once your students can answer questions in complete sentences AND add a detail sentence (Adder), your students are ready for the next challenge: Speaking in paragraphs!  Begin by having students consistently give at least 2-3 Adders to help support their answer or provide more information about their answer.  Going back to my example with Maria, the next progression into Oral Writing should follow this pattern:

QUESTIONS --> ANSWER --> ADDERS

QUESTION

"Who is the main character of the story?"

ANSWER

 "The main character of the story is Maria."

ADDER    
                                

"Maria is a very compassionate person."

ADDER 

"She is compassionate because she likes to help the other characters in the story."

ADDER

"For example, when Nathan is lost and can't find his way, Maria uses a map to get him there."

CONCLUDER

"In conclusion, the main character is Maria, who is very kind."

In Math and Science, students constantly need to explain their reasoning for an answer, so Oral Writing fits right into EVERY subject!  

Problem: 36 inches = ____ feet

Thirty- six inches equals how many feet?

Thirty- six inches equals three feet.

I know this because when I go from a smaller unit to a larger unit, I divide.

For example, there are twelve inches in one foot, so I divided thirty- six by twelve.

The number twelve goes into the number thirty- six three times.

To sum up, 36 inches = 3 feet.

This model can be differentiated and used at ANY level.  As Coach B. states from experience, "Even kindergarteners can speak in paragraphs!"

Who is your favorite character in the story?

My favorite character was Maria.

She was my favorite because she was really nice to everyone.

Maria was nice because she liked to help people.

For example, she helped Nathan when he was lost.

In conclusion, Maria was my favorite character.

5+5=__

What does five plus five equal?

Five plus five equals ten.

The answer is ten because if you have five things and add five more things, you get ten when you count them all together.

For example, I have 5 fingers up and if I put five more fingers up, I will count 10 fingers altogether.

In conclusion, 5+5= 10.

Important Adders:

Because:  The gesture for 'because' is clapping your hands once as the student says the word.  We should use because to make our beliefs stronger! This word is so important because it alerts others that evidence is about to be given to support their answer.  In this transfer to Common Core, we all know how important evidence is!  The WBT definition for evidence is "information you use to prove what you are saying is right." You should practice WEAK evidence and STRONG evidence often.  The BEST way to introduce these concepts to your class is to go to WholeBrainTeaching.com and use the FREE PDF's where Coach B. teaches your class everything they need to know about using because and giving good evidence (and even counter evidence!) while using oral writing.  Sign in, click on Free E-books and then download "How We Should Use Because" and "What is Evidence", to get started!

Example Popper:  The gesture is to act like you are pulling an idea from the top of your head.  This adder should always be followed by a comma (For example,...).  It is necessary for students to give specific examples to further explain their point.  Many test prep questions ask for students to be able to give examples using the reading, so it should be part of our daily teaching practice to require it from students. It also forces them to dig a little deeper.  If you want a student to provide a specific example to support their answer, simply do the gesture for an example popper and they should again RESPOND IN A COMPLETE SENTENCE.  We must always have students critically think when forming and justifying their answers.

Concluder: The gesture to get a student to give their concluding sentence is the "safe" signal in baseball.  This is where the student paraphrases everything they have stated in their answer, in one closing sentence.  Teach students to use "In conclusion," or "To sum up,"in the beginning of their concluder.




There you have it!  It may seem like an impossible task to get your students to speak in paragraphs, but PRACTICE and it will eventually become the standard in your classroom.  If students get stuck or feel shy at first using Oral Writing, the next blog post will address creating confidence in our students the WBT way! There are also a number of additional Adders (Conjunction Adders, Adjective Adders, Preposition Adders, etc.) that are introduced and explained in the book, so purchase it and read the BONUS chapter to learn some more ways to make your student's Oral Writing even spicier! Of course you will not always need  your students to respond in complete paragraphs all the time;it will really depend on the question.  The gestures are there for you to cue students to give you additional information, when you deem it necessary.  The next post in the Oral Writing series will give you ideas of how to use different sentence frames to get answers that use critical thinking and require paragraph answers.

Oral Writing: VIDEO

This video is an example of how Oral Writing can be used in your classroom, once you have  begun using it in your room on a regular basis.  Students use Oral Writing and  Air Punctuation to create a 5 paragraph essay about what makes our city, Philadelphia,  an amazing city.  Stay tuned to the Oral Writing Series to learn how to incorporate these techniques and more in your own classroom!

Oral Writing Part 1: The Basics

Oral Writing has transformed the way my students write and speak.  It is not designated to only parts of the day or instruction, it is an ongoing practice that can be used for any subject ALL day.  If you want your students to speak in precise and organized paragraphs, begin this WBT technique in your classroom NOW!  Even in two months time I promise you will see improvement!

Oral writing begins with requiring ALL students at ALL times to speak in complete sentences.  If you ask your students "Who is the main character of the story?", only accept answers that are in a complete sentence and use words from the question (many know this as TAG):

                                     Question --> Answer

                       "Who is the main character of the story?"

                       "The main character of the story is Maria."

If students do not answer in a complete sentence, do not become frustrated or scold them for not following directions, simply cuff your hand to your ear with a smile which will send them the instant message to answer in a complete sentence.  When students begin answering in complete sentences as second nature, increase your expectations!  Students love to give the bare minimum for their answers, but the beauty of the Adder will require them to add a detail sentence and dive a little deeper!  In  the book, Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids, it says, "Adders are defined as any sentence that adds information to a previous sentence". When you want a detail sentence from a student, point your forefingers together and spin them in circles.  The whole class will also make the Adder gesture and the student will be required to add more information to their answer.  

                          Question--> Answer --> Adder

                                          
                   "Who is the main character of the story?"

                   "The main character of the story is Maria."
                                    
                    "Maria is a very compassionate person."



Air Punctuation Basics

• To prevent students from rambling on and creating run-on sentences, the period gesture is the sound of hitting the brakes "eeerrt!"  Students should also use this to routinely signify their periods. 
• An exclamation point  is signified by raising an arm up in a fist and bringing it down with a "YES!" 
• A question mark is signified by shrugging your shoulders and saying "HUH?" 
• The gesture for a capital letter  is placing one hand on the other and stretching the top hand upwards to signify a large letter.
• Quotation marks are made by making air quotes with your index and middle finger with both hands (More on quotations later in this Oral Writing series!)

I am going to be honest; having students answer EVERYTHING in complete sentences took some getting used to!  In Math, when I asked a simple question as part of a larger problem and the students took the extra time to answer in complete sentences, I began to think it took up too much time to get through the problem!  Then it hit me, Don't we want students to constantly repeat material so it builds dendrites?  If we are rushing through lessons, doesn't that say something in itself?  As teachers we must remember that the students NEED the extra time to process our lessons, and oral writing is yet another way for students to think through their answers.  The goal is for our students to begin speaking in paragraphs, but when first introducing Oral Writing to your class, use the pattern above.  Once students answer questions routinely, complete the diagram to include Adders.  It may seem like this will be a daunting task for your class, but I guarantee if you are consistent and have FUN with Oral Writing, it will become automatic in a short amount of time!  Be prepared to spend a great deal of time the first few days stopping to make EVERY student fix their answers so that it is in a complete sentence.  Do NOT introduce adders until students have mastered the basic question -->answer pattern.

Next in this series:  Oral Writing: Speaking in Paragraphs
For more on Oral Writing, read Chapter 30 in Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids (it sneaks in on page 201).

Our 7 Basic Blunders

Let's face it; we as teachers are far from perfect.  The problem isn't that we aren't all the ideal image of a teacher but it is that we make basic blunders which create a challenging dynamic in our classroom.  Having challenging students is often our OWN fault and until we begin to focus on blasting these blunders, we will spend more time on behavior management than on actual teaching!

 The beauty of Whole Brain Teaching is that all the mistakes have been found for us and it is simply our job to self evaluate ourselves and transform our teaching through the researched methods- it all must begin with eliminating these 7 blunders:

1.  STOP YELLING
Let's be honest, we all know it doesn't truly work and all it does is exhaust us. Our students get yelled at a lot at home, does this make their behavior any better in school? No!  Learn to control your emotions by controlling the tone of your voice.  Take a few breaths first if you have to, because as soon as they can see that you are frustrated, they already have gotten the best of you.

2. DON'T CALL STUDENTS OUT
Students don't like to be "called out".  If you do it in front of other students, they are almost always going to react in a way that challenges you.  If you give them the spotlight, they will push every button they know how to in front of their audience.  Every so often I make the mistake of doing this with a  student, and all it does is create a situation where I become MORE frustrated by their behavior.  I always prefer to make sure the class is on task and then pull the student out in the hallway to speak with them in a CALM voice (back to blunder #1).  I always like to use the word "disappointed' to describe how I feel about their behavior and more often than not, they are apologetic.  They never like to make this dear teacher unhappy!

3. BE CONSISTENT AND ORGANIZED
Our kids know when we aren't fully prepared for a lesson.  They also know when we make idle threats.    Students CRAVE structure and giving it to them will create a constructive classroom!  You must have  consistent expectations and consequences for ALL students.  In my classroom, students know that there are specific procedures to follow, and WBT has really taken their level of independence to another level because they know what they are required to do and how to do it!  We have special Podcast WalkKits (from TheWalkingClassroom.org) and students self manage getting them and putting them away in specific number order.  Have students continually practice the right and wrong ways to follow procedures, and you won't have to waste time with challenging behavior.

4.  SQUASH THE NEGATIVITY
You all know those teachers who are miserable and can't stand their profession.  Being around those people is a drag because you can't help but feel brought down by their constant complaints and negativity.  Imagine being in that person's classroom!  Students can pick up the slightest change in our facial expressions and tone.  If I come to work exhausted or in a negative mood, my student's energy instantly matches my own.  If we are not happy to be at work everyday, our students will not be happy to come either!  When I feel the need to brighten the mood, I ping pong the Scoreboard to get the whole class on a contagious level of high energy first thing in the morning!  I'm telling you it works!

5. OVER PREPARE
We are not in one of those professions where we can separate our job from home.  Most of the time we wouldn't be able to survive without bringing our jobs home in the form of paperwork and grades!  As teachers, we are our best selves when we prepare outside of class.  I have two young daughters at home so I often stay late after work or come in early to get what I need to get done.  When I don't set aside the time to prepare, I am frazzled and disorganized which only begs for challenging behavior from my students.  We also need to reflect on what goes wrong in the classroom in order to revise and refine!

6.  INVITE YOUR STUDENTS INTO YOUR WORLD
We cannot expect our students to be like we were in school.  You WILL have students that are more challenging than others, but how you view them makes all of the difference.  If you allow yourself to view them negatively, then their negative behaviors will shine through.  Invite your students to enter your world by inviting them to a more positive view of their true potential.

7.  "GROW OR DIE"
If you are satisfied at where you are  as a teacher, you are most likely STUCK.  So many teachers are afraid to step into the world of Whole Brain Teaching because it means stepping outside of their comfort level.  Once you begin to practice the strategies, you will confidently use them and strike out any challenging behavior that comes your way.  If you are dealing with a challenging class, obviously what you are doing is NOT working and it is time to reinvent yourself.  The hardest part is putting yourself out there,  but once you do you will reap the rewards immediately!  If you are not willing to grow, how can you expect your students to grow?

Chapter three was a wonderful reminder that WE are responsible for the challenging behaviors in our class.  Until we are willing to realize that, the challenging behaviors will not change.  Once you face these blunders directly, you will be ready to embark on the journey to Whole Brain Teaching the RIGHT way!  My next blog will be on how we can chart our own growth and see how we are managing our student's challenging behavior!

I'm BAACCKK! UPDATES and ANNOUNCEMENTS!

 I am one of those people that are constantly thinking, "Oh!  I can blog about this!" all throughout the day.  Unfortunately when it comes down to it, by the end of the day I never blog because I feel like I have to create a long, formal, detailed presentation. The reality is that most teachers are Post-it using, on- the- go creatures.  I decided that in order to blog more often, I will have to allow myself to  use my blog as a place where I also can simply post little tidbits of my day!

 In my new role as the 5th grade certification mentor, I have committed to blogging at least once a week.  If you like the page, you will be able to help decide each week's  topic!  My blog is not limited to 5th grade advice,everything is relevant to all grades and can be fit to meet different grade levels.  If you are a 5th grade teacher and looking for help with certification and all things WBT, then introduce yourself on this  page, 5th Grade Certification on Facebook, and message your email so that I can add you to our mass email  list.

In other VERY exciting news, Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids was recently released on Amazon!  I already received my copy and I want to blog about about certain chapters as I go along.  I like having a hard copy reference I can quickly flip to.  If you are on your journey to certification, you get a 25 CP bonus just for linking techniques to the material in the book!  Here is the link to go get one yourself: Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Students.

Lastly, Coach B. added three more PDF's on the Whole Brain Teaching website!  They are available under "Free Ebooks" in the Common Core section:  What is a Sentence?  What is a Prediction? WBT Introduction.  I've used all of the PDF's posted so far and my students love them!  The topics are ones that have already been covered earlier in the year but they are GREAT for review at any time..  I am already thinking about how amazingly easy these PDF's will make my teaching next year!  The favorite parts are the visual examples and the fully prepared QT tests :)

I look forward to jump starting my blogging.  Again, if you have any topic suggestions,  please post them on the 5th Grade Certification link above.  Wibb on!