1. Date and Reflection

The Proficiency in Sentence Writing Strategy training provided several additional tips and ideas that I can use to increase student engagement and make the strategy feel more active and meaningful in my classroom. I especially appreciated the practical suggestions for incorporating movement, repetition, and quick review activities rather than relying solely on traditional written practice.

One idea that particularly caught my attention was using a FANBOYS cheer to help students remember the coordinating conjunctions. My special education co-teacher is also our school's cheer coach, so I may be able to convince the cheer team to create and record a short FANBOYS cheer that we could use with students. I think this could be a fun and memorable way to reinforce the strategy while giving students a different way to interact with the material.

We are also planning to create a wheel of formulas that we can use for quick activities at the end of class. Students could spin the wheel and complete a sentence-writing task based on the formula selected. This would provide a simple way to build frequent review into our classes without making it feel like another formal assignment. The training gave me several practical ideas for making sentence writing more engaging while still maintaining the structure and consistency that make the strategy effective.

I am excited to use this strategy in my Read 180 class. 

3/6/24 (date of session)

Beneficial information regarding scoring student writing samples. 

We found the scoring videos to be extremely helpful.  The quizzes will be helpful with the fidelity of the program. 

Classes @ ETSU

In 1991, I taught this to my middle school students. The structure and routine of the sentence writing strategy gave my students what they needed to have success with writing. In 2017 some 26 years later, I have taken Proficiency in Sentence Writing again. It was so nice even for me to see the familiar set up of modeling by the teacher, cue cards, student verbal rehearsal, etc. all came back to me! Big difference is that this time presenters were using computers and projectors and not the old overheads that were used the last time I took it! 

Enjoyed this PD and know that it will make an impact. Completed with Pam Leitzell
Completed on July 28, 2016

I attended a two day conference in October 2017 at JMU in Harrisonburg, Va.  I was very impressed with the strategy and knew it would be a great to teach it to our struggling writers.

Attended Proficiency in the Sentence Writing Strategy - parts 1 and 2 - with Susan and Julie.  Examined the stages (especially stages 2-5), PENS mnemonic, verbal practice checklists, sentence progress charts, and more. Assessed sentence lessons, a sample paper with the sentence score sheet, and and collaboratively completed a FRAME.