syntax – The Literacy Brain

Composing Coherent Sentences

Many young writers may get “stuck” or have writer’s block when it comes to putting words on paper. Some of the block comes from their ability to organize verbal words and thoughts into coherent sentences that convey the exact meaning that they are wanting you to understand. Another block maybe that some students can verbalize a complete sentence, but struggle to write the same sentence on paper. Some student block comes from wanting the sentence to be perfect the first time, as many students do not care for the process of editing their writing. In my 20 plus years in education I have yet to met a student who didn’t want to be able write, many need to learn tools to ease the process. This can be a hard and daunting process for many students.

Syntax* is the study of sentence structure. There can be different variations of a sentence. Some sentences may have more or less words than the sentence before or after it. Words in the sentence can be shuffled around and placed in a different order. Some sentences provide more detail. Reading passages with complete sentences may help the writer to better understand how to put sentences together. Reading passages of different writing styles may also increase student writing ability. The writer may also see how word order may change the meaning of the sentence. Learning to write is similar to learning how to speak, as the writer is mimicking the writing of others.

Instruction of writing sentences should begin simple, for example a sentence must have a noun and a verb to be a complete sentence. This usually begins in Pre-K or Kindergarten. The complexity of the sentence should grow with student ability and grade level. Some students will learn through their natural environment how to increase the complexity of a sentence. Most will need to be explicitly taught appropriate grade level techniques and rules of generating a complete sentence.

There are different instructional approaches that can be used to teach students sentence structure. Some are noted below.
1. Use sentence starters. I like ____________. I can ____________.
2. Cut up a sentence into individual words and have students put them in the correct order. Or have students develop sentences using a “word bank” (like flashcards) of many individual words. Then have students write those sentences on paper or whiteboards.
3. Students write a simple sentence, like The boy ran. Then students may add different types of words or detail to make the sentence more complex and interesting, such as adding an adjective about the boy’s age or their hair color.
4. White boards. I often have students generate sentences on whiteboards, while I am modeling a sentence. This helps to keep them engaged. And I can observe student ability and comprehension of the current lesson.
5. Sentence study. Use mentor text that features the style or sentence complexity that you are encouraging students to use in their writing. Discuss the different features of the mentor text. Students can find different parts of a sentence. Students can also diagram sentences.
6. Develop a word list. This can be a simple column of words that help to describe the subject. I like to develop word webs that help to describe the topic. Students can also develop a list of nouns and verbs about the subject. Students use the word lists to generate sentences.
7. Students analyze their writing, editing. Are there capital letters at the beginning of the sentence? Does the sentence end with an appropriate punctuation? Is there a noun and a verb? Could I add a describing word, adverb or adjective? How many nouns does the sentence have? How many verbs does the sentence have?
8. Student sharing. This allows students to use their writing as a model for other students. This may also give other students incentive to begin. In addition, classmates can point out the positive points of their writing.
9. Give students a diagram or word order to use during an exercise. There are many different variations to a sentence, remember start simple then build the complexity of the sentence(s). Here are a few examples that were described by Dr. Laud (2018) in a webinar titled, Vocabulary, sentence, and micro-discourse strategies for writing! Noun + verb; noun + verb + where phrase; noun + adverb + verb + when phrase; adjective + noun + verb + where + but + noun + verb.
10. Teacher modeling, teacher modeling, teacher modeling-use all subject matters to model complete sentences.
11. During collaboration with a student about their writing, I often find a sentence that may need some more detail and ask the student to add a word(s). Not all students are ready for this type of feedback or challenge. In some cases, you may have to assist them or model how you might increase the complexity of the sentence before sending them away to work independently. Other students can also assist students or give them ideas of how they might include other details in their sentence(s) to make the sentence more interesting. This grows student writing ability
12. I often tell students that I want to feel like I am there. This helps to drive the complexity and detail of the sentence. What does it feel like? What does it smell like when I take a breath? What does it look like? What am I hearing? Have them verbal discuss the detail with you or another student. This helps them organize their thoughts and put them on paper. This can be a very hard task for writers!
Learning how to write can be hard, but teaching others how to write may be even harder.

*Pillar 5 of structured literacy instruction is syntax or the study of sentence structure. The principles that dictate the sequence and function of words in a sentence. These principles are also referred to as the mechanics, grammar, and variation of a sentence.

References
Haynes, C. and Laud, L. (2018). Vocabulary, sentence, and micro-discourse strategies for writing! International Dyslexia Association conference webinar.

Instructional Writing Strategies

Writing is hard work! What should I write? What is the topic? Who is my audience? Which words should I use? Should it be first, second, or third person? How long should it be? What is the point or goal of this writing? What is the format? How many sentences does it have to be? What is a paragraph? Students like to know what directions they should head towards and some idea of what the outcome should look like. Each writing assignment or practice may be a different form of writing that has distinct rules for format and language. Most students like their writing to be perfect the first time, as the innate sense to be the best lives within us all. All questions related to writing lend an opportunity to stretch student writing abilities.

When students are learning to write, I like to give them strategies or scaffolds to begin the process. There are many strategies that can be used to teach writing. These strategies should be adjusted as students grow in their writing abilities. Many of the introduced strategies become part of student’s natural writing process. I described several writing strategies in my last blog post. I discuss more below.

1. Read, read, and read some more. Reading different genres or formats of writing. Ideally, this strategy should begin at birth. Students gain vocabulary and background knowledge that helps them to better explain or argue a point. This also allows the reader learn or become familiar with different forms of writing. I haven’t met a student that didn’t enjoy a teacher reading a novel to them.

2. Analyze, examine, consider, and ponder “mentor” or written passages. Ask some of the following questions. What are they trying to say? Why did they use this word? What does this word mean? Does the sentence have to be written this way to provide the author’s anticipated meaning? Why did they introduce all the characters in beginning of the story? Could they have introduced them at a different part in the story? Why did the author write this particular piece of writing in this order? Would a different format of writing convey a better story or message? Can I use their format to improve my writing? If so, steal the format to improve your writing (Culham, 2014).

3. Start simple and expand. Writing begins by handwriting a letter on a paper or other item used to record written language. Stringing individual letters together makes parts of words and words that convey meaning or semantics. Words are joined together to form a sentence that conveys meaning. The “rules” of sentence formation is syntax*, like there has to be a noun and a verb in each sentence. Sentences become passages of writing to convey a larger meaning or point to a subject(s).

4. Use charts, diagrams. These are often used to teach prewriting strategies that can ease the process of learning how to write. I like to use the development of spiderweb or word-web diagrams that look different for each topic, for students beginning to learn the process of writing. You can also develop a list of words related to a topic. I usually model how to use the words of the web or list to develop sentences related to the topic. In a webinar that I just viewed about writing, Dr. Laud (2018) suggested taking the generated words and separating them into nouns and verbs to ease the process of developing sentences. The type and amount that each diagram is used will depend on the level of writing and the students being taught. Students will continue to use diagrams or charts of some sort to develop different types of writing. Most professional writers begin with some type of diagram.

5. Take time to research or better understand the focus of the writing—background knowledge. It is harder to write about something that you know very little about.

6. Ask students questions about their writing. Their answers can initiate their want to make corrections. Their answers can also become sentences in their writing.

7. Collaboration. This can be tough to implement, as most students also need “quiet time” to focus on their writing or the words will never appear on the page. I usually give students the opportunity to collaborate or discuss their writing with a neighbor to encourage the flow of ideas for five minutes or so and then silence. This can be repeated a few times as students are writing. This will depend on the group of students.

8. Time and freedom to practice. Initial drafts are often the hardest part of the writing process. I suggest for reluctant writers that the focus be on getting words on the paper. Strategy 6 may help in getting words on the paper. Then the words and mechanics of the sentence can be massage by the student to convey deeper meaning and reading fluency.

References
Culham, R. (2014). The writing thief: using mentor texts to teach the craft of writing. Newark, DE: International Literacy Association
Haynes, C. and Laud, L. (2018). Vocabulary, sentence, and micro-discourse strategies for writing! International Dyslexia Association conference webinar.

Literacy Instruction

The English language is more opaque than transparent. This makes learning how to read and write the spoken language seem more like taking a walk down a twisty, hard to navigate path that features many unmarked opportunities to walk in other directions. To better navigate the difficult path of learning how to read and write, scholars like Noah Webster simplified and organized literacy instruction. When America was separating from Britain and developing their own education system.

Webster (1790) saw that the strength of the United States was dependent on the education of its youth. He believed that language arts is the center piece of educating America’s youth. His patriotism led him to remold the education of young people. He believed that every young person, no matter their social economic status, sex, or cultural heritage should be educated.

Webster, a teacher while earning his college degree, witnessed that learning literacy was a challenge for the youth of America. Webster set out to improve the separate entities of language, both spoken and written. He simplified and regulated the spelling of words, utilizing didactical marks for punctuation; this method eased the learning of spelling and pronunciation (Webster, 1843). Webster (1843) also noted that spoken language involved the correct articulation of words utilizing an intricate team of the throat, tongue, palate, teeth, and lips. He believed that teachers should be looked upon to model correct articulation and to correct students on the spot in order to ensure correct articulation of words spoken or read.

Webster (1843) also believed that written language was a way to communicate a variety of thoughts, and to be utilized in a global sense that could be transported from place to place. Webster saw grammar as the science of organizing words together, utilizing firm rules that were seen as a model of organized language in order to communicate effectively. He developed and used a systematic, sequential, letter-based or a phonics approach to teaching reading and writing.

Educators today continue to develop instructional curriculum and tools to ease literacy instruction and student practice of literacy. During a recent webinar, I was reminded of an instructional tool that can ease the instruction and learning of spelling vowel sounds. The tool helps to bring better transparency of the English language. This chart titled, The Spelling Chart (Moats/LETRS) was developed by Dr. Lousia Moats. It is part of her literacy instructional program LETRS. The chart displays the different spellings of 19 vowels sounds, like the long ā sound can be spelled as make, rain and vein or the short sound ŭ can be spelled cup, flood and tough.

References
Moats, L. (2019). Hard words: what teachers don’t know about teaching reading and what to do about it, pg 26, the vowel spelling chart. Voyager Sopris Learning, 2019 Webinar Series
Webster, N. (1790). Collection of essays and fugitive writings on moral, historical, political and literary subjects. Boston: Fauet’s Statue.
Webster, N. (1843). An improved grammar of the English language. New York: Webster & Clark

Structured Literacy Teacher, Instructional Knowledge

Structure Literacy Teacher (SLT) is a fairly new label, developed by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), to describe the most effective form of instruction for students identified dyslexic. This type of instruction is also effective for English Second Language (ESL) learners and for other students at-risk for literacy acquisition (Baker et al., 2014; Gersten et al., 2009). Structured literacy instruction should include following instructional principles:

systematic instruction, taught in logical order—builds upon prior knowledge
students should learn the foundational or prerequisite skills of the current lesson
explicit instruction, direct—clearly explained and teacher modeled
scaffolded instruction to match student abilities, providing exact temporary support
interactive discussions about the “new” task
multiple opportunities to practice the new task or skill
monitoring of student achievement through observation, interaction, and formal assessment

Structured literacy instruction includes six pillars or parts of literacy development—oral and written. Structured literacy instruction should begin with Pillar 1, as each is dependent on the previous pillar(s).

Pillar 1 is phonology, the study of spoken sounds (phonemes)—rules of how sounds are encoded, such as why these sounds follow this pattern to form this sound(s). Individuals should have phoneme awareness skills before learning how to read. This is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulated individuals sounds in spoken words. Phoneme awareness is part of phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is the ability to process and manipulate letter sounds, rhyming words, and segmenting of sounds within words. The study of phonology usually increases student ability to spell, pronounce, and comprehend written words.

Pillar 2 is sound-symbol correspondences or the relationship(s) between phoneme(s) and grapheme(s). This may be referred to as phonics instruction that teaches predictable or the constant rules of sound-symbol correspondences to produce written language. At this stage students learn one-on-one correspondence, for example the written letter B represents this phoneme or sound. It is important to note that some letters are represented by more than one sound, depending on the origin and spelling of the word. Students begin decoding and encoding words as they begin to learn the sound-symbol correspondences. Student knowledge of the phoneme(s) and grapheme(s) relationships usually increases student ability to read, comprehend, and spell written language.

Pillar 3 is syllable knowledge, the understanding of the different types of syllables. Syllable knowledge increases the accuracy of language pronunciation and comprehension. Syllable knowledge also increases student decoding and encoding skills. The English language has six major types of syllables that are described in the following chart.

Type of syllable	Example
CVC	cat, log, bit, set, cut
Final e	kite, bone, bake, cute
Open	me, sky, be/gan, mu/sic, fe/ver
Vowel Diagraph	oi-soil, oil; ee-sleep, keep; ea-beat, leak; oa-boat, road; oo-zoom, smooth
r-controlled	ar-car, start; ir-girl, swirl; er-her, flower; ur-fur, burn; or-fork, corn
Constant-le	marble, puddle, bugle, maple, little

Pillar 5 of structured literacy instruction is syntax or the study of sentence structure. The principles that dictate the sequence and function of words in a sentence. These principles are also referred to as the mechanics, grammar, and variation of a sentence. Pillar 4 is morphology that is the study of the smallest units of meaning or morphemes. Morphology focuses on how parts of meaning fit together to form words and new meaning. Word analysis helps students to learn the meaning(s) of morphemes and how the word parts conclude its meaning. Word analysis also increases student background knowledge, which increases student ability to comprehend written passages.

The more common parts of a sentence.

Parts of a sentence	Definition	Examples
Verb	describes the action	bark, ran, call, like
Adverb	modifies a verb, helps to clarify or further define a verb	warmly, quiet, loudly, today, outside
Noun	person, place or thing	house, dog, car, book
Adjective	modifies a noun, adjusts the meaning or further defines the noun to clarify meaning	beautiful, dark, old
Article	determiners, modifies and precedes a noun	a, an, the
Preposition	usually precedes a noun and in relation to another word in the clause	at, in, on, with, for, about, of, after
Conjunction	connecting words, they connect clauses and sentences	and, but, if

Pillar 6 of structured literacy is semantics or study of the meaning of words, symbols, and units of words. A person’s lexicon stores the meaning of words, symbols, and units of words—vocabulary. People begin to develop their lexicon at birth. Individuals attach meaning to tones of sound. These meanings are adjusted as individuals are introduced to new tones or meanings. Individuals transfer the meaning of tones (voice) to symbols (print) as they learn how to read and write. To better understand words and groups of words teachers often use concept maps to examine the definition of a word. Students identify the related synonyms and antonyms of the word. Students often identify or attach pictures to a word or groups of words. Semantics assist in attaching inferred meaning to written and oral verbiage. Semantics can include morphology.

You can find details about becoming a certified Structured Literacy Teacher on the IDA website.

References

Baker, S., Lesaux, N., Jayanthi, M., Dimino, J., Proctor, C.P., Morris, J., Gersten, R., Haymond, K., Kieffer, M.J., Linan-Thompson, S., & Newman-Gonchar, R. (2014). Teaching academic content and literacy to English learners in elementary and middle school (NCEE 2014-4012). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications_reviews.aspx.

Gersten, R., Compton, D., Connor, C.M., Dimino, J., Santoro, L., Linan-Thompson, S., & Tilly, W.D. (2009). Assisting students struggling with reading: Response to intervention and multi-tier intervention for reading in the primary grades, a practice guide (NCEE 2009-4045). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/.

Structure Literacy, Pillars 5 & 6

Pillar 5 of structured literacy instruction is syntax or the study of sentence structure. The principles that dictate the sequence and function of words in a sentence. These principles are also referred to as the mechanics, grammar, and variation of a sentence. The more common parts of a sentence are:

Verb-describes the action
Adverb-modifies a verb, helps to clarify or further define a verb Example: warmly, quiet, loudly, today, outside

Noun-person, place or thing
Adjective-modifies a noun, adjusts the meaning or further defines the noun to better clarify the meaning Example: beautiful, dark, old

Article-modify a noun, like an adjective Example: a, an, the
Preposition-usually precedes a noun and in relation to another word Example: at, in, on, with, for, about, after, of
Conjunction-connecting words, they connect clauses and sentences Example: and, but, if One form of syntax is sentence diagramming.

commons.wikimedia.org

Pillar 6 of structured literacy is semantics or study of the meaning of words, symbols, and units of words. A person’s lexicon stores the meaning of words, symbols, and units of words—vocabulary. People begin to develop their lexicon at birth. Individuals attach meaning to tones of sound. These meanings are adjusted as individuals are introduced to new tones or meanings. Individuals transfer the meaning of tones (voice) to symbols (print) as they learn how to read and write. To better understand words and groups of words teachers often use concept maps to examine the definition of a word. Students identify the related synonyms and antonyms of the word. Students often identify or attach pictures to a word or groups of words. Semantics assist in attaching inferred meaning to written and oral verbiage. Semantics can include morphology.

References

Birsh, J.R. (2011). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Pub Co.

Henry, Marcia K. (2010). Unlocking literacy effective decoding and spelling instruction. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Pub Co.

International Dyslexia Association, dyslexiaida.org/what-is-structured-literacy/

Moats, L. (2000). Speech to print. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Pub Co.

Tag: syntax

Composing Coherent Sentences

Instructional Writing Strategies

Literacy Instruction

Structured Literacy Teacher, Instructional Knowledge

Structure Literacy, Pillars 5 & 6

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