When I began teaching Kindergarten, my mentor, Ms. Wynn (the AP of my school) insisted that I use this one piece of curriculum: The Predictable Chart. After using it for just one week, I saw why. The repetition of the sentences encourages fluent reading and sight word recognition. It is also a quick mini-lesson that can take just 10 minutes/day!
The Predictable Chart is simply written in front of the children, as you go, and on Chart Paper. It is a great way to make sentences with the sight words that we are focusing on for the week. Later in the year, I type the sentences for the children to see on the Smartboard, and I have them type in their word to complete the sentence!
This is an example of a completed”Predictable Chart” that I did with my class. “I” and “like” were the sight words that we focused on in this chart.
Day 1 – 3: To begin, the teacher writes the sentence and lists what he/she likes. As you can see, I wrote: “I like coffee.” Then, I wrote my name in parenthesis. Then, I let another student say their sentence, as I write down exactly what he says, emphasizing spaces between words, letter formation, capital and lowercase differences and correct ending marks. This would take almost 30 minutes to go through a class of 20 students, so I go through 5-7 students each day, taking only 3 days for everyone to have a turn.
Day 4: Children (or I) cut apart the sentences and words, for each child and the children put their sentence back together again. I check it and if its correct, they can glue it to construction paper. Then they read the sentence.
Day 5: I have them write their sentence all by themselves. This is a great way to see if they have learned to read the words, as well as write them. Then, each child illustrates their own sentence. When finished, they read their sentences to one another.
This is one of the first Predictable Charts that we did at the start of the school year. I made it interactive and had the children come up one by one and write their own first name.
I usually do the Predictable Chart lesson at the end of my Phonics lesson. It is a good transition that goes right into my Literacy/Reading Lesson or Story of the day.
As I blog hopped over to some other great teachers, I found some more amazing examples of Predictable charts. You can even read the long version of the vital keys of P.Charts! http://mrsosterman.blogspot.com/2011/09/love-love-predictable-charts.html and http://growingkinders.blogspot.com/2010/10/predictable-charts.html and http://www.med.unc.edu/ahs/clds/files/how-to-handouts/PredChartWriting.pdf
References:
“The Teacher’s Guide to Building Blocks” by Dorothy Hall [this is also the book that my mentor insisted I use as the foundation for teaching Kindergarten! It did help me alot, even though it looks outdated and lacking some elements. I still recommend it!]
“Predictable Charts: Shared Writing for Kindergarten and First Grade” by Dorothy Hall
green bean kindergarten 