Dictation Practice

One of the skills we continue to assess is a student's ability to properly write a sentence they are told.  We use dictations to check that students are using all of the skills they have been taught since kindergarten. Students are graded on punctuation, spelling,  and capitalization.  We expect students to be apply the knowledge they have been taught in class.  Students are expected to start with capitals, add commas, quotes, and ending punctuation. We also will use sight words in the sentences. 

Dictation promotes many skills at once:
* writing (accuracy: spelling, punctuation)
* listening
* vocabulary
* grammar

Every other week on their spelling test there are two lines where students record the two sentences that they are told. If you child is struggling with this, it is an easy skill to practice at home. Simply speak a sentence to your child and see if they can write it correctly. They can also dictate their favorite songs!

Please review over the dictation sections with your child if they are struggling. One of the common mistakes involves quotes. Students sometimes forget to start with a capital and add a comma after the talking tag. Another thing is putting a question mark after a question. Many students end with a period. 

We want to hold students accountable for their writing and hope all the skills they learn will always transfer into their writings. :)