1st Grade Narration Question

[Veritas4]

I'm new here (well not new to reading all of your post :-)

 

My oldest is in 1st grade and I was wondering how important is it for me to copy her narration. We discuss what I am or she is reading, but I can't write as fast as she talks. So we do narration, but do I really need to copy everything she tells me.

Thank you!

Mary Ann

[trying my best]

I am interested in seeing what other saying :)

maybe she can write herself?

[OregonNative]

My son is in first and we started with narration and copywork. Narration is only done orally now and copywork is in the trash.

[Mama2two]

I don't write down everything, we do mostly oral narration. We have a few special projects that I write down. He is making a Aesop book and I write down his narrations and he also draws the picture. He is also doing the same thing with bible stories and making a history scrapbook. For most reading for literature I don't write it down though

[TKDmom]

When I do formal narrations with my 1st grader, I just ask for one thing that he remembers. I can manage to keep up with him for just one sentence. But the important part is not writing it down. It's more important to help him form his thoughts into coherent, complete sentences. When I'm writing down narrations, I'm more likely to demand coherent thoughts, but if you can do it orally, there's nothing wrong with that.

[KrissiK]

When we do narrations, I try to get the kids to be concise. They don't tell everything about what we just read. I try to get them to tell me one thing they remember, and then maybe a detail about that one thing. And yes, I do write it down.

[FairProspects]

I do write it down and read it back to ds so he can hear how it sounds. I also usually have him illustrate the narration somehow. I use this handy paper for all our narrations:

 

http://abcteach.com/directory/basics/handwriting/writing_paper_with_room_for_drawings/

 

I think one of the purposes of narration is not only to summarize orally, but also to see the summary written with proper spelling and conventions, which in turn reinforces the written copywork.

 

This has paid off in a big way even inferentially - yesterday when copying a Bible verse that began with "and" ds balked and said that wasn't right, that it couldn't be the beginning because you can't start with "and". Since we have not yet addressed the rule that sentences don't begin with a preposition, he must have picked it up informally from hearing and seeing proper writing through copywork/narration (he is not yet an independent reader).

[Cindyz]

 

I think one of the purposes of narration is not only to summarize orally, but also to see the summary written with proper spelling and conventions, which in turn reinforces the written copywork.

 

 

 

I agree. I always write his narration. I have him look it over to make sure that I did it correctly. I will often make a "mistake" for him to find and correct. For instance, I may "forget" to capitalize a name, or to put a period at the end of a sentence or I may put a question mark instead of a period. I'll also sometimes have him copy his own narration for his notebook.

[redsquirrel]

When you say you can't write it all down...makes me suspect you have a dumper. Is she saying so much, so fast that it just goes on? Is she pretty much repeting what was just read to her? My older son was like that and it could be hard to reign him in. He would retell the whole thing. Our first job was getting him to a place where he understood that retelling isn't narration.

 

THe point of narration at that young age is to keep it short and focused. It should be easy to write it down. I wouldn't expect more than three complete and focused sentences from a first grader. I might get more but I would be happy with three if they were complete and made sense.

 

Make sure it is in complete sentences and it is following some logical order. If it is word for word what was read play "let's think of another word for...."

 

Are you using SOTW activity guide? That has great guidelines for narrations from little ones. It even gives some general examples of what a narration might look like.

[Veritas4]

When you say you can't write it all down...makes me suspect you have a dumper. Is she saying so much, so fast that it just goes on? Is she pretty much repeting what was just read to her? My older son was like that and it could be hard to reign him in. He would retell the whole thing. Our first job was getting him to a place where he understood that retelling isn't narration.

 

Thank you for all the suggestions. I see I do have a "dumper" and need to reign her in. I also see I needed the reminder of what narration is and isnt.

[Desert Strawberry]

This is a very helpful thread. I have never written my son's narration down. It never occurred to me. Now I see the value in it.

Thanks!

[redsquirrel]

Narration is prep for writing. A child who can narrate well stands a good chance of becoming a skilled writer. If you don't know what the goal is, you don't know what you are asking for. They go from narrating a couple sentences to a narrating a paragraph to writing a couple sentences to writing a paragraph. It is a slow process and that is fine. Slow and steady.

 

I wrote my older son's narrations for years and years. I expect to do the same with my younger. That is fine with me. The narrations are great. If it takes them time to develop the physical dexterity to write it out, then so be it. As long as they don't start dreading writing I am fine with it. As a 5th grader my son now writes all the time.

 

I strongly suggest the SWB audio lecture entitles something like "teaching writing: a focus on the elementary years." I also think SOTW activity guides (along with SOTW) are an amazing narration resource.

 

It really is tiny steps.

 

I swear with narration it is feast or famine. I much prefer my dumping kids to my friend's hardly-get-a-grunt-out kids. At least mine give me something to work with.