WWE question.

[Mynyel]

I have just started this over the last few weeks. We started with WWE 3... it was a tad to difficult for ds10. He couldn't spell most of the words in dictation and couldn't read most of the passages on his own.

 

So we went down to WWE 2. Much better in everything but narration. He is really struggling with this. Now granted it has only been 3 lessons but he still has this deer in the headlight look when I ask what the story was about.

 

So I am wondering... would using narration from WWE 1 and the rest in WWE 2 be acceptable? Would that even work?

[QuirkyKidAcademy]

Sounds similar to my experience with my DS10. :bigear:

[justLisa]

Definitely back up to WWE2. Is it that he cannot give you a solid narration with complete sentences? It took a long time for DS to be able to just start off with trying to form his narration the first time.

 

What I do, is ask the questions, then talk with him about what are the few main ideas we want to mention. He has excellent ideas, but sometimes will include too many details or speak in run on sentences. So I tell him those are great thoughts, now lets see how we can combine them to make a great sentence....remember a sentence is a complete thought with proper punctuation, has a subject and a predicate. Don't worry about how long it takes you both to figure out together a good sentence. Have you read SWB lecture on teaching writing? It really made me feel much better. It is not expected they can just do this in one day.

 

He is so good at this now, and is very proud of his works. We have used WWE2 this entire year, and it has been only the past 2-3 months that he is able to give me a narration in sentence format, not just like he's having a conversation....if that makes sense. Now we are combining WWE2 skills and WWE3 and he is reading on his own and narrating to me.

 

ETA: I notice you say "when you ask him what the story was about." Are you just asking straight up or reading the questions? It is only now after one full year that I can ask DS that and he has a good idea. Also, WWE3 passages are pretty tough reads. DS reads it, and then if he has trouble we reread parts together. It's totally ok to go at whatever pace keeps frustration at bay, and give as MUCH help as needed. If you are not already, I would ask the questions following the passage and throroughly discuss the main ideas and what it was about. Even if this means you feed him much of the information at the start. I even started sentences for DS or gave ideas of something I thought would be a good sentence, and then he would repeat it back to me sometimes a little different in his own words. I did this often at the beginning.

Edited June 3, 2012 by 425lisamarie

[Mynyel]

Definitely back up to WWE2. Is it that he cannot give you a solid narration with complete sentences? It took a long time for DS to be able to just start off with trying to form his narration the first time.

 

What I do, is ask the questions, then talk with him about what are the few main ideas we want to mention. He has excellent ideas, but sometimes will include too many details or speak in run on sentences. So I tell him those are great thoughts, now lets see how we can combine them to make a great sentence....remember a sentence is a complete thought with proper punctuation, has a subject and a predicate. Don't worry about how long it takes you both to figure out together a good sentence. Have you read SWB lecture on teaching writing? It really made me feel much better. It is not expected they can just do this in one day.

 

He is so good at this now, and is very proud of his works. We have used WWE2 this entire year, and it has been only the past 2-3 months that he is able to give me a narration in sentence format, not just like he's having a conversation....if that makes sense. Now we are combining WWE2 skills and WWE3 and he is reading on his own and narrating to me.

 

ETA: I notice you say "when you ask him what the story was about." Are you just asking straight up or reading the questions? It is only now after one full year that I can ask DS that and he has a good idea. Also, WWE3 passages are pretty tough reads. DS reads it, and then if he has trouble we reread parts together. It's totally ok to go at whatever pace keeps frustration at bay, and give as MUCH help as needed. If you are not already, I would ask the questions following the passage and throroughly discuss the main ideas and what it was about. Even if this means you feed him much of the information at the start. I even started sentences for DS or gave ideas of something I thought would be a good sentence, and then he would repeat it back to me sometimes a little different in his own words. I did this often at the beginning.

 

Thank you.... We are using WWE 2. I do ask him what the story is about if he can't tell me then I ask the questions in the book. I guess I am expecting to much to soon. I am always paranoid about giving too much info.

 

This helps greatly. I guess I don't need to go down to WWE 1 for narration only. I will just keep plugging along and lead him to the right answer.

[boscopup]

Thank you.... We are using WWE 2. I do ask him what the story is about if he can't tell me then I ask the questions in the book. I guess I am expecting to much to soon. I am always paranoid about giving too much info.

 

Use WWE2 exactly how it says to use it. It will tell you when it's time to ask what it's about before asking questions. That's at least a good halfway through the year, IIRC (we're on week 22, but it's been a couple months since we actually did it :tongue_smilie:). In the beginning, you are supposed to ask the questions, because that is training him to look for those details and figure out the narrative thread. If you never show him how to do it, he's not going to be able to think of something out of thin air. ;)

 

So at the beginning of WWE2, you should be going through the comprehension questions to point out the details, then go through the narrative thread questions (and I specifically told my son: "These questions will help you figure out the narrative thread. Remember the answers to these questions, because they will be your narration!" :D). You are essentially giving him the narration. That's fine! You need to model, model, model before they can take it over on their own.

 

If you haven't already, listen to the lecture on teaching writing in the elementary years. I think it would be beneficial for you, especially when she talks about how to help a child with their narration. It is perfectly ok if you basically come up with the whole thing while they're learning. The important part is that they repeat it back in complete sentences. Gradually, they learn to come up with the narration on their own.

 

If you want to practice WWE1 style narrations for a bit before doing WWE2, you could just ask for "one thing you remember from this passage". That's all WWE1 does. It doesn't ask for a summary at all. It just asks for something they remember, and it can be anything. Again, this is done AFTER the comprehension questions. And a WWE1 style narration could be, "The girl was wearing a blue dress," when the story is about a girl going to visit her grandmother. That's ok. This is a process. I'll bet your son could probably do WWE2 ok if you do it as written, asking the questions and giving the help he needs. There is no need for deer in headlights. You should be going over the questions and leading him to his narration before ever asking for it. :)

[Sara in WA]

:iagree:

[redsquirrel]

WWE1 does ask questions. It asks things like "the main character (name would be in WWE) saw three things in the room. Can you tell me what one thing was?" "Was main character happy or sad to see those things?" "What season was this?"

 

Only after you get to the end of the questions does it ask the student to tell you one thing they remember about the passage.

 

I would suggest that when you are done with the passage (and I always read them out loud because that is how my child does best) go right to the questions. They are there to help both of you.

[j3mom]

We just finished using WWE 2, it took a long time to DS (8) to be able to it right. Usually the first half of the book is a struggle, second half gets easier. If you keep working through WWE 2 exactly the way that is described, it should get easier.

Hang in there.

[Walking-Iris]

We started using the WWE text midway through this past year. After working through the evals, I had him doing some (not all) WWE 1 and 2 exercises and he'll hopefully finish up WWE3 and move into WWE4 by end of next year.

 

He also really struggled with the questions and narrations, but I've found it getting easier for him if I let him follow along as I read aloud, or read it aloud to me. I also familiarize myself with the questions and ask them while I'm reading. If I waited until the end and then asked him to recall all that information it was a lot harder for him.

 

As far as dictation, you can use those selections as copywork one lesson and then dictation the next. You can write it out with words missing and they then fill in the missing words. You can anticipate what words will be hard to spell and then teach them how to spell it. You can talk about the meanings of words they may not be familiar with. You can write the selection with mistakes and then have them edit it. I don't think you have to do anything exactly the way it's described. Go ahead and change the lessons until you find the way it works best for your ds.

 

Also I think of WWE as leveled instead of graded. There's no reason at all why you couldn't go back and do a few weeks of an earlier level if it will help. My ds is getting tons better at narration and dictation, but still struggles with review comprehension type questions. I've been thinking about getting the WWE 1 workbook just to have a resource to pull listening comprehension selections from.

[happycc]

and it has helped greatly. Yes it takes awhile for them to not have that deer in the headlight look. Just stick with it. Their brain wants to be lazy and have all the information given to them so it takes it awhile for things to get in gear. I just wait until something comes out out of their mouths. Even one sentence or one word to spark some kind of memory. Then I prompt it bit more to pull out more information. It is very time consuming.

Once they realize I am not budging or dropping it they give a great narration.

 

Give it more time. I am so glad I finished the book this year. It makes narrations for Story of the World and everything else easier and smoother.

 

Trust in the process. I am absolutely amazed in what my girls can do now after only one year of WWE. I can't wait until next year and see what happens to them.

[unfrumpable.]

ETA: I notice you say "when you ask him what the story was about." Are you just asking straight up or reading the questions? It is only now after one full year that I can ask DS that and he has a good idea. Also, WWE3 passages are pretty tough reads. DS reads it, and then if he has trouble we reread parts together. It's totally ok to go at whatever pace keeps frustration at bay, and give as MUCH help as needed. If you are not already, I would ask the questions following the passage and throroughly discuss the main ideas and what it was about. Even if this means you feed him much of the information at the start. I even started sentences for DS or gave ideas of something I thought would be a good sentence, and then he would repeat it back to me sometimes a little different in his own words. I did this often at the beginning.

 

I thought for narration we weren't supposed to "feed" them anything to help. I've been having major frustrations with my son with narrating. If I help, he does great with remembering the story, if I don't help he just says he doesn't know. He usually knows most of the answers to the questions at the end of the passage. We're using WWE1. I guess I am expecting too much too soon too. I want to make learning a pleasant experience for him. :confused:

[unfrumpable.]

Use WWE2 exactly how it says to use it. It will tell you when it's time to ask what it's about before asking questions. That's at least a good halfway through the year, IIRC (we're on week 22, but it's been a couple months since we actually did it :tongue_smilie:). In the beginning, you are supposed to ask the questions, because that is training him to look for those details and figure out the narrative thread. If you never show him how to do it, he's not going to be able to think of something out of thin air. ;)

 

So at the beginning of WWE2, you should be going through the comprehension questions to point out the details, then go through the narrative thread questions (and I specifically told my son: "These questions will help you figure out the narrative thread. Remember the answers to these questions, because they will be your narration!" :D). You are essentially giving him the narration. That's fine! You need to model, model, model before they can take it over on their own.

 

If you haven't already, listen to the lecture on teaching writing in the elementary years. I think it would be beneficial for you, especially when she talks about how to help a child with their narration. It is perfectly ok if you basically come up with the whole thing while they're learning. The important part is that they repeat it back in complete sentences. Gradually, they learn to come up with the narration on their own.

 

If you want to practice WWE1 style narrations for a bit before doing WWE2, you could just ask for "one thing you remember from this passage". That's all WWE1 does. It doesn't ask for a summary at all. It just asks for something they remember, and it can be anything. Again, this is done AFTER the comprehension questions. And a WWE1 style narration could be, "The girl was wearing a blue dress," when the story is about a girl going to visit her grandmother. That's ok. This is a process. I'll bet your son could probably do WWE2 ok if you do it as written, asking the questions and giving the help he needs. There is no need for deer in headlights. You should be going over the questions and leading him to his narration before ever asking for it. :)

 

Hey, I recognize that German Shepard! :001_smile:

 

Boy, have I been going about narration all wrong. Maybe it's because I've been doing some CM reading too? I really push him to do more than just the one thing. Sometimes he'll tell me he remembers more than one thing and I'll write it all down.

 

I am thankful for this thread, I am going to change the way I've been doing narration.