dictation question

[MamaCoop04]

So I'm using level 4 of ELTLwith my 8 and 10 year old and the dictations are getting really long.  They could get pretty long in level 3 too, sometimes I skipped them.  So I'm wondering if I'm doing this right or not.  We study the passage, the placement of punctuation, the spelling of words, the flow, etc. of the sentences.  Then I read the entire passage out loud once, and then they begin to write.  Is that right?  Or should I read maybe one sentence at a time in a long dictation, allowing them time to write.  There are explanations in ELTL, but it doesn't say whether the parent should read it all at once or a bit at a time.  

[smudge]

I hear ya. I read it slow, sentence at a time. When I do it :/

[LindaOz]

I would break it up into manageable chucks.

Edited June 30, 2016 by LindaOz

[Farrar]

This is why I've moved to recording them. I seriously couldn't take it anymore. It was stressing everyone out. When we do dictation, I record it on the iPad. They use headphones. I know part of the purpose is to build up to getting better at not repeating it and this allows them to repeat it as much as they need, but they've gotten faster and faster at it since we started that.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Definitely break it up!!!  You can break up by sentence or even by clause if necessary.  What you want to avoid is word-by-word dictating.  

[Bics]

This is why I've moved to recording them. I seriously couldn't take it anymore. It was stressing everyone out. When we do dictation, I record it on the iPad. They use headphones. I know part of the purpose is to build up to getting better at not repeating it and this allows them to repeat it as much as they need, but they've gotten faster and faster at it since we started that.

1. This is a great idea and I will be using that IMMEDIATELY.

2. Your quotation about the 5-act tragedy in blank verse had me cackling. :)