• Use a variety of strategies to create meaning while reading.
• Develop an understanding of the conventions of written language through interactive writing activities.

Activity

• Read a whale fact book to the whole class. When finished discuss what was learned. Choose two or three sentences to write on chart paper. The sentences can be written "interactively" by inviting the children to help with the spelling, e.g., whale: "How will I start it?"
• When the sentences are written, cut them apart and provide opportunities for children to sequence the words back into sentences. Pocket charts or index cards are ideal for this activity.
  
  NOTE: Be sure to write each sentence in a different colour – especially important for emergent readers who are just beginning to match one-to-one.
  
• Example - Two sentences to unscramble:
  
  

Assessment Tips from Old Tom the Turtle

• Note students' responses to questions asked in the context of interactive writing. Are they able to predict beginning sounds, word endings, letter clusters etc?

• Observe children as they manipulate and sequence the words into sentences. Are they beginning to monitor their own reading by using cues from beginning letters of a word, knowledge of high frequency words, rereading to determine what makes sense? Are they pointing to each word as they read?