Differentiated Scrambled Sentences

When I first discovered cut and paste scrambled sentence worksheets in Spanish a year or two ago I was in LOVE. I liked the idea of reinforcing the basics of sentences like starting with a capital letter, leaving spaces between each word and ending with a period. They could even label the simple pictures that went with the sentence! I started to design my own to go along with the integrated units we were working on like seasons and organisms. All of the worksheets had the same format. Students were expected to cut out words and organize them into a sentence that made sense. Then they wrote the sentence on the line below.

What became more and more of an obvious problem was that this was not really beneficial for the lower students. First of all, they struggled to even read the words. If they couldn't read them, how could I expect them to put them in a logical order? When I worked 1:1 or in a small group to help them complete the worksheets, they often had to be reminded that the sentence needed to start with a capital letter. It just didn't work.  My students needed the activity to be differentiated.

I started making three different versions of the same worksheet.  Version 1 is for my lowest students who are really struggling.  They simply have to cut the words and glue them in order to match the sentence that is already written (made with both a regular line and ruled lines).  This is more of just a matching.  Version 2 has the students copy the sentence that is already written.  This gives them practice with handwriting, leaving spaces, starting with a capital letter and ending with a period.  Version 3 is the original version where students have to cut the words and organize them into a sentence before gluing and then writing.  These have been working much better.  I am working on a 4th even higher version now that it is nearing the middle/end of the school year.  Here are some student examples of versions 2 and 3 from my students (from the Spending & Saving Money pack found here in Spanish).

My higher student chose to go above and beyond by labeling her picture as well.  She carried this over from the beginning of the year when we really practiced labeling everything.

I did it!

Yikes!  I finally took the plunge and became a seller on Teachers Pay Teachers.  After 7+ years of being a bilingual teacher and having to create countless resources to use with my students, I decided to take things to the next level by making items available for others in the same situation.  I'll start with an introduction and a little about my teaching journey.

When not at school, I love to scrapbook, play volleyball, travel, and spend time with my family.  I am busy at home with my wonderful husband, two stepdaughters (12 and 14) and 3-year-old twin daughters.  My husband is very handy and often gets put to work making things for my classroom.  I am sure I will show off some of his handiwork in the future!  The older girls are busy with sports and always keep us running.  The younger girls love to play outside and with dolls.  Twins are amazing and it has been so fun watching them grow up together.

My first year teaching was a difficult one.  The first half of the day was spent teaching literacy to a mixed group of kindergarteners and 2nd graders.  (Yes, literacy for K/2. At the same time.)  In the afternoon I taught literacy to third graders.  Not being part of one grade level meant I didn't really have a team to work with.  The next year I switched to teaching a bilingual first grade class and joined a team with 3 others bilingual teachers.  Collaboration is a beautiful thing!  The following year I had to switch roles again and was moved to the dual immersion program.  I have been teaching dual language since then and love watching the students learn from one another.  At my school I am lucky enough to work with two other first grade bilingual teachers who are very willing to plan together and share resources.

I am excited to become a member of the blogging community and to share some of my classroom experiences with you!