Getting kids to stop copying.....

[ecteach]

I teach 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. About half of my kids will not write without copying. I have done tons of shared writing. Most of my kids know their letter sounds, and how to form the letters.

The copying DRIVES ME INSANE!!!! I tell them over and over that I would rather them only get one letter of the word correct than copy the word. Nevertheless, I have students who will just sit there the whole time and not write one letter. I help them brainstorm, and they can TELL me what they want to write.

Sometimes I cave in and write it for them so they will do something. They happily copy it. The longest I went not writing the sentences for them was one week. About 5 kids sat there all week and produced nothing during this time. They just looked so helpless.

I started pulling some of the lower kids aside. I have them tell me their sentences. I write the sentences on cut up index cards, mix them up, and have the kids put the cards in the order they told me. All of the kids can do this. So, what's stopping them from writing their own sentences?

Help, please!

[orangetea]

I'm not an English teacher, so I'm not completely sure, but are you sure that they know how to form words? You said they are comfortable with letter sounds and forming letters, but maybe they aren't comfortable with writing words and thus want to copy?

[ecteach]

They can read the words I want them to write. We do phonics/phonological awareness type activities every single day. We work on word ending, beginnings, etc. We do tons of word working activities. I show them how to form words. How do I get them to use these skills when they are writing? I model and sound out the word for them, but they still sit there and write nothing. It's like they are scared.

[GemStone]

You could get them started by scribing one or two sentences for them to get the juices flowing. Also, consider the use of graphic organizers to help them get their thoughts organized and put on paper before they have to put them into complete sentences and paragraphs.

[cutNglue]

Are they willing to type?

[ecteach]

Originally Posted by cutNglue

Are they willing to type?

nope. They blog everyday about different topics. The students I am speaking of will just sit there. It's not a defiance issue, it's just like they are stuck. I don't know. It's baffling me.

[GemStone]

You could also try modified scribing, for them to start out with. For example, if the student verbally tells you that they want to write, "I love to play baseball," then you write this:

_ l_____ ___ p_____ b_______.

They have to write I and to independently, but sound out the rest of the words in the sentence.

Again, use graphic organizers to help them get started. They can be simple ones, such as webs or t-charts. SO many kids have difficulty writing "cold" so to speak.

[FourSquare]

My kids are the same. I usually give them fill in the blank paragraphs like this:

My favorite animal is a dog. I like dogs because they are loyal, funny, and cuddly. I have a pet dog named Ralph. Ralph is funny because he likes to play fetch with himself. Our favorite thing to do together is snuggle under a warm blanket. I love Ralph!

They have to copy the underlined parts and fill in the rest as it makes sense to them. My kids have serious processing disorders. For some reason they cannot handle processing what you are asking them to write, plus their verbal response, plus getting that down on paper. It's like having something "on the tip of your tongue" that you just can't get out. My kids always have something on "the tip of their fingers."

If they do free write it comes out more like this:

My favorite animals is are a monkey and monkey running to the store and it funny.

....with more misspellings. Sometimes I feel like they just string random words and verbs together. To keep me from jumping out the window and to help them feel success, the fill in the blank works best for now.

[ecteach]

Some good ideas I am going to try. Thanks guys.