Teaching Sentence Fluency Using Dizzy of jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie. The writing pops, and the eye-catching pictures move right along with the beat of the words and sentences, creating that perfect marriage of text and illustration. The reader finds cout that Dizzy had a rough home life asa child. His father beat him. So he escaped into music, channeling his rage into a new form of jazz that took him first to Philadelphia and then to New York City, where he made ‘musical history along with other jazz greats of the 1940s. Although his tory starts out dark, it ends on an upbeat, inspirational note. Dizzy Gillespie— “a real cool cat who must have been born with a hom in his hands.” This isa book that begs to he read aloud. Share it generously with T he syncopated rhythms of be bop punctuate this stunning biography Dizzy . second-grade students. Read it several times so they can soak up the jagged Sea eee rhythms, carefully placed rhymes, and quarter-note beats of be bop. Then Sean Qualls, Tiustrator try the sentence fluency lessons that follow. In the first lesson, students ‘write sentences that begin indifferent ways to create rhythms all their town. In the second lesson, they lean to combine long and short sentences : by playing “Musica Jax,” and in the third, they waite be bop phases and } Three Lessons read them aloud to check for fluency. » on the Sentence | oe | Sentence Fluency: A Definition for Primary Students Beginning Sentences in |The sentence fluency trait has two important dimensions: the grammar | Different Ways, page 3 that makes a group of words a sentence and the way sentences sound. Indeed, this is the auditory trait, where we learn to read with our ears right along with our eyes. Signs that writers are working well with the sentence fluency trait include the following: Reading Sentences ‘© working with several words in a row, with attention to phrasing Aloud to Check How «© being more concerned about sentence quality than sentence | They Sound, page 12 peor i experimenting with sentences of varying lengths weaving questions and statements into the text using transitional words to connect one sentence to the next repeating sounds, words, and phrases to create a pattern ‘writing passages that can be read aloud with ease Creating Sentences of Differing Lengths, page 8 THE TRATT CRATELESSON #1: Beginning Sentences in Different Ways Materials: a copy of Dizey * overhead transparency of “Key Qualities of the Sentence Fluency Trait” (page 5) * “Dizzy Sentences” printable (page 6) ‘* overhead transparency of “Think About: Beginning Sentences in Different Ways" (page 7) ‘© be bop jazz selections © paper, pencils, pens, markers, crayons West Do 1. 4a 5. 6. Display the overhead “Key Qualities of the Sentence Fluency Trait” and discuss how authors try to vary their sentence beginnings to make the writing sound smooth and interesting. To reinforce the point, read aloud these two brief paragraphs and ask students which one sounds better: © Lwent to soccer practice. I played hard. I learned some new rules of the ¢gaine. I got to be the goalie. I was tired at the end of practice. I was hungry. © At soccer practice, | played really hard. I learned some new rules and got to be the goalie for part of the practice game. But, boy, was I tired and ready for dinner by the end. ‘Students should notice that the sentences in the second paragraph begin with a variety of words, not just I. They may also notice that there are fewer but longer sentences in the second paragraph, which makes it sound smoother than the first paragraph. Tell them that both of these sentence fluency techniques—varying sentence beginnings and varying sentence lengths—will be helpful to them as ‘writers and that you're going to focus on the frst technique in this lesson. Tell students you are going to share a book that is written to tell the story of a famous jazz musician's life through words and illustrations that highlight key events and demonstrate the sound of be bop music. Familiarize students with be bop by playing a few pieces to them. Show students the cover of Dizzy and explain that it isa biography, or the story of a real person's life. Then read it aloud, showing the pictures as you go. ‘When you've finished, discuss what students liked and didn’t like about the story and share the additional information about Dizay Gillespie from the “Author's Note” page at the back of the book. Display the overhead “Think About: Beginning Sentences in Different Ways” and discuss the value of changing the first word in sentences to make writing sound more appealing and fluent. Explain to students that they are going to write some sentences and short phrases to go along with Sean Qualls's remarkable illustrations. Give them the printable “Dizzy Sentences” and divide the class into two groups. Tell them group 1 will complete the odd-numbered sentence blanks and group 2 will complete the even-numbered ones. GRADE 2 + TEACHING SENTENCE FLUENCY USING D1Z2Y Download music selections from the Internet by searching ‘on ‘Dizzy Gillespie" and "be bop jazz" or borrow a be bop CD. from the library ee lees [aera Dom saercestegin sarod ener on me I" yar ge thera, ettostore ‘yg ooh pte?7. Show the first two-page spread of the book and ask everyone in group 1 to write a sentence or a phrase to go with it, such as “Kids picked on Dizzy.” 8. Show the next spread and ask group 2 to describe the illustration on the second line. The one rule: The sentence cannot begin with the same word that begins sentence #1. So group 2 might come up with something such as “Dizzy liked to fight” for sentence #2. Tell students that it’s okay to write either complete sentences or sentence fragments, whichever sounds best to them. For example, “Dizzy liked to fight” is a complete sentence, but “liked to fight,” a fragment, could work as well. Tell group 2 they will use the printable to record the rest of their sentences and fragments. 9. Keep alternating page spreads between the two groups, encouraging students t0 write sentences and fragments to go along with each illustration and to circle the first word of each sentence or fragment to highlight it. 10. Ask for a volunteer from each group to read the piece when they've finished. Discuss whether it was easy or hard to come up with different ways to begin their sentences. 11, Review the overhead “Think About: Beginning Sentences in Different Ways” and ask students to share what they learned about writing sentences from the lesson. Extension Activit © For students just beginning to write: If writing the lines becomes a physically demanding task, tell students to write every other one, or pick three they want to write out as sentences of fragments and illustrate several others on their own. © For students who are writing independently: Ask students to write a list of interesting things they learned about Dizzy Gillespie from this book and make a chart, “Dizzy Gillespie: Famous Jazz Musician,” to display. Sing-Along Trait Songs Se i £ Use.the “Sentence Fluency Song” from the Trait Crate's poster pack and CD to help students understand the trait Display the sentence fluency poster for the whole class to see and, as you play the song, consider: + singing along to the vocal or instrumental track following the lyrics on the poster E asyougo. + adding hand motions to accompany the lyrics and reinforce key concepts. ‘+ writing a new stanza to the song, posting it on a chart, and singing along to the instrumental track. ‘THE TRATT CRATEKey Qualities of the Sentence Fluency Trait 3 Beginning sentences in different ways %€ Creating sentences of differing lengths %€ Reading sentences aloud to check how they sound Co holastic In. Toit Cate * Grade 2 + Sentence Fluency TRANSPARENCY OVERHEA!Think About: Beginning Sentences |: in Different Ways | *k Do my sentences start with different words? 3 Do my sentences begin with words other than the subject? * If my sentences begin the same, is it to show a rhyming or other pattern? — 4 ANSPARENCY rel Cte» Gade 2+ Senne Fen @ATSVINTEE Name Date ’ Dizzy Sentences PS PNAHMER OH a 3 = a = x = 3 x S ——__—_/ © Scholastic Ine. Tit Crate * Grode 2 Sentence Fluency_ LESSON #2: Creating Sentesies’of Differing Lengths Materials: eee et, od Download music © overhead transparency of “Key Qualities of the Sentence Fluency Trait” selections fom the (page 5) 1 ee cece © “Sentences: Short, Medium, and Long” printable (page 10) i be bop for © overhead transparency of “Think About: Creating Sentences of Differing borrew a be bop CD Lengths” (page 11) * be bop jaz: selection * one chair for each student © paper, pencils, pens, markers, crayons What to Do: 1. Display the overhead “Key Qualities of the Sentence Fluency Trait” and discuss with students how writers try to vary the lengths oftheir sentences. Ask them how i sounds when all sentences are the same length by reading this paragraph to them: My dog is brown. He likes to eat. We play all day. We run and chase. ‘Ack students what they noticed: That the paragraph flows well and is easy on the ‘ear? Or that it’s choppy and repetitious? 2. Ask students if they enjoy listening to music and, if they do, what they like about it. Some students may say they like the lyrics, but others may respond that they like the shythm and beat. 3, Tell students they are going to learn about the sound ofa form of music called be bop, which was made famous in the 1940s, by playing a game called “Musical Jaz.” Arrange chairs in a circle and ask each student to stand in front of a chair so they can slip in and out of it easily. Play a be bop song for students and ask them to move slowly around the circle without touching the chairs, as if they're playing musical chairs. As the music plays, remove one of the chairs and put it aside. Stop the music ata natural pause and tell students to grab a seat. Ask that student without a seat to stand to the side. 4, Continue playing the music, removing chairs, stopping the music, and asking students to sit until only two students are left. Play one last burst of music, remove a chair, top the music, and declare a winner. Gather students together and ask their opinion of the music. Point out how some sections that you played were short and some were long. 5. Discuss how be bop jazz was made famous by very talented musicians more than 60 years ago. Tell them you are going to read a biography, or the life story, of one of those musicians, Dizzy Gillespie. 6. Read Dizzy, stopping to show the pictures as you go. When you've finshed, see if students noticed that some lines are long, some are short, and some are medium length, a bit like the music you played during Musical Jazz from the library Tey Ona oe Sentence Fluency Trait i | | > sagen erences |) fetes way 2% Ceotngsrences Statens nah 6 “THE TRAIT CRATE7. Page through the book and show students examples of sentences of varying lengths. Then point out particularly fun phrases—ones that sound like be bop, such as “He played so high, he played so low, he play so fast, he played diddly dliddly bop de biddly wah wah de BLEEEEP.” 8. Display the overhead “Think About: Creating Sentences of Differing Lengths” and discuss the importance of including short, medium, and long sentences to ‘make the writing intefesting to read. 9. Give students the “Sentences: Short, Medium, and Long” printable and ask them to think of something they enjoy doing—something they enjoy as much as Dizzy Gillespie enjoyed playing the trumpet. Theis ideas might include playing at recess, cooking, reading, drawing pictures, playing a sport, taking care of a pet, ot riding their bike. 10, Ask students to write a paragraph about their chosen pastime, containing one short sentence or fragment (1-4 words), one medium sentence (5-8 words), and one long sentence (more than 8 words). 11, Have students cut the sentences apart and give them to a partner. Ask the partner to put the sentences in the order that makes the most sense and sounds the best and read their choices, in order, back to the writer. 12, Review the overhead “Think About: Creating Sentences of Differing Lengths” and discuss what students learned about sentence fluency from the lesson. Extension Activities: © For students just beginning to write: Allow students to help lead the game of Musical Jaze for the class. Have them tum the music off and on, listening for natural stopping points. This will help them develop a habit of finding natural stopping points in their writing. * For students who are writing independently: Ask students to research more information about Dizzy Gillespie on the Internet or other resources and make a timeline of his life. (GRADE 2+ TEACHING SENTENCE FLUENCY USING OIZzY QeSTaVLNTYa Sentences: Short, Medium, and Long Think about something you like doing as much as Dizzy Gillespie liked playing the trumpet. Write three sentences about it here. Cut them apart and give them to a partner to read and put in order according to how they sound best. Short sentence or fragment (1-4 words) Medium sentence (5-8 words) rds) © Scholastic Ine. Trait Crate * Grade 2 + Sentence Fluency[ . Think About: Creating Sentences of Differing Lengths * Do | use sentences of differing lengths? * Are my sentences constructed differently, one to the next? * Did | use some short sentences, fragments, or interjections to vary the length? de 2 © Sentence Fluency OVERHEAD TRANSPARENCYDownload music } selections from the © Imemet by searching on Dizzy Gilespe" © and"be bop jaz” or F borrow a be bop CD | from the library cof iieinglengihs 1 Reading sentences ‘oud choc how 2 dems | * SyBrodaou | 2% bothovephroses | * Ratatat AE Dei mate deloge snuncres Materials: © a copy of Dizzy © overhead transparency “Key Qualities of the Sentence Fluency Trait" (page 5) © be bop jazz selection ‘© “My Own Be Bop Sounds” printable (page 14) * overhead transparency of “Think About: Reading Sentences Aloud to Check How They Sound” (page 15) © 4x6 index cards, one per student © paper, pencils, pens, markers, crayons What w Do: 1 2. 5. 7 Display the overhead “Key Qualities of the Sentence Fluency Tait” and discuss the points with students, emphasizing the third point. Explain that sentence fluency is the auditory trait—we learn to write sentences not only by putting words on the page but also by listening to them in our heads. Tell students that ‘one way to leam about sentence fluency is to read closely the work of favorite authors. When we do that, we begin to notice how those authors put words together in chythms and patterns to create language that sounds natural or gets our attention in a specific way. We can then take what we learn and apply it to our own work Tell students the book you are going to read has wonderful rhythms and patterns that you know they will enjoy hearing. Ask if anyone recognizes the name Dizzy Gillespie. If no one does, explain that he was a famous jazz musician who helped to invent a style of jazz called be bop in the 1940s. Play a piece of be bop jazz. Ask students to listen to how the music sounds—wild, complex, and very unpredictable. ‘Show students the cover of Dizzy and explain that the book is a biography of Dizzy Gillespie, which means they'll learn interesting things about his life from it. Read Dizzy to students, showing the pictures as you go. When you've finished, ask students if anything surprised them or made them stop and listen closely as you read. They may say that when the author, Jonah Winter, imitated be bop sounds such as “siddly dee-boo-dah-boo hiddly” or “idly BEEP ziddly Bop,” it really got their attention. Display the overhead “Think About: Reading Sentences Aloud to Check How They Sound” and discuss the importance of determining if sentences or phrases are fluent—if they sound natural and easy on the ear—by reading them aloud. Put students into pairs and give students a copy of the “My Own Be Bop Sounds” printable. Have them combine words from the printable to create be bop sounds of their own, such as “Oop Bop Sh’bami,” as Winter does in Dizzy. THE TRAIT CRATE8. Give each pair of students two index cards and ask them to write their be bop swords on each card: On the back side of the card have them write “Be bop,” the words Dizzy said when he ran out of notes, signaling the end of his musical piece. For example, a card could read: “De Wah Bop'm. Zee, Zee, Ziddly. Be bop.” ‘Ask partners to exchange cards with other partners. Each pair should practice saying aloud the words and phrases on the new cards. Ask for volunteers to read the be bop phrases aloud to the class. 10, Review the overhead “Think About: Reading Sentences Aloud to Check How They Sound” and ask students how listening to be bop jazz and writing be bop sounds can help them achieve sentence fluency in their own writing, Help students understand that they should write with the sound of the language in rind as much as trying to write correct sentences, for students just beginning to write: Ask the partner to write the be bop words on the card to minimize the amount of writing required, but encourage the students to read aloud the sounds and sentences so they can develop the auditory connection between written language and its sound. ‘© For students who are writing independently: Ask students to make up additional be bop phrases and record them on a CD or cassette tape. Play them for the class and encourage students to clap the chythms as they listen. GRADE @ + TEACHING SENTENCE FLUENCY USING o1zz¥ATaVINIUd My Own Be Bop Sounds Working with a partner, use this list of words as a starting place to create your own be bop sounds. Combine words until you have two phrases that sound like jazz when you read them aloud. | Wah | Bop'm | Pp ees | Dee | 3. Be bop! SS rc (Y © Scholastic Ine Tot Crate © Grode 2» Sentence Fluency| | [ _ Think About: Reading Sentences Aloud to Check How They Sound 3 Are my sentences easy to read aloud? 3 Do | have phrases that sound smooth? 3 Did | make dialogue sound real? © Scholastic Inc. Tt Crate * Grode 2« Se Grade 2 + Sentence Fluency OVERHEAD TRANSPARENCY