Predictable Writing - 1

PREDICTABLE WRITING
Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

This is an excerpt from my book, 10 Essential Instructional Elements For Students With
Reading Difficulties: A Brain-Friendly Approach, published by Corwin Press (2016).

Predictable writing works best for students at the emergent level. It can be used
individually or with large and small groups.
Individual tutoring strategy. Predictable writing can be used as a tutoring strategy
when working with a single student. Here you write three or four sentences in a paper journal or
online journal with one word missing before the session (see Figure 1). For example ‘I like to
_____________ .” Then, the student tells you three things that he or she likes to do. Next, you
either fill in the blanks for the student or help the students write the words using assisted writing
(see video below). Sometimes I have students draw pictures next to each sentence to provide
additional clues. Finally, the student rereads all the sentences until fluency is achieved. These
are saved and used on successive days for practice and review.

Figure 1. Individual predictable writing.

Things I Like to Do
I like to _____.
I like to _____.
I like to _____.
I like to _____.

Group strategy. Predictable writing can also be used in large or small groups. First,
create a large poster. The poster contains one open-ended sentence for each student in the class
(see Figure 2). The sentence contains a space for each student’s responses. Then, read the
sentence and call on individual students to complete it. Write the student’s response in the blank.
When all students have completed the sentence, re-read the sentences using echo reading, choral
reading, or scaffolded oral reading. These are saved for reading practice on successive days.

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.

 Predictable Writing - 2

Figure 2. Predictable writing for large or small groups.

Things I like to eat: Describing our class:
I like to eat ___ Bill is ____
I like to eat ___ Sally is ____
I like to eat ___ Mary is____

RELATED VIDEO MINI-LESSONS

Predictable Writing

Assisted Writing

Sentence Mix-up

Scaffolded Writing

Facilitated Writing

Scaffolded Oral Reading

Language Experience: Choral and Echo Reading

This is an excerpt from my book, 10 Essential Instructional Elements For Students With
Reading Difficulties: A Brain-Friendly Approach, published by Corwin Press (2016).

© Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.