SPOKEN 3.4
Organize the Example

Grades 1-3

Does your mother keep a shopping list of things she needs to buy?  She adds things as she thinks of them. There is no order to them.

Task 3.4.1 – Class

Close your eyes.  This time, think of something that happened to you that involves whatever the class chose for the blank in “I + __________.”  What you think of–

  • does not have to be important.
  • does not have to be real. (But it must be something that could have happened to you.)

Your teacher will write down what you say.  There won’t be any order to the information you give.

For example: 

Introduce: Dogs make me sad.

Describe: I sit by a tree by the playground and don’t play with the other kids. 

Example:  I loved Jackson, my golden retriever. He was crazy about catching Frisbees.  

One day, it was a sunny, humid day.

Field beside a farm. 

Old barn in the distance.

Guy up on a ladder.

Blue coveralls.

Windvane that looked like a rooster

Weathered wood

A neon sign on the barn said Holly’s Greenery. In green. 

Frisbee hit the windvane.

Guy grabbed it.

Guy must have been a professional Frisbee player or something.

Frisbee soared. 

He threw it.

Went over the trees. 

Jackson went chasing after it.

Evergreens.

I chased after Jackson.

Freeway beyond the trees.

The Frisbee landed on top of a semi.

The truck was driving off with Jackson’s favorite toy!

Screeching brakes.

Honking.

A cement truck hit Jackson.  

I cried and cried.

We buried him in the backyard. 

My dad made a cross.

We had a little funeral.

I told myself I would never own another dog.

Organizing Information

We cannot say things in any order we want. The reader or listener will be confused. 

One way to organize information is–

First to Last

Here, you put the information by what happened first, then next, and so on.

Mistake?

Use numbers to put the information in order.  

If you make a mistake then use a number and letter. For example:

14 Honking
15 Screeching tires
I YELLED at Jackson

I wanted to have I YELLED and Jackson come right after honking.

Instead of erasing or crossing out, I put in a letter:

14 Honking
15 Screeching tires
14a I YELLED at Jackson

Task 3.4.2- Tandem

Fix the mistake in these grocery lists.  Do not erase.

  1. My dad and I gathered firewood from the shed.
  2. He lit the fire.
  3. Then we swept up the area.
  4. We stacked the wood in a place in the wall for wood.
  1. Hillcross Drive always has glass in the road.
  2. My brother, Wayne, hit part of a broken bottle. 
  3. He went riding there, going really fast.
  4. We had to rush Wayne  to the hospital.
  5. My cousin called 9-1-1.
  6. Wayne went flying over the handlebars.

APPLICATION – Class

Gathering information

As a class, come up with an example. 

SAY NOTHING ABOUT A TALKING DOG. 

The teacher will ask you questions and write the information on the board.

Then you and your classmates will put the information in order.

APPLICATION – Tandem

Put the example information below in order.  Use First to Last.

Old Section

1st sentence: Dogs used to make me sad. 

Describe: I would sit and watch TV all day.  But I wasn’t really watching.

 I would just stare at the TV. 

SAY NOTHING ABOUT A TALKING DOG

Example Information

  • Jackson 
  • Frisbee
  • Golden retriever
  • Hit by cement truck
  • Funeral
  • Man on a barn
  • Honking
  • Screeching tires
  • I YELLED at Jackson
  • Dad put a cross on his grave.
  • It landed on top of a truck.
  • 18-wheeler
  • I remember it said Fritos on its side
  • I would never own another dog!
  • I cried all night.