Daily Language Review for 6th Grade

3/29/2021

With a Peer Teaching Component

An Alternative to Daily Oral Language

$Picture$

I'm really excited to share my version of daily language review! I've used this method in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade language arts classes.

This daily language review incorporates peer teaching and was many years in the making:-) I published 24 weeks of this daily language review for 6th grade a few years ago, but didn't share much about it at that time!
So, here's the story:-)

About 20 years ago, after using Daily Oral Language in a variety of ways in my classroom, I decided that each student needed to become more engaged in our daily language instruction.
Many were already engaged...students took turns coming to the board to make corrections and identify parts of speech, but typically, only one student had a turn at any one time.

Understanding Why

At that time, my goal was to make sure students understood the reasons for the corrections they were making. Unfortunately, if they tuned out for even a little bit, they missed some information.
So, using the Daily Oral Language sentences, I created a peer teaching method for our daily language, which I'll explain below.

** Note: this daily language review is not the only method I use to teach grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc, but it has been a fantastic supplement to provide continual reinforcement throughout the year.

Results of Using Peer Teaching in Daily Language Review

After using daily language with peer teaching for the first year, I observed that my students absolutely understood the content better than students in the past. This was evident in their assessment results and especially in their daily practice. So I continued to use it on a regular basis for about 15 years.

I love this version of daily language review, because I've seen my students develop a greater understanding of spelling, grammar, punctuation and parts of speech.
The students like it more than previous methods because they are ALL able to be active and part of the discussions. I've wanted to share this idea in the past, but couldn't use the "DOL" sentences to do so; so, I finally took the time to create my own sentences for my 6th Grade language arts class, and decided what grammar, spelling, and punctuation I wanted each particular week to focus on.

Daily Language Review Using Peer Teaching Method

$Picture$

Here's how my "Partner" Daily Language Review works. It may sound complex to start, but a little modeling makes it easy to understand:-)

1) Each student receives a sheet of paper, labeled Partner A or Partner B.
On the paper are two sentences.

The first sentence is written incorrectly.
The second sentence is written with editing marks, showing the corrections that need to be made.
Beneath the second sentence are the reasons for the changes in sentence 2, and certain parts of speech are listed.

2) Each student edits his/her first sentence. I have students number their corrections, and when they write the reasons for their corrections, their numbering should correspond.

Partner A's sentence to edit is the sentence that Partner B has the answers to, and vice versa.

3) Once both students have edited their own sentences:

Partner A tells Partner B the corrections he/she made, and the reasons for the corrections.
Partner B confirms (or corrects) Partner A's answers.
Partner B then asks Partner A to identify certain parts of speech from Partner A/s.

4) The students switch roles and work on Partner B's sentence.
5) Each partner writes the correct editing marks, reasons, and parts of speech for his/her own sentence. The sheets are then the students' study guides for quiz time.

Modeling Daily Language Review

When I first introduce this procedure to the students, I give each student a sheet, and we discuss the set-up of the sheet and the way the corrections and reasons are numbered.

I choose a student as my partner, and we model the process for the other students (I always edit my sentence aloud first, and then the student takes his/her turn.) Then the students give it a try.
I model again for several days, using the same sentences that the students will use, and then they do it on their own.
I always emphasize that partners need to ask each other why a correction was made, because I don't want them to skip over this part or simply copy the reasons from each other. (They shouldn't look at each other's sheets.)
We continue to model and I monitor their interactions until they are using the process correctly.

Try Daily Language Review Using Peer Teaching

$Picture$

If you'd like to give this method a try, you can try Week 1 for free - just select the button below.

The sentences in this week are pretty easy, to help students focus more on the learning the process of this peer teaching method.

If you give this daily language method a try, I'd love to hear how you like it!

Try Week 1 (Free)