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This technique gives students the opportunity to respond in the form of a complete sentence to effectively communicate. Sentence stems provide scaffolding to help students get started in speaking or writing without the added pressure of thinking about how to correctly formulate a response.
Create a list of sentence stems that are appropriate to the discussion or task you are setting the students. Be sure to provide stems that use academic language or sentence structure that is difficult for the students.
2. ModelReview stems with students and provide some examples of how to complete the sentence stems.
3. PracticePose questions or a set a writing task for students. In pairs or independently, have students use sentence stems to respond.
4. ReviewAsk students to share their sentences. Add any clarification where needed.
Use Sentence Stems at any point in the lesson to structure meaningful conversation.
Prepare a list of unfinished sentences and give one copy to each student in class. Allow 10 minutes or so for students to complete the sentences in writing, using true facts from material they’ve read or learned about recently. Students then partner up and share responses. Ask them to rotate after a set amount of time and share with a new partner.
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