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Brave Writer Dart Guidelines

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100% found this document useful (1 vote)
304 views28 pages

Brave Writer Dart Guidelines

Uploaded by

fatimazehranaqvi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Dart

GUIDELINES
Welcome
to the
Dart
The Dart Guidelines are your handbook for
making the most of your Darts.

New to the Dart? Grab a cup of tea, busy your kids with
a movie or other diversion, and read—highlighter in
hand, jotting notes in the margins.

Even if you’re a copywork and dictation pro, be sure to


read the “Copywork and Dictation” section. We’ve got
two new dictation practices for you:

French-style dictation

Reverse dictation

Keep the Guidelines


with your Darts,
and refer to them
throughout the year.

DART GUIDELINES 2
Table of Contents
04
Limits to the use of the Dart
10
Putting the Dart into practice

05
Managing your Darts
13 Sample routines

05 Reference materials
14
Copywork and dictation
practices

06
Brave Writer principles
to guide your sessions
17 Practical tips for copywork

07 Getting to know the Dart


23 Enchanting copywork
and dictation

08 Big Juicy Questions


24 Literary devices

09 
Dart planner and skills tracker
24 Writing activity

DART GUIDELINES 3
ATTENTION:
LIMITS TO THE USE OF THE DART
At Brave Writer, we regularly field questions about copyright and
duplication with respect to our products. Here is what is permitted and
what is not. We are grateful to be part of such a conscientious, ethical
community.

This is your copy of the Dart. All rights of this publication are reserved,
including resale rights. You may not forward, photocopy, or resell the
contents of the digital issues of the Dart, nor duplicate the Dart for
members of a co-op class. Brave Writer offers a co-op discount for
multiple users.

For details, please email help@bravewriter.com.

You may use your personal copy in order to teach in a co-op setting.
You are free to print copies for your family’s use.

Contact Brave Writer if you’d like to purchase a license to reproduce


the Dart for multiple students from multiple families. Please direct your
friends to Brave Writer so they can subscribe or purchase their own
copies of the Dart. They’ll find a free sample at http://go.bravewriter.
com/dart-sample.

Editorial note: When giving examples, we have either avoided gendered


pronouns or we alternate between she, he, and they by section.

Thank you! DART GUIDELINES 4


RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOW
TO MANAGE YOUR DARTS
If you’ve purchased the year-long program, we recommend that you
remind yourself via email calendar notification to download each new
issue the first week of the month it is released. We also suggest that
you print each issue immediately. For extra protection, save the PDF to
an external hard drive in addition to your computer hard drive.

If your hard drive crashes or you forget to pick up an issue of the Dart
and you’ve purchased the year-long program, sign into your Brave
Writer Account to download released guides.

If you’ve lost access to an individually purchased guide, please email


help@bravewriter.com. Send a copy of your receipt (if you have it) or
information about how you paid and what kind of subscription you
ordered (yearly or as part of a discount bundle). We’ll verify your order
and send the missed issues to you via email.

REFERENCE MATERIALS
To aid you in exploring topics such as punctuation and grammar,
Brave Writer recommends Nitty-Gritty Grammar and/or More Nitty-
Gritty Grammar by Edith H. Fine and Judith P. Josephson, published
by Ten Speed Press. You don’t need both. More Nitty-Gritty Grammar
alphabetizes the grammar/punctuation principles, making it an easy-
to-use reference. These two books have very helpful explanations
combined with comics that are easily understood by children; you
might find them useful to have at home. Both of these books are
widely available online and in major bookstores.

DART GUIDELINES 5
BRAVE WRITER
PRINCIPLES TO GUIDE YOUR SESSIONS

Joy is the best teacher

Look for the good


Be curious, not critical

seriously
Take pain

smile
Make eye contact, sit close,

Help
helps
Take
breaks
DART GUIDELINES 6
GETTING TO KNOW THE DART
U
 se Darts in any sequence. Each guide is a self-contained unit.

 arts offer about four weeks of content. Feel free to move more
D
quickly or slowly, as suits your family.

P
 rint the Dart or read it on a tablet. Passage sheets and French-style
dictation and reverse dictation sheets may be printed individually.

Each Dart contains:

S
 pin and Spiral (alternative to scope and sequence) that gives
an overview.
F
 our passages with detailed notes to be used for copywork and
dictation.
A featured Literary Device.
A Writing Activity to explore the literary device.
B
 ig Juicy Questions about themes, characters, setting, and
writing (see details below).
B
 ook Club Party Ideas to celebrate the book.
 our printable copywork passage pages.
F
A printable French-style dictation page (for Week Two).
A printable Reverse dictation page (for Week Four).

E
 ach passage includes four types of notes:
W
 hy this passage: Explains why the selected passage makes a
nice choice.
W
 hat to note: Helps you see the passage’s literary power, notable
punctuation, spelling challenges, and/or grammar concepts.
H
 ow to teach the passage: Provides tactics, tips, and techniques.
(Each week a different copywork or dictation practice will be
highlighted for optional use.)
S
 potlight (grammar or punctuation): Isolates one grammar or
punctuation concept drawn from that week’s passage to explore
with your children three times a month.

DART GUIDELINES 7
BIG JUICY QUESTIONS
The target students for the Dart are young. They are just learning to
explore themes, plot, and characterization in books, through natural
conversation. To aid you in your desire to draw insight and narrative
skill from your children, the Dart offers a set of questions to explore for
each book. Remember: your child doesn’t need to answer them all,
and this isn’t a quiz. Chase the ones that lead to rich conversation.
Ignore the ones that fall flat.

TIPS
 se the questions to help you (the parent) think about the book
U
more deeply so that you can pose questions to your child about the
story itself. Avoid asking, “How did the book make you feel?”

 o out for milkshakes or discuss the book while your child bounces
G
on a trampoline. There’s no need to set up a “test” condition. Let
the questions arise in the course of your day as a natural part of
your relationship with your child.

 our child may elect not to answer some of the questions. Sometimes
Y
an idea is beyond the scope of the child’s current understanding
or is simply not interesting. Pursue the questions that give rise to
satisfying exchanges and ignore the others—discernment is an
important skill in learning.

 s your child gets comfortable talking through a book, suggest


A
answering one or two of the questions in writing—a few sentences
or a short paragraph.

 or older students (10–12), try a few of the questions as freewriting


F
prompts. Do not look for organization or style, but raw writing that
attempts to explore the themes and ideas in the book. This practice
is a wonderful foundation for later literary analysis in essay form.

DART GUIDELINES 8
DART PLANNER &
SKILLS TRACKER
Find the Our Week with Dart planner and the Dart Skills Tracker at the
end of these Guidelines.

O
 ur Week with Dart: a checkbox guide to walk you through the steps
of preparing and using the Dart with your child.

D
 art Skills Tracker: a tool to keep track of a child’s progress in
mastering the mechanics of writing. Print one for each child.

Ask yourself
D
 oes my child regularly apply this concept correctly?
Gets it

D
 oes my child need more practice and teaching for this concept?
Learning

Is my child not ready to learn or apply the concept?


Saving for later

The tracker allows you to tailor instruction and copywork/dictation


practice to the growth of your child.

DART GUIDELINES 9
PUTTING THE
Read
DART into PractIce
Read the book aloud to your children at a comfortable pace. Finish before the
last week of the guide. Be sure to read past the week’s passage before using it
for copywork and dictation.

Dartbooks are selected to be read aloud to your family. Audiobooks work too.
Kids who like to read the books to themselves benefit from you reading the same
book on your own so you can discuss the passages, literary devices, and Big Juicy
Questions.

Weekly Plan
Review the Dart content for the week ahead, alone.

Fill in Our Week with Dart (optional).

 hoose which concepts you’d like to share with your children (you don’t need to teach every item
C
each week). Select concepts based on the skill level of the child—use the Dart Skills Tracker,
if you like. Your 8-year-old may be ready to learn about the periods in a passage, while your
10-year-old is ready to also investigate the em dash.

 he notes are addressed to you, the parent. Read them, understand them, paraphrase them
T
to your child. In some cases, it may be appropriate to read the notes to your child. Often there
is more information than your child is ready to absorb in one sitting. That’s okay! Save some
concepts for another week, another time, another Dart!

 repare for copywork and dictation practices (find information on these practices later in these
P
Guidelines).

InvestIgate
 ead the passage with your child. Before teaching the notes, investigate
R
the passage as a family.

DART GUIDELINES 10
Stuff to ask
any passage
What do you notice about this passage (can be anything)?

What’s this doing here? (point to a punctuation mark) Ideas?

What happens if we take this punctuation mark out? (reread aloud)

What is the mood this passage conveys? Scary? Cozy? Nostalgic? (etc.)

Do you recognize any literary devices or punctuation marks we’ve


discussed before? Where?

Can you identify any interesting uses of the parts of speech? Show me!

What else do you see now?

Make up your own!


Play with the passage first, then analyze.

Model how to investigate like this:

I find dialogue—what the characters say—so interesting. See these curvy marks
(like apostrophes in the air)? Why do you think writers use these? Do you know
what they’re called?

I feel like if I were with the characters in that scene, I’d be cold. How about you?

 Gosh, this cliffhanger made me want to keep reading. Remember when we read
Charlotte’s Web and talked about opening hooks? What do you think is going to
happen next? Why do you think this is a good hook? What makes you want to
keep reading?

DART GUIDELINES 11
PRACTICE
Ask your child to use one of the copying/dictation strategies for the passage.

Copywork
French-style dictation
Dictation
Reverse dictation

See the detailed guidelines for “Copywork and dictation practices” in this guide.

Copy the passage first (early in the week)

Select one dictation method to try later in the week with the same passage.

Occasionally use 2–3 copywork/dictation practices with one passage.

Note: Highlighted copywork and dictation practices are suggested in each week
of the Dart. Feel free to use the practices with any passage, not just the highlighted
week. Also, skip difficult practices (such as reverse dictation) until your child is ready.
Revisit them later as skills grow.

Spotlights (grammar or punctuation) are provided three out of four weeks.

a day in the month to explore the literary device. (Suggestion: during the
Pick
week without a Spotlight).

Plan a morning or afternoon for the writing activity that goes with the
literary device. No revision necessary.

Big Juicy Questions are in chronological order. Have your kids pick one or
The
more to skip and discuss a few per week (over cookies and tea, if you like).

DART GUIDELINES 12
SAMPLE ROUTINES
These sample routines are here to inspire you. Use what you like, leave the rest.

Plan
Print guide or view it Print and fill out your Print and prep your Prep any copywork or
on your computer or Our Week with Dart Dart Skills Tracker French-style/reverse
tablet planner for each child dictation; print

WITH THE KIDS


Day 1: Read the passage aloud; ask it questions—investigate
MIX IT UP!
Day 2: Copywork Discuss the Big Juicy
Question in the car, over
Day 3: Discuss items you selected, use highlighter
dinner, while weeding the
Day 4: Take a break or discuss the Big Juicy Question garden.
of the week
OR Day 5: Use passage for a version of dictation
Skip copywork or dictation

WITH THE KIDS one week (only discuss the


notes from that week)

Day 1: R
 ead the passage aloud; ask it questions;
start copywork
Listen to the audiobook
Day 2: C
 ontinue copywork; discuss items you selected, in the car.
use highlighter
Day 3: Take a break
Use a Big Juicy Question
Day 4: U
 se passage for a version of dictation;
for writing and skip the
OR discuss the literary device
Day 5: D
 iscuss the Big Juicy Question of the week;
writing activity that month.

do the writing activity


Discuss the literary device

WITH THE KIDS the first week of the month


and do the writing activity
the last week.
Day 1: Discuss the Big Juicy Question of the week
Day 2: Read the passage aloud; ask it questions
LET THE DART FIT YOUR
Day 3: Discuss items you selected, use highlighter; NEEDS, YOUR CHILD,
start copywork YOUR FAMILY!
Day 4: Take a break or complete copywork
Day 5: Use passage for a version of dictation; DART GUIDELINES 13
discuss the literary device
COPYWORK &
DICTATION PRACTICES
Passages included in each issue can be explored through four copywork and
dictation practices. These practices are described in detail in these Guidelines.
Begin with copywork and progress to reverse dictation. Below is a step-by-step
walkthrough of several variations. Cycle through them for variety and challenge.

PRO TIP: The Dart includes one printable French-style dictation page and one
reverse dictation page, but you may want to create these pages yourself for
various passages. To do this, copy and paste the passage directly from the PDF
to a blank document, increase the font size, and add returns to increase the
spaces between lines before proceeding to craft the necessary dictation page.

DART GUIDELINES 14
1. Copywork Copywork is highlighted in Week One of the Dart.

Copywork is the act of reproducing in your own handwriting the


passage selected for the week. Your student will look carefully back
and forth between the presented passage and her paper, copying
the passage word for word, punctuation mark for punctuation mark.
The Dart includes an easy-to-print single sheet with each week’s
passage centered on the page. It is also helpful for children to select
their own copywork passages that are meaningful to them. Use
the Dart passage one day and a passage chosen by your child on
another day.

Step 1—Print the passage.

Step 2—Put the printed page of the passage where the student can easily see it.
Put the page in an easel document holder so that the passage is at eye level when your
student copies it. Alternatively, lay the page on the table so it is easy for the student to
read with minimal movement.

Step 3—Choose a comfortable pencil with an eraser.

DART GUIDELINES 15
Step 4—Limit the length of the copywork practice.
Ask your child to focus and attend to the passage. When attention flags, it’s time to stop.
Try short intervals. Suggest that your child copy as much of the passage, as accurately as
possible, in the predetermined time limit each day (anywhere from a minute up to five or
six minutes). Then stop. Your child can resume where she left off the next time you work.
Gradually lengthen this period as your child reports feeling comfortable.

Most passages in the Dart are between one and four sentences—short enough to complete
in one sitting. Pay attention to what works well for your family. Adapt copywork to the needs
and skills of your child. For younger children or those with learning challenges, select a single
sentence or a few words. Ask your child how much she can write with full concentration and
attention to excellence. Start there. You may still discuss the full passage with your child.

Encourage the habit of attention and care. A single sentence (or word) per day is a valid
way to complete copywork, if needed. The goal isn’t quantity but focus and faithful
reproduction.

Charlotte Mason, an education philosopher from Britain who is well-known in


homeschool circles, recommends that if your child’s hand tires after a minute
or so of writing, you modify the task: ask your child to write a single word or
letter with care, and then be done. Five minutes is not a magic amount of
time. If one minute works better than five or three, start there.

DART GUIDELINES 16
Practical Tips
FOR COPYWORK
Tracing: Write the passage in pencil; give your child a highlighter to
trace over the words. As the child gains control, write the passage
in highlighter and let your child trace the words in pencil inside the
highlighted letters (more advanced skill).

Handwriting paper: Handwrite the passage on handwriting paper


with guidelines. Skip every other line so that your child may copy the
words (each letter) directly under your handwriting.

Sticky notes: Use a single sticky note to place underneath the part
of the passage the child is copying. The child may move it along as
the child writes the passage to keep their place.

Bookstand: Put the novel in a cookbook holder open to the page


with the copywork passage.

Typing: For children learning to type, use copywork passages for


typing practice.

DART GUIDELINES 17
2. FRENCH-STYLE When Julie Bogart lived in France as a college

DICTATION exchange student, she discovered that the French


use a gradual method of dictation training for
their students (of all ages—kindergarten through
French-style dictation university). She adopted it for Brave Writer’s
is highlighted in Week
program and labels this strategy “French-style
Two of the Dart.
dictation” as a nod to their system.

The following method eases the transition from copywork to dictation.

STEP 1—USE THE FRENCH-STYLE DICTATION PAGE PROVIDED IN THE DART OR TYPE
THE PASSAGE TO CREATE YOUR OWN.
To craft your own page, create a new document on the computer in a large font with
triple spaces between sentences. Choose to leave blanks for several of the words in the
passage. Select words that the child knows how to spell, but which may provide some
challenge. On subsequent tries, increase the level of challenge.
Here’s an example:
He didn’t like being the center of all this fuss.

Retype it like this:


He _______ like being the _______ of all this ________.

STEP 2—READ THE PASSAGE ALOUD.


Hand this sheet of paper to your child and read the passage aloud in its entirety, slowly.
As your child hears you speak the words “didn’t,” “center,” and “fuss,” he’ll read along on
his sheet of paper, noticing the blank spaces. He’ll see that certain words are missing
from his paper.

Step 3—Fill in the blanks.


Your child will then write those words (didn’t, center, and fuss) in the appropriate
blanks as you read them. Feel free to read the passage once through and then to go
through it word by word or phrase by phrase slowly so that your child has the maximum
opportunity to fill in the blanks correctly.
This practice trains your child to read, listen, and write all at once, but without
overwhelming him with too many words and punctuation conventions to keep in mind
at the same time. By starting with a graduated process, you promote your child’s
success in later dictation efforts.
One of the great benefits of French-style dictation is the ability to isolate homonyms in
the context of real meaning. Additionally, this method enables your students to practice
capitalization of proper nouns, use of apostrophes for contractions or possessives, and
capitals at the beginnings of sentences.
DART GUIDELINES 18
3. DICTATION Dictation is highlighted in Week Three of the Dart.

Practicing Dictation will teach punctuation and spelling more


effectively than any other tool. The trick is to do it regularly—once
or twice per month. If it becomes tedious, mix it up with copywork
(with selections chosen by your child) and with reverse dictation
(see method #4).

Step 1—Review the passage before Step 4—Continue sentence by sentence.


dictation.
Keep dictating in this manner,
Read the passage aloud. going sentence by sentence,
Together, identify challenging rereading portions when that is
spelling words. Ask your child to helpful. No hard and fast rules
point to punctuation marks and here.
name them. This preparation can
be done right before dictation. Step 5—Conduct a final read-through.
Parent rereads entire passage
Step 2—Set up the page.
with the student following
On a clean sheet of lined paper, along. Student makes any final
the student writes: name in adjustments.
the upper right corner; date
underneath name; title of book, Step 6—Correct the dictation.
underlined, on the top line
Student
(center); page number under
compares work to original
title. Skip a line and indent.
corrects any errors or omissions
underlines any misspelled words
Step 3—Read the passage.
and rewrites them correctly at
Parent: read the passage the bottom of the page
all the way through, slowly,
emphasizing punctuation Step 7—Apply a rubric.
through intonation.
At the end, tally the number
Begin again, reading the first of punctuation mistakes and
clause or several-word chunk spelling errors. If there are more
(no more than three or four than five errors, shorten the
words). passage for the next time.
 sk your child to write the word
A
chunk. Reread the chunk of Step 8—Celebrate and recreate.
text, if it’s helpful. As always, wind up your session
 ontinue to the next chunk.
C with a game, a walk, teatime.
When you finish a sentence,
read it from the start one time Connect with joy.
through.
 our child will read along,
Y
checking to be sure they are
satisfied with their spelling and DART GUIDELINES 19
punctuation choices.
4. R EVERSE Reverse dictation is highlighted in Week Four of the Dart.
Reverse dictation allows the student to be an editor. Get out
DICTATION the red pen!

Step 1—Use the reverse dictation page provided in the Dart or type the passage to create your
own.
To craft your own page, type the passage into a new document without punctuation,
deliberately misspelling several words (choose a mix of ones your child knows and a few
that are likely to be tricky). Triple space and use a large font. Print.

Step 2—Discuss the passage.


Talk about the sorts of punctuation marks that were in the original passage. You might
create a notecard with a list (see our Dart Skills Tracker for ideas to include):

Periods

Capital letters to start sentences

Capital letters for proper nouns

Commas

Quotation marks indicating dialogue

Indentations

Contractions and possessives

As your child edits the page, she can refer back to the list to be sure she has checked for
each category.

Step 3—Execute.
Student uses pencil or colored pen to correct the passage. His job is to:
underline all misspellings and rewrite them correctly at the bottom of the page
insert proper punctuation
be sure proper nouns and the first words of each sentence are capitalized
underline any titles
indicate the need to begin a new paragraph with a pilcrow—that’s this symbol: ¶

Caveat: When you begin reverse dictation, it may be too overwhelming


to eliminate all punctuation. If your student understands end marks only,
then leave the commas in. If the child is used to capitalizing first words in
a sentence, but unfamiliar with identifying proper nouns, then leave the
capitals in for the proper nouns, and only leave off the initial capital letters
of sentences. As with all practices, incremental steps of challenge
are preferable.

DART GUIDELINES 20
PRACTICAL TIPS FOR REVIEWING THE
REVERSE DICTATION EXERCISE
Step 1—Parent reads student’s work. Step 5—Identify the error.
Before showing the original If the student still can’t find the
passage to the student, sit mistake, parent runs a squiggly
together and read it. line under the exact location.
Student makes correction on the
spot. (This is a great moment for
Step 2—Total the missed punctuation
a conversation, for modeling the
marks or misspellings.
way a comma might work better
If there is a punctuation mark or than the period currently in that
misspelling overlooked, mention space, for instance.)
that there are still X number of
remaining errors. (So for instance,
the parent might say: “There are Step 6—Optional final step.
three errors you missed.”) Student Student compares corrected
rereads the whole passage, page to original, locates
looking for those errors. the differences, and makes
corrections.

Step 3—Support the discovery process.


If a student can’t find one of the Step 7—Play the penny game!
overlooked errors, narrow the For every correct correction,
scope of the investigation to a student gets a penny! Give one
single line. Put a check in the for identifying a misspelling and
right or left margin of the line another for rewriting it correctly.
with the missing punctuation Give one for each corrected
mark or misspelling, on whichever punctuation mark or addition
side is closer to the error. The of a missing punctuation mark.
student will only search within Give one for each corrected
that line, examining each word or capital letter.
punctuation choice.
This step-by-step editing process
does more to help the learner
Step 4—Narrow the scope. internalize the lessons the
If the student needs another clue, passage has to teach than if
parent reveals whether the issue the parent were simply making
is with spelling or punctuation. the corrections. Take the time
Student searches the line again. to make reverse dictation a real
learning opportunity.

DART GUIDELINES 21
Be positive
IN YOUR RESPONSE TO THE FRUITS OF THIS EXERCISE.

1. Notice every accurate correction your child makes.

“From what I can see, you have mastered the art of capitalizing the first
word of each sentence!”

2. Celebrate each opportunity to gain or reinforce a skill.

“You’ve got the first quotation mark. Now let’s figure out where to put the
second one so we know when the speaker stops talking.”

There’s no need to correct mistakes, tally wrong marks, or follow behind


your child, pointing out every error.

The purpose of reverse dictation is to see how much your kids have learned
about punctuation and spelling. Some children enjoy knowing in advance
how many errors there are. Some don’t want to know.

Note: Some of your young writers will make punctuation choices that work—
but may not be the ones the author of the passage made. For instance, if
your child used a semicolon instead of a period followed by a capital letter to
begin a new sentence, her choice is a valid way of punctuating the passage.
Point out that your child’s choice is valid. Consult your grammar reference
books to confirm that the choice is, in fact, a viable one for that context.

DART GUIDELINES 22
Enchanting
COPYWORK AND
DICTATION
 ive each child a candle to light. Child blows it out when copywork
G
is done.

 otate the writing implements: markers, erasable pens, gel pens


R
(with black paper), calligraphy pens, chalk/sidewalk chalk, window
markers

 reate word art: block letters, illuminated letters, hand-lettering


C
alphabets, digital art

 hange the paper: butcher paper on the wall or rolled out on the
C
floor, lined sticky notes, mini Moleskine notebooks, a large easel pad,
paper with decorative borders, origami paper, black paper

 rovide a blank book (no lines) for copywork, then illustrate the
P
passage (draw a picture to go with it). Put a lined sheet of paper
behind the blank page as the child writes the passage to provide
ruled guidelines.

 se a clipboard, take copywork to a picnic table, do copywork as a


U
family (you copy too!), copy in a new setting (like a library or coffee
shop).

DART GUIDELINES 23
LITERARY DEVICES
The Dart features a literary device each month. In that section, you will learn about
some of the elements of writing craft that enhance the power of the writing. Your
student can use these same devices to improve her own prose! Keep the name of
the device on a whiteboard throughout the month as a reminder to “pay attention”
to all the ways it gets used in everyday life, from billboards to supermarket flyers to
cartoons to radio ads.

You are free to pick any day of the month to learn about the literary device. If you
decide to read about it early in the month, you give your family more time to notice
it in the book and in other writing throughout the month.

WRITING ACTIVITY
Each month the Dart includes one writing exercise, game, or tip—often related to
the literary device. Most of these are meant to take a day or two, at most, and
aren’t intended to be revised (unless otherwise indicated). Enjoy them. Play with
them! Pick a day without other writing projects so that it stays light and easy. It
is also possible to do the activity collaboratively (in many cases) so that everyone
works together—you and your child(ren)—as a team.

DART GUIDELINES 24
NAME: MONTH:

DART SKILLS TRACKER


Fill in the bubble next to each skill
according to your current progress:

PARTS OF SPEECH PUNCTUATION


Nouns Capitalization
Proper nouns First word of sentence
Common nouns Proper nouns

Other Parts of Speech Apostrophes


Pronouns Contractions

Verbs Possessives

Adjectives Plurals

Adverbs
Conjunctions End Marks
Prepositions Period

Interjections Question Mark

Articles Exclamation Point

OTHER SKILLS Other Punctuation


Commas
Dialogue punctuation
Semicolons
Em dashes
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© 2020 Brave Writer — Julie Bogart: This is your copy. It may not be help@bravewriter.com
shared outside your family or resold in either digital or printed form
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NAME: WEEK: OF DART

OUR WEEK WITH DART


Prep With Kids
Read the passage out loud
Read the week’s passage
Take turns reading it (several kids)

Review possible questions to ask the passage


Ask the passage questions as a family

Read What to Note and How to Teach sections Highlight in an array of colors:
Pick concepts you'll skip this week (too Vocabulary and grammar
difficult, new, much)
Punctuation marks
Choose 2-3 concepts to share or review
Literary devices
Note a concept you learned

Discuss selected concepts from What to Note


and How to Teach sections
Pick a copywork strategy (See Guidelines)
Look for them in the passage

Prepare passage for one dictation practice Note them in other reading this week
(if desired):

French-style Dictation
Set copywork goals with your child
Reverse Dictation
_____ N
 umber of words, sentences, days, or
Dictation minutes
Child completes

Plan copywork “hygge”


Dictation completed
Candles
Treats
Colored pens Review Spotlight & do the activity
(if there is one)
Coffee shop
Other
Discuss 1-2 Big Juicy Questions

Read the Spotlight Record breakthroughs in skills and insight


Plan a day to play the game/do the actiivty

Select 1-2 Big Juicy Questions to discuss

Celebrate with your child!

Plan a morning or afternoon to try the


MONTHLY

Kids pick one Big Juicy Question to skip


Writing Activity

Discuss Literary Device Host a book club party!


Notice it in a book, poem, billboard or movie

© 2020 Brave Writer — Julie Bogart: This is your copy. It may not be help@bravewriter.com
shared outside your family or resold in either digital or printed form
bravewriter.com
© 2020 Brave Writer
help@bravewriter.com | bravewriter.com
© 2020 Brave Writer
Julie Bogart: This is your copy. It may not be shared outside your family
or resold in either digital or printed form.

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