Fokes Sentence Builder
In case you’re not old enough to remember this program, it basically combined Bloom’s taxonomy with Developmental Sentence Analysis research to develop a method for teaching basic sentence structures. The beauty of this program is that it teaches students to categorize vocabulary by grammatic function, which helps in understanding/answering/asking WH questions. It fits nicely into Writing with Symbols. You can use any pictures, so Boardmaker can be used. The categories will also fit nicely into Braidy story elements. Works well with Low Incidence and ELL students.
The original program came with pictures, a pocket chart, and a manual. Unfortunately, it is no longer being published. However, you can do the same activities with your own materials. This is good practice for verbal or written sentence construction, and is very helpful for students who can’t seem to understand the sequencing of words in a sentence. Here is the basic info:
WHO (people, sometimes animal if they are the character of a story) - include the article with it!
IS DOING (verbs/action words)
WHAT (objects)
WHERE (locations/places - usually a complete prepositional phrase)
WHICH (describing words/adjectives)
HOW (mostly adverbs, could include feelings)
Basic sentences:
WHO + IS DOING ... The dog is barking.
WHO + IS DOING + WHAT ... The dog is chasing a cat.
WHO + IS DOING + WHERE ... The dog is barking in the back yard.
WHO + IS DOING + WHAT + WHERE ... The dog is chasing the cat in the back yard.
WHO + IS DOING + HOW ... The dog is barking frantically.
You can use this structure to work on copular verbs and verb tenses. For example:
WHO + IS + WHERE ... Elizabeth is at school.
WHO + WAS + WHERE ... Elizabeth was at school.
WHO + WAS DOING + WHAT ... The dog was chasing a cat.
There are many other different structures besides these examples. You can add a category of connecting words (cohesive ties) to construct compound/complex sentences. You would start by using a separate picture for each element in the sentence. As students learn the structure, have them apply the structure to describe a single photo or picture in a book.
Note: I think the original program color-coded the different types of picture cards. I found some students just match colors and don’t really think about what kind of word they are using, so I don’t color-code mine.
I have gathered some pictures already. Hope it saves you a few hours of work!
-Ellen Weber