dictation take two

There was a conversation on the moreTPRS listserve about how to use a dictation most effectively. I picked the dictation up from ben Slavic. In his version, you read a short version of a story from class and students write it down, skipping two lines between every line they write. On the second line, they copy teh correct version of the dictation from the board. They are only scored on the second line.

In the conversation, one of the other members pointed out that she has students again write on every third line. But then she has them underline their mistakes and only write the words they got wrong on the second line. This has a few benefits. Mostly that students love being able to exempt out of things, and my students at least will often not try if they feel that their effort is worthless. In this way, they are encouraged to do their best on the first go round, because then they have less to write during the correction phase. It's also helpful because the activity is able to draw students' attention to their mistakes more clearly.

Needless to say, I tried it. I like it, and think I will stay with this model of dictation next year.