
Compiling a list of bullets points from what students know about a topic leads nicely into a short writing activity. Writing about a topic consolidates learning and increases depth of knowledge. Interestingly, if students can use bullet points to create a piece of writing that makes sense, this suggests that their knowledge of the topic is superficial or disconnected.
In Hooking Student into Learning … in all curriculum areas,there are several suitable activities to allow students to practise writing bullet points into sentences.
ACTIVITY – ORGANISING INFORMATION FOR WRITING (pp. 224 and 225)
- Students organise the bullet points under headings which the teacher can give to them (easier option) or ask the students to come up with their own headings (more difficult option).
- Write the bullet points into sentences. The writing will be organised and, therefore, clearer.
ACTIVITY – DEPENDING UNDERSTANDING (p. 233)
- Write three to five words/phrases on the board that capture content taught in the previous lesson.
- Instruct students to rehearse sentences orally using the information provided.
- When happy with the sentences, students can write them.
ACTIVITY – ONE PICTURE FOUR WORDS
- Arrange the bullet points around a relevant visual image.
- Students practise writing the bullet points into sentences starting with a different bullet point each time.
- See the example in Hooking Student into Leaning … in all curriculum areas(p. 253).
ACTIVITY – ADDING CONNECTIVES TO DEVELOP SENTENCES (pp. 227)
- Select a bullet point and write it into a sentence starter.
- Students complete the sentence using several different connectives. Here’s the example from Hooking Student into Learning … in all curriculum areas(p. 227).