Written by Judith S. Gould and Mary F. BurkeDesigned by Kati Baker

Four Square is a great tool for students to use during

a writing assessment.

Simple step-by-step method

• brainstorming

• filling in details

• adding transitions

Teaches basic revision techniques

• Adding

• Subtracting

• Changing

This easy organizational tool is sure to keep your students on track during any writing assessment!

Can be used with different types of writing prompts

• informative

• narrative

ETLC10585

Elementary

Teaching & Learning Company

A Companion to the Four Square Writing Method

forFour SquareWriting Assessment

Four Square (4�)

Writing Methodfor Grades 1-3

Written by Judith S. Gould and Evan Jay Gould

Illustrated by Mary Galan Rojas

Teaching & Learning Company1204 Buchanan St., P.O. Box 10

Carthage, IL 62321-0010a Lorenz company

P.O. Box 802Dayton, OH 45401-0802

www.LorenzEducationalPress.com

Written by Judith S. Gould and Mary F. Burke

Cover and book designed by Kati Baker

Four Square (4 )for Writing Assessment

Elementary Level

Copyright © 2010, Teaching & Learning Company

ISBN 978-1-4291-1842-2

Teaching & Learning Companya Lorenz companyP.O. Box 802Dayton, OH 45401-0802

The purchase of this book entitles teachers to make copies for use in their individual classrooms, only. This book, or any part of it, may not be reproduced in any form for any other purposes without prior written permission from the Teaching & Learning Company. It is strictly prohibited to reproduce any part of this book for an entire school or school dis-trict, or for commercial resale.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

This book belongs to

________________________________

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Table of ContentsPreface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iv

Learning the Four Square for Informational Writing Preparing Students for their First Four Square . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Brainstorming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Filling in the Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Adding Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Adding Vivid Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Developing an Ending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Learning the Four Square for Narrative Writing . . . . . . . 17 Four Square Narrative Brainstorming Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Four Square Narrative Brainstorming Template . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Three-Step Revision Revising Writing: ADDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Revising Writing: SUBTRACTING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Revising Writing: CHANGING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Prompts for Practicing Expository Prompts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Narrative Prompts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 Persuasive Prompts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

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Have the students fold their own papers. Assist where needed. Instruct the students to unfold their papers and draw a box in the middle of their Four Squares, as shown. Check students’ work before moving on.

Learning the Four Square for Informational Writing

Student Task

Getting Started

Reminders Prepare

Illustrations

Here are some reminders before you begin. Four Square... • is a tool, a web on folded paper • strengthens structure, which helps with organization and memory • is a map for ideas, words and phrases • can be used with all language levels, from emerging to proficient • is great for visual learners • begins with folding paper into four squares

❒ a piece of chart paper

❒ colored markers

❒ a piece of loose-leaf paper (or grade- appropriate paper) for each of the students

SAY & DO

Say to the students, “Sometimes get-ting started is the hardest part of writ-ing. Today we are going to learn some-thing that will help us get started in our writing.” Tell the students you are going to learn how to use a Four Square. “When you go on a trip, you need a map because it shows you the way to go. A Four Square is like a map or set of directions for the ideas and thoughts you have for writing.”

Get out the chart paper and fold it in front of the kids. To make a Four Square, you need to make two hamburger folds (or you could do a hot dog and a ham-burger) on the paper. Open it up—what do you see? Now you know where the name Four Square came from!

hamburger fold

+ =

hot dog fold Four Square!

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Brainstorming Using a Four Square

Prepare...

❒ a topic all students know about

❒ folded Four Square on chart paper

❒ each student's own folded Four Square

SAY & DO

Here are a few ideas for student topics:

My favorite food is...Recess is fun!My pet is my best friend

Have the students fill in the middle squares of their Four Squares. Check before moving on.

Student Task Recess is fun!

Choose a topic to demonstrate in front of the class. With a colored marker, model writing the topic in the middle box. The topic used throughout the example given is Recess is fun! Remind students that the topic is what they will be writing about.

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Show the students that there are four squares in which to put ideas. You want to put different ideas in three of the squares that relate to the topic. Some ideas may include going on the swings, playing on the monkey bars, and playing tag. Volunteer some non-examples, like eating pizza or taking care of my baby brother, to illustrate the importance of staying on topic.

On your chart, choose one idea to write in the upper-left square of the Four Square. Write the idea at the top of the square. Show the students how to write the first idea as a short phrase and not as a complete sentence. For example, you would write going on the swings instead of I like going on the swings when I am on the playground. Explain that since the Four Square is a map or plan, they can write in phrases to help them remember what the complete sentence will be.

Repeat this step in the upper-right and lower-left squares of the Four Square. You should have three main ideas (going on the swings, playing on the monkey bars, and playing tag) in these three squares.

Have the students add the first idea to their Four Square. Check before moving on.

Have the students fill in these squares on their own Four Squares. Check before moving on.

Student Task

Student Task

SAY & DO

Recess is fun!

going on the swings

Recess is fun!

going on the swings

playing on the monkey bars

playing tag

Recess is fun!

going on the swings

playing tag

playing on the monkey bars

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Point to the first square that says going on the swings, and tell the students that the square needs more ideas if it’s going to be a strong paragraph. Ask the students what more they can tell you about enjoying the swings during recess.

Tell the students that these are called supporting details. Supporting details tell more about the main idea of the square. Accept the details that are inter-esting, and praise the use of strong verbs and adjectives to support the main idea. (Again, you may want to volunteer some non-examples to reinforce the idea of staying focused. Hanging upside down on the pull up bars may be on the topic of recess is fun, but not in the going on the swings main idea square.)

Write the supporting details in bulleted form in the main idea square marked going on the swings.

Remind the students that these short phrases are not sentences, but only sentence holders. These sentence holders are there to remind the students what to include so they don’t have to worry about forgetting their good ideas!

Point to each supporting detail that is now written in the first main idea square. Ask students to give you nice, juicy sentences based on these details. Remind them that these sentences will be part of the paragraph. Once again, show them how writing the short phrases will easily allow them to go back to complete sentences.

Filling in the Details — First Square

SAY & DO

going on the swings

• my friend Judy pushes me• like to go higher and higher• sometimes I jump off

playing on the monkey bars

Have the students add details to their first squares. Check before moving on.

Student Task Recess is fun!

going on the swings• my friend Judy pushes me

• like to go higher and higher• sometimes I jump off

playing tag

playing on the monkey bars

You may get responses such as:

my friend pushes melike to go higher and highersometimes I jump off

Prompt the students with

questions such as:

Who plays with you?

Do you like to push or swing?

What does it feel like when

you swing up high?

What do you see up there?