Rhythmic Writing Alternatives
How about doing the card backward? (starting at the bottom and working up) Or recite a Blue Book page
while tracing the 8s.
I also synchronize RW with students who need to be pushed for processing speed.
Sometimes I let them pic their favorite card instead of doing the next one in order.
Haven't tried this. (I just thought of it.) - The student does 4-5 motif's on the page while you observe. Then
you do the next 4-5 while they observe.....Make mistakes for them to catch on purpose. I think this will
highlight the process for them.
1) Half card to whole card....from memory...I ask them to tell me how they'd like the card "chunked"....(e.g. 4
lines first....then three---which guides me to how many lines to put on the board in correlation to the amount
they will hold in their STM and write in one chunk)....and, of course, I always ask them how they will
remember the order of the motifs---very strict with precise language
2) Either in addition to completing the motifs from memory OR with Rythmic Writing card visible....I will say,
"omit saying every other 'over' and every third 'two'. This forces them to not only "hold" the motifs in their
minds, but also keep track of when to omit one of the words within the patterned counts....
I, actually, had an advanced high schooler do an entire card (NOT half E.T. II card) from memory and hold 2-3
different "rules" for what to omit, which he had to apply to the corresponding motifs requiring those
"rules"....(i.e. omit every other "two", all "arounds", and every third "over")...all the while he was holding the
entire card in his short term. VERY IMPRESSIVE and, yes, he worked up to this.....was incrementally increased
in difficulty level.You can imagine how proud he was of himself! :)
I have my long-term E.T. students create their own motifs. You can assign that has homework and have them
bring them to the next session. These motifs can be similar in nature to the ones on pg. 6-more like
pictures. You can even give your students a theme. For example, how about having them come up with some
motifs for the end-of-the school year? 4th of July? My students have created fabulous motifs over the years
and they really enjoy the challenge.
As to spicing up the math in RW, I use the A-beka math cards for mental math. I usually include problems with
square roots, exponents, etc... I also use math language like double, triple, less than, take away, etc... instead
of just add, subtract, divide or multiply. You can also have them tell you perfect squares, or things such as 2
squared, 3 squared, negative 5 squared, prime and/or composite numbers to 100, etc...
If they are very advanced in RW, I even give them a sequence of mathematical operations and let them hold
all of it until the very end. For example, while they are doing the 8s,and I'm asking them to change...they'll
have to hold in their minds the following sequence: 10 x 12 / 6 + 4, etc....When they're done, they have to give
me the correct answer. This is very difficult and I only do this when they are ready for this challenge, but the
kids really enjoy this because they've know how challenging this is and what's it's taken to achieve this. I also
often invite the parents to watch their kids doings these kinds of problems and even the parents are
impressed and have stated that they themselves can't do what their child is doing. This also helps to boost the
kids' excitement about RW. I also video them and, with permission from their parents, use it to share to
potential new students. This also is so exciting for them.