Instructional Strategy Lesson:
Inferential Thinking
SL Smiley
Reading Instruction for Advanced Learners
RE 5730
Dr. Gary Moorman
Appalachian State University
Fall 2007
STRATEGY: Inferential Thinking
BIBLIOGRAPHY/RESOURCES:
Davis, F. B. (1968). Research in comprehension in reading. Reading
Research Quarterly, 3, 4, 499-545.
Dewey, J.C. (1935). The acquisition of facts as a measure of reading
comprehension. The Elementary School Journal, 35, 5, 346-348.
Dewitz, P., Carr, E.M., & Patberg, J.P. (1987). Effects of inference training
on comprehension and comprehension monitoring. Reading
Research Quarterly, 22, 1, 99-121.
Hansen, J. (1981). The effects of inference training and practice on young
children’s reading comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly,
16, 3, 391-417.
Harvey, S. & Goudvis A. (2000). Strategies that work. Ontario: Pembroke
Publishers Limited.
Thorndike, E.L. (1917). The understanding of sentences: A study of errors in
reading. The Elementary School Journal, 18, 2, 97-114.
Tyler, R. W. (1930). Measuring the ability to infer. Educational Research
Bulletin, 9, 17, 475-480.
OBJECTIVES: (Kindergarten)
LANGUAGE ARTS
Strands: Oral Language, Written Language, and Other Media/Technology
Competency Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and
skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
2.01 Demonstrate sense of story (e.g., beginning, middle, end, characters,
details, and setting).
2.02 Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of types of books and
selections (e.g., picture books, caption books, short informational
texts, nursery rhymes, word plays/finger plays, puppet plays, and
reenactments of familiar stories).
2.03 Use preparation strategies to activate prior knowledge and
experience before and during the reading of a text.
2.04 Formulate questions that a text might answer before beginning to
read (e.g., what will happen in this story, who might this be, where do
you think this happens).
2.05 Predict possible events in texts before and during reading.
Competency Goal 3: The learner will make connections through the use
of oral language, written language, and media and technology.
3.01 Connect information and events in text to experience.
3.02 Discuss concepts and information in a text to clarify and extend
knowledge.
3.03 Associate target words with prior knowledge and explore an author’s
choice of words.
3.04 Use speaking and listening skills and media to connect experiences
and text:
- listening to and re-visiting stories
- discussing, illustrating, and dramatizing stories
- discovering relationships
WHAT IS INFERENTIAL THINKING?
Inferential thinking is something that we, as adults do on a daily basis in
many facets of our lives. For instance, if our spouse has had a bad day at
work and looks grumpy, it might not be the best time to tell him the dress
you bought for the upcoming party cost more than you had originally
thought it would. At the same time, if a student comes to school in the
morning crying, she might need some extra attention and a hug.
Everyday, we make inferences based on body language, facial
expressions, and tone of voice. We are in a sense, “reading” the people
in our world much like we read texts, and we base this reading on our
existing knowledge and background experiences.
Children, however; must be taught how to make inferences when listening
to and reading a text. Making inferences allows the reader to better
understand what the author is communicating (but not always directly
stating), thus, making meaning out of the story. Emergent readers in
particular, use picture clues and illustrations to help them infer and
understand what is happening in the story, especially when presented
with an unknown word. The challenge facing educators is teaching
children how to draw upon their limited store of background knowledge
and personal experiences to enhance the meaning of the story so that
they will understand the significance of what is being read. We must
teach children to make inferences, or stated simply, to “read between
the lines.”
Early in the twentieth century, much research was done to learn how
children process and comprehend text. Edward Thorndike (1917)
conducted several studies in which he asked children to answer questions
about short reading passages. He found that errors were made even
when the children understood the individual words. He concluded that
this was because they were unable to connect the words in proper
relation and sequence to one another. Good comprehension requires the
reader to choose certain elements of the story and combine them
together in an organized way so that meaning is made. He stated that the
reading process involves thinking and evaluating - “to read” means
“to think”.
Another researcher, Betty Trier Berry, (Davis, 1968) summarized that good
readers must not only understand what the individual words mean in text,
but also infer the meaning of unfamiliar words from the context. Joseph
Dewey (1935) investigated what part inferential thinking plays in reading
informational (historical) text. In his study, students were given tests that
measured recall of facts as well as their ability to infer. The results
concluded that students who are trained solely to look for facts in reading
cannot be assumed to have fully understood what was read. Moreover,
by testing a child’s recall of facts, we are not measuring her ability to do
inferential thinking or measuring a true understanding of what is read.
Feder (Hansen, 1981) agrees with this, stating that reading for information
and reading for inference are skills independent of one another.
In the 1970’s, Trabasso and his colleagues (Hansen, 1981) compared the
inferential ability of children eight years old versus children who were five
years old. They found that children who were eight years old, made more
inferences than children who were only five years of age. They
hypothesized that the lack of making inferences in certain situations is due
to more limited life experiences and insufficient previous knowledge.
Since inferential thinking is such an important factor in reading
comprehension, it is my opinion that we must start early in teaching our
children how to develop this skill.
MAKING INFERENCES WITH KINDERGARTENERS
Materials: face cards, post-it notes, marker, poster board, masking tape,
and sentence strips to be used as headers that say: inferential thinking,
infer, quote/picture from text, and inferences
(See attachment and picture.)
Text: The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano
Anticipatory Set: “Watch my face and tell me if you can figure out what
I’m doing…” (Make a frightened look and wait for children’s responses.)
“Why might I be making a face like this? What can you infer?” (Wait for
responses.) “Now, tell me what you can infer about how I am feeling
when I say this – listen carefully to how I am talking… GOOD MORNING!!!!”
(Say this in a mean, angry tone.) “What could you infer about how I am
feeling when I said good morning to you in that way?” (Wait for
responses.) “Was I acting like it was a good morning for me? How could
you tell?” (Wait for responses. Probe and give assistance when needed.)
“Very nice job, girls! You were really thinking and making good
inferences based on what I was doing and saying!”
Teacher Input, Modeling, Checking for Understanding: “Today we are
going to learn about these big words I have written on the sentence strips.
INFERENTIAL THINKING – can you say that with me? (Students say word.)
We know what thinking is, so we need to figure out what the new word,
INFERENTIAL means. Here’s another word that will help us – repeat it after
me – INFER. Infer is easier to say and it is the word that we are going to
practice saying throughout the lesson. You were inferring just a few
minutes ago when you figured out how I was feeling based on what I was
doing (the frightened face) and you told me that someone who is
frightened or scared might look like that. To infer means to figure out or
draw a conclusion about someone or something based on what you see
or hear or read. When we infer, it leads us to better understanding. By
inferring my feelings from my scared face, you inferred that I was feeling
frightened and that something must have happened to make me feel that
way. Let’s try some more exercises and see what we can infer.”
(Uncover the face cards one at a time and then write the children’s
responses on post-it notes and place on the poster board. Make sure to
ask “What can we infer?” “How do we know?” “What is he doing that
makes us think that?” each time. (See attached paper for the face cards
and the completed chart.)
“You did a super job on that! Now, I have a story to read to you. When
we read books, we look at the pictures don’t we? The pictures help us
understand what is happening in the story. From those pictures we can
infer meaning. That is, we can figure out what is going on in the story.
Let’s look at the cover of the book.” (Discuss the elements of the book;
cover, title, author, illustrator, setting, etc.) “Here is our main character,
Spookley. Can you infer something about him by looking at the picture?”
(Spookley appears to be very happy sitting amongst his friends in the
pumpkin patch. Wait for responses, probe if necessary.) “Let’s say that in
a complete sentence. Repeat after me: We can infer (wait for response)
that Spookley is happy (wait for response).
Continue reading the story, stopping at marked pages to allow the
children chances to make inferences. There are several marked pages
in this story where the children are making inferences based on the
illustrations AND quotes from the text. Use the poster with the following
headings to complete this task: Quote/Picture from Text, and Inference.
(See picture for completed chart.) Write responses on post-it notes as
inferences are made.
Closure: At the end of the lesson, review all of the inferences that were
made using the chart. Repeat again the word for the day (along with its
meaning), infer.
LESSON REFLECTION
This was the first time that the strategy, inferential thinking, was introduced
to this group of kindergarteners. (I must admit I was a little nervous as to
how this lesson would be received.) From the beginning of the year, the
kindergarteners have been learning about background knowledge and
making connections to the text. My purpose was to expose this group of
kindergarten English Language Learners to another comprehension
strategy to help them make sense of the stories that are being read to
them. For these students, English is not spoken at home, and they are not
read to at home, so making the most of the limited time during the school
day is crucial to their learning.
I chose a book that all of the children could relate to – they had taken a
field trip to the pumpkin patch just last week. In Social Studies/Health, the
current unit of study is focusing on identifying, recognizing, and
understanding feelings, so I knew they would be able to build upon that as
well. The story about Spookley lends itself nicely to making simple
inferences, which is very suitable for a kindergarten group.
During the warm-up activity, I was really surprised at the amount of
detailed explanations the children had to offer. For instance, on the
“crying/sad” card, they inferred that the child was sad because maybe
he had lost his dog or someone wouldn’t play with him on the playground.
The “happy” card elicited personal responses that they were all happy to
be at school today and that when a person smiles, it means that he is
happy. They also told me that I smiled a lot, so I must be happy, too.  In
contrast to that, when the “angry/mad” card was shown, they said that
angry people have mean looking eyes and sometimes growl. The
“tired/exhausted” card made them think about how they feel after
working hard at school all day, and that sometimes teachers probably
feel tired, too. (I agreed with them.)
The children were very excited about reading the book because as I
stated earlier, they had just been to the pumpkin patch a few days before.
(For many of them, this was their first time at a pumpkin patch, and their
first opportunity to pick their own pumpkin.) This book connected to their
own lives, given their recent experiences, but it also provided them with
the opportunity to look more closely at certain words and phrases, and
extract meaning from those. In short, it gave them another strategy to
support their comprehension.
One phrase I chose was “to sit tight” to see if they could infer the
meaning. To my surprise, they concluded that Spookley wasn’t going to
move. (Many times ELLs think so literally about their L2 – second
language, that they don’t always understand expressions, idioms, etc.)
They did not understand (and I didn’t expect them to) what it means to be
a “square”. However; when the text said: “He was the one,” the children
inferred that he was getting ready to help all of the other pumpkins. In
addition, when the text said: “Spookley had saved the day!” the children
told me that he was a hero and that heroes are brave and do nice things
to help people. They also added that Spookley must feel proud of himself!
Other inferences were made based on the illustrations – Spookley had
various facial expressions, happy, sad, scared, etc.
Overall, I was quite pleased with the lesson and the children’s responses. I
did not have to change my original lesson plan and I would most
definitely teach this lesson again. (In fact, it would be interesting to see the
differences in responses with another group of kids.) I believe that
inferential thinking is a difficult concept for kindergarten age children to
grasp. However; with continued exposure and practice, I believe that by
the beginning of third grade when they are expected to be able to make
accurate inferences and distinguish between predictions, they will do so
with greater accuracy. I do not believe that all of the children who
participated in my lesson could describe to me what it means to infer, but
they can tell me the word infer. Throughout my lesson, I was very mindful
to talk with the correct terminology and emphasize the academic
language that children need to have practice using on a daily basis. If I
was the classroom teacher, I would continue to teach and develop this
strategy and search for texts which lend to making inferences rather
easily. These young children are eager learners who need a strong
foundation on which to build their L2 literacy skills. Let’s teach them! 
WORD CARDS:
Inferential Thinking
Infer
Quote/Picture from Text
Inferences
FACE CARDS:
tired/exhausted
cheerful/delighted/happy
in love
upset/sad
angry/mad
happy/joyful
thinking/contemplative/serious
sick/ill
tired/sleepy
surprised/scared/frightened
Read Write Think Assignment
Writing with “Herb the Verb”
TEACHING THE USE OF STRONG VERBS
SL Smiley
Reading Instruction for Advanced Learners
RE 5730
Dr. Gary Moorman
Appalachian State University
Fall 2007
Lesson Title: Writing with “Herb the Verb”, Teaching the Use of Strong Verbs
Estimated Lesson Time: Four 45-minute sessions
Standards: 4, 5, 8, 11, and 12
Grade Band: 3-5
Abstract: Teaching students to write using careful word choice is a challenge that all educators
face. This lesson uses “Herb the Verb” as a motivational tool to help students choose and use
strong verbs to enhance their writing skills. They will do so by recognizing strong action verbs
in text, generating lists of strong verbs, and finally, applying the use of those verbs to their
personal writing. This lesson is best suited for fourth and fifth grades due to the reading level of
the books used.
Overview
This lesson focuses on the application of strong action verbs to enhance students’ writing
skills and uses “Herb the Verb” as a motivational tool for doing so. Strong verbs are
verbs that convey a lot of information. They not only tell what action is occurring, but
also describe how it is being done. In this lesson, students will define an action verb, read
verbs in good literary models, and generate lists of strong verbs from readings and other
sources. After discussing these, students will have the opportunity to apply their
knowledge of strong verbs to their own writing. Students will be using their Writer’s
Notebooks/Journals as instructional texts for this lesson. This particular lesson can be
adapted for narrative, expository, and informational writing purposes. Due to the
vocabulary and reading level of the books selected, this lesson is better suited for fourth
and fifth grades.
From Theory to Practice
Alber-Morgan, S.R., Hessler, T. & Konrad, M. (2007). Teaching writing for keeps.
Education and Treatment of Children, 30, 3, 107-128.

This writing process approach stresses the importance of using the student’s own
writing (Writer’s Notebooks/Journals) as instructional tools. In this way, the
student’s authentic voice is heard and valued as a written form of expression.

Giving students’ choice of topic provides for meaningful writing experiences.
This ownership can serve as a motivational tool as well.

Providing models, explicit instruction, and the opportunity to practice application
of these skills, gives students a better understanding of what they are expected to
do.

The act of publishing student writing celebrates student learning and success.
Student Objectives
Students will:

Be able to define a strong verb and the role it plays in a sentence

Recognize and generate lists of strong action verbs from good literary models
in both whole group and small cooperative group settings

Distinguish the difference between ordinary verbs and strong verbs

Develop an awareness of using strong verbs to enhance writing

Apply the use of strong verbs to personal writing
INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN
Books
To Root, to Toot, to Parachute: What is a Verb? by Brian P. Cleary (Scholastic, 2001)
Pawprints in the Butter: A Collection of Cats by Joy Cowley (Wright Group, 1991)
Kites Sail High by Ruth Heller (Paperstar, 1988)
When the Fly Flew In… by Lisa Westberg Peters (Trumpet, 1994)
Baloney by Jon Scieszka (Puffin, 2005)
Verbs, Verbs, Verbs: The Trickiest Action-Packed Words in English by Marvin Terban
(Scholastic, 2002)
Fox by Margaret Wild (Kane/Miller, 2006)
The Case of the Missing Parts of Speech Book by Janet Hutchinson, Music and Lyrics by
Betty Barlow (Shawnee Press, 1969). This can be purchased at
www.sheetmusicplus.com.
Classroom Resources
Poster board, chart paper, markers, and tape
Picture of “Herb the Verb” (page 12)
CD player
CD of “Herb the Verb” song
Words to the “Herb the Verb” song (page 13)
Students’ Writer’s Notebooks or Journals
Pens with green ink for each student
Mini-pictures of Herb to tape onto students pens (page 14)
Assessment Rubric (page 15)
Computers with Internet access
Student Handouts
“Ordinary vs. Strong” (page 16)
“Help Herb” (page 17)
Student Reflection (pages 18 and 19)
Web Resources
Daily Grammar – (http://www.dailygrammar.com)
Ed Helper – Practice with Verbs (http://www.edhelper.com/language/verbs1104.html)
Ed Helper – Practice with Verbs (http://www.edhelper.com/language/verbs1124.html)
Enchanted Learning – Dictionary of Verbs
(http://www.enchantedlearning.com/dictionarysubjects/verbs.shtml)
Merriam Webster Online Dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com)
Randomly Generated Sentences: An Instructional Way to Study English Sentence
Patterns for English Language Learners (www.manythings.org)
Wide World of Verbs (http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/schools/brisas/sunda/verb/enter.htm)
Preparation
1. Write the words to the “Herb the Verb” song on poster board or chart paper.
2. Print the big picture of “Herb” and attach to the song poster/chart.
3. Listen to the CD of the song, so that you will be able to lead your students in
singing and acting it out.
4. Copy, cut, and tape the mini “Herb” pictures to the pens.
5. Copy the “Ordinary vs. Strong”, “Help Herb”, and Student Reflection sheets for
each student.
6.
Read the suggested texts and gather any additional ones your students may like
that use a variety of strong, vivid action verbs. All of the texts listed in the
Resources section are used in this lesson. You will need multiple copies of them
to use in small groups. Examples of verbs found in Pawprints in the Butter are:
scratches, growls, hisses, jumps, creeps, purrs, mews, pounces, leaps, and crashes.
7. Skim Verbs, Verbs, Verbs to brush up on the kinds of verbs, verb tenses,
conjugations, irregular verbs, etc. This is an excellent resource.
8. Preview the websites to see which ones are best suited for your students. Some of
the
websites provide additional tutorials for learning about verbs.
Instruction and Activities
Session 1:
1. Begin the lesson by talking with students about the words that authors use when they
are writing. These carefully chosen words convey the meaning of the story and
paint a picture in the reader’s mind. The verbs, (words that express the action),
make a big difference to the reader and influence the type of picture that is painted.
Read the following excerpt from Fox by Margaret Wild. (Be sure to show the book
as you are reading, so the students can see the words.) While dog sleeps, Magpie
and Fox streak past coolibah trees, rip through long grass, and pelt over rocks. Fox
runs so fast that his feet scarcely touch the ground, and Magpie exults, “At last I am
flying. Really flying!” Ask the students to list the verbs from the story and write on
chart paper. The following verbs should be recorded: streak, rip, pelt, exults, and
runs. Discuss each of the verbs except for ‘run’ at this time. Reread parts of the
excerpt and ask the students to describe what images come to mind. Tell them that
these verbs are all strong verbs. Explain that strong verbs are words that convey a
lot of information and provide the reader with a clearer picture of the action taking
place. Not only do strong verbs tell what action is occurring, but they also describe
how it is being done. Next, ask the students what they notice about the remaining
verb, ‘run’. They should tell you that ‘run’ doesn’t describe how the fox is running.
Instead, it is an ordinary verb that needs an additional description to help illustrate
the action taking place.
2. Next, read the book To Root, to Toot, to Parachute to the entire class. After reading,
ask them to list some of the verbs that were included in that text. Record the verbs
on chart paper, and ask questions about these verbs. (Are they strong verbs or
ordinary verbs?)
3. Introduce “Herb the Verb” to the class and teach the song. Invite students to sing
and act out the song.
4. Next, give each student a “Herb” pen. (If using a multi-colored pen, make sure the
students click on the green ink, because green represents action!) Ask the students
to choose a favorite story (that has not been edited or published) in their Writer’s
Notebook or Journal. Then, using the “Herb” pens, have them locate and circle the
action verbs. If the entries are short, you may want to have them work on two or
three stories. (Note: This step is important because not only will the students will
be coming back to this particular writing again in the days following; but this gives
the students a sense of ownership and choice with their learning.)
Session 2:
1. Begin today by singing and acting out “Herb the Verb” song.
2. Read aloud Kites Sail High to the entire class. Only read pages 1-14, 37-38, and
39-40. This provides another literary model of strong action verbs. (The rest of
the book can be used when discussing verbs in a different context – linking verbs,
irregular verbs, tense, moods, etc.) Ask students to name some of the verbs from
the book and record on chart paper. Make sure to define any unknown words –
‘cavort’ may have some students puzzled, but note that it nicely describes how the
lizard moves.
3. Next, divide the class into small groups of 4 – 6 and give each group a book to
read. (Pawprints in the Butter, Baloney, When the Fly Flew In…, and any other
texts you select that have strong action verbs.) Using the “Herb” pens, ask the
students to write the verbs found in the stories on the “Ordinary vs. Strong”
student sheet and place in the appropriate category.
4. Bring the students back together and make a class chart of all the verbs that they
found. Divide the chart into the same categories as the student sheet. Discuss any
unknown and/or particularly interesting verbs. What was special about them?
Are any of them synonyms?
Session 3:
1. The first task today is to use the “Herb” pens to complete the “Help Herb”
assignment. Divide the class into small groups, preferably 4-6 students. The
directions are to help Herb find stronger, more vivid action verbs for the three
words listed on the paper: run, fly, and sail. Encourage students to use the
computers and go to the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary to find additional
verbs. Thesauruses, dictionaries, and class charts may also be used.
2. Bring class together and discuss findings. Record on class chart.
3. Next, give the students the opportunity to apply what they have learned about
strong verbs to their own writing. Ask them to look at the verbs they circled in
their Writer’s Notebooks/Journals. Are these ordinary verbs that can be replaced
by strong verbs? Encourage them to use the class charts posted around the room
as well as their two recording sheets (“Ordinary vs. Strong” and “Help Herb”).
4. Provide additional time throughout the day to allow students to visit the various
websites.
Session 4:
(This session may be split into two days if necessary.)
1. Allow students time to prepare their writing in final form, making any necessary
corrections.
2. Invite the students to present their new and improved writing with the class.
Discuss changes made and the impact those changes had on interest, delivery, and
confidence in writing ability, etc. Talk about the importance of applying this to
future writings as well and hold students accountable for doing so.
3. Ask students to complete the Student Reflection sheet.
4. Finally, end the lesson by once again singing “Herb the Verb” song.
Extensions

Have students go back to their Writer’s Notebook/Journals and choose more
original writings they want to improve and publish. Display these
publications in the classroom library, making them available to be read by
fellow classmates.

Plan a Reader’s Theatre production, in which students’ original writing
(edited and in published form) is read. Invite another class, parents, and other
teachers and administrators to attend. Make this a celebration of learning with
certificates, cookies, drinks, etc.

Haves students become Word Detectives to search for vivid verbs. Use the
Word Jar Slips (www.readwritethink.org/lessonimages/lesson993/WordJarSlips.pdf)
to record your findings.

Choose a well-liked children’s book (or section of) and enhance it by adding
strong, vivid action verbs. The verbs can be silly, fun, and may not even
pertain to the story.

Have students compile a list of strong, vivid verbs to refer to when they are
writing. Keep this reference sheet in the Writer’s Notebooks/Journals and add
to it periodically.

Apply this lesson to other parts of speech that will improve writing skills, such
as “Addie the Adjective”.
Student Assessment/Reflections

Throughout the sessions, observe students during whole group discussions as
well as small group discussions. Are they actively participating in the
activities? Are they exhibiting an understanding of the concept of strong
verbs? Are they generating lists of strong verbs? Anecdotal notes may help
to keep track of student learning and identify areas that may need additional
instruction.

Assess the completed activity sheets. For the “Ordinary vs. Strong”
assignment, does the student have a clear understanding of the difference
between the two types of words, and can he/she provide a clear explanation of
this concept? The “Help Herb” activity requires the student to generate a list
of strong verbs. Are the verbs listed strong verbs and do they describe the
action more vividly?

Analyze students’ final writing and presentation using the Assessment Rubric.

Check Student Reflections for growth, opinions, and suggestions for further
lessons.
IRA/NCTE Standards
4- Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g.,
conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of
audiences and for different purposes.
5- Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different
writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences
for a variety of purposes.
8- Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g.,
libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize
information and to create and communicate knowledge.
11- Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical
members of a variety of literacy communities.
12- Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own
purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of
information).
“Herb” pens
RubiStar
Rubric Made Using:
RubiStar ( http://rubistar.4teachers.org )
6+1 Trait Writing Model : Using Strong Verbs
Teacher Name: Mrs. Smiley
Student Name:
________________________________________
4
3
2
1
Introduction
The introduction is
inviting, states the
main topic and
previews the
structure of the
paper.
The introduction
clearly states the
main topic and
previews the
structure of the
paper, but is not
particularly inviting to
the reader.
The introduction
states the main topic,
but does not
adequately preview
the structure of the
paper nor is it
particularly inviting to
the reader.
There is no clear
introduction of the
main topic or
structure of the
paper.
Strong Verbs
Writing (journal
entry, story, poem,
etc.) contains more
than 6 strong verb
sentences.
Writing (journal
entry, story, poem,
etc.) contains 6
strong verb
sentences.
Writing (journal
entry, story, poem,
etc.) contains 3-5
strong verb
sentences.
Writing (journal
entry, story, poem,
etc.) contains less
than 3 strong verb
sentences.
Word Choice
Writer uses vivid
words and phrases
that linger or draw
pictures in the
reader's mind, and
the choice and
placement of the
words seems
accurate, natural
and not forced.
Writer uses vivid
words and phrases
that linger or draw
pictures in the
reader's mind, but
occasionally the
words are used
inaccurately or seem
overdone.
Writer uses words
that communicate
clearly, but the
writing lacks variety,
punch or flair.
Writer uses a limited
vocabulary that does
not communicate
strongly or capture
the reader's interest.
Jargon or cliches
may be present and
detract from the
meaning.
Organization
The story is very
well organized. One
idea follows another
in a logical
sequence with clear
transitions.
The story is pretty
well organized. One
idea may seem out
of place. Clear
transitions are used.
The story is a little
Ideas seem to be
hard to follow. The
randomly arranged.
transitions are
sometimes not clear.
Grammar &
Spelling
(Conventions)
Writer makes no
errors in grammar or
spelling that distract
the reader from the
content.
Writer makes 1-2
errors in grammar or
spelling that distract
the reader from the
content.
Writer makes 3-4
errors in grammar or
spelling that distract
the reader from the
content.
CATEGORY
Date Created: Nov 07, 2007 12:38 pm (CST)
Writer makes more
than 4 errors in
grammar or spelling
that distract the
reader from the
content.
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ALTEC
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ORDINARY VS. STRONG
Your Name:
Group Members:
Book Title:
Directions: After reading your book, work
together to list the verbs from the story.
Write them in the appropriate category. Be
sure you can explain your answer. Remember
to click on “green” for action! 

Ordinary Verbs:
Strong Verbs:
HELP HERB!
Your Name:
Group Members:
Directions: Work together to help Herb find
stronger verbs for the words listed below.
Refer to class charts and the Merriam Online
Dictionary for help. Remember to click on
“green” for action! 

run

fly

sail
Student Reflection
Name:
Directions: Now that you have finished
writing, take time to read and enjoy your
final product. Then, take a few minutes to
think about your writing and the process you
went through. Answer the questions
completely and honestly. There are no wrong
answers to these questions. You may use the
“Herb” pen to write your answers. 
1.What are you particularly proud of in
this piece of writing?
2.What did you learn about using strong
verbs in writing?
3.What role do strong verbs play in both
reading and writing?
4.List some strong verbs that you found
interesting during this lesson. Feel
free to include new vocabulary that you
may have learned.
5.What is something in your writing that
you believe you need to improve upon?
How can I, as your teacher, help you do
that?
6.What part of the writing process did you
enjoy the most? What part did you enjoy
the least? Why?
7.Do you think you will continue to use
strong verbs in writings other than your
Writer’s Notebooks? Why or why not?
A personal note:
Below are pictures of the “Herb the Verb” lesson
with fourth graders that I taught last year. This
was originally developed as a series of minilessons. At the time, I saw a pretty dramatic
change in both writing skills and attitude towards
writing and thought about how nice it would be to
enhance this lesson even further. The students
loved using the “Herb” pens to write. It’s amazing
what a little motivational tool can do! When
thinking about this RWT assignment, I wanted to
develop a lesson that I would be able to apply to
my own teaching. “Herb the Verb” seemed to
naturally fit that criterion. 