Outlines are lists that show the flow and organization of details in a composition.
Hands on Outlining:
Try some activities to enhance your child's sorting skills. Many of these activities are necessary skills that your child should learn to do anyway. Take the time to teach your child common household skills. Some of these activities will also enhance math and neatness.
| Laundry | Toys | Kitchen |
| From a large load of laundry that consists of socks, underwear, t-shirts, etc., have your children sort and fold their clothes. Then have them put their clothes in the appropriate place (drawer). | Have your children sort their toys into categories such as Legos, doll furniture, balls, vehicles,..... Label boxes for the toys and have the children put the toys into the appropriate boxes. | Invite the kids into the kitchen to help with
dinner. Consider these "Main Topics"..
Those activities listed above involves planning, sorting, and organizing. |
| Assign each child a day to get all the dirty laundry from the bathrooms. The child should pick up the laundry, take it to the laundry area and sort the laundry into piles: whites; towels; and darks. | Legos
This sorting can be as complex as you wish. Either use boxes or define areas on a large piece of paper and have your children sort Legos by the criteria that you set. Here's a guide that you can use to set your criteria: Legos |
There are many possibilities for more activities. Look around and use your imagination.
Easing into Outlines with Short Essay Writings
This activity should be fairly easy for most youngsters that
have some experience making sentences.
If you wish to print these two lessons, go to this printer
friendly page.
| I:
Write this on a piece of paper or your chalk-board. Autobiography of __________ I. What is your name? The children should answer the questions about themselves in outline form (I., II., ...). They should write the answers as either sentences or phrases, but not a mixture of both. The things which they write can be fact or fiction, and in the present, past, or future. When they have completed their list, they should then write a short essay based on the information that they wrote in their lists. They should proof read their essay before finally reading it aloud to the others. Sometimes, I tape the oral readings with a camcorder. *Tell the children that the dots behind the Roman numerals should line up vertically. When you write the questions on your board or paper, be sure that you have the dots that follow the Roman numerals lining up (as a good example). *Tell them to capitalize only the first word and the proper nouns in the topics. All of the important words in the title are capitalized. |
II:
Write this on a piece of paper or your chalk-board. My Favorites I. Toys Have the children write the answers in true outline form. Have them write in phrase form (no sentences in this one). When they are finished, they should, by following the outline, be able to write a very short essay about their favorite things. You may use the outline form that goes with this lesson. If you'd rather your children make the outline themselves, then give each of them a ruler to make the straight vertical lines necessary for the proper parallel form or have them crease their papers to make 'lines' to go by. As you do this lesson, point out that each topic that is divided has at least two subtopics. A topic can not have only one subtopic, it must have two or more. See the example below: My Favorites I. Toys The topic 'Toys' above can not be divided into one part as I have done here (in red). Topics MUST have at least two subtopics in order to be divided at all. Also point out to your children that in the topics only the first word is capitalized. All of the important words in the title are capitalized.
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