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How do I add sentence starters for students who need more support?
How do I add sentence starters for students who need more support?

Sentence starters and frames provide students additional guidance and support in their writing.

Kelly Burnette avatar
Written by Kelly Burnette
Updated over 2 months ago

Some students need additional support to begin writing. In this article, you'll learn how to add sentence starters and fill-in-the-blanks to assignments.

On this page:


Add Sentence Starters to an Extended Response

  1. Click 'My Assignments' and click the assignment you’d like to edit.

    Note: If you don't have an assignment yet, follow these directions: Create an Assignment or Browse and Choose an Assignment.

  2. Then click the 'Edit' button.

  3. Select the prompt you would like to add the sentence starters for. If you are using differentiated prompts, you can add different sentence starters for each level of support.

  4. Once you've selected the prompt, scroll to the sections of the assignment. Click a section and then choose 'Add Sentence Starter'.

  5. Type the starter text students will see in the assignment. The text will save automatically.

Tips!

  • Click 'Preview' at the top of the page to see how supports will look for students.

  • If you are adding sentence starters for only some students, be sure to set up your prompts as differentiated.


Add a Sentence Starter to a Short Response Question

Writable allows teachers to add a sentence starter for short response questions to help students form their answers. Click here to learn more about using short-response questions.

  1. Click 'My Assignments' and click the assignment you’d like to edit.

    Note: If you don't have an assignment yet, follow these directions: Create an Assignment or Browse and Choose an Assignment.

  2. Then click the 'Edit' button.

  3. Select the prompt you would like to add the sentence starters for. If you are using differentiated prompts, you can add different sentence starters for each level of support.

  4. Once you've selected the prompt, scroll to the sections of the assignment. In the multi-response section click 'Edit Section'.

  5. Click 'More' below the question to add sentence starters.

  6. Cilck 'Add Sentence Starter'.

  7. Type the text you'd like students to see.

  8. Click 'Done'.

Tip! Click 'Preview' any time to see how the question and sentence starter will appear for students.


Add 'Word on Line' to a Short Response Question

Writable's Word on Line feature allows teachers to add a sentence frame, also known as a fill-in-the-blank, to a short response question. Click here to learn more about using short-response questions.

  1. Click 'My Assignments' and click the assignment you’d like to edit.

    Note: If you don't have an assignment yet, follow these directions: Create an Assignment or Browse and Choose an Assignment.

  2. Then click the 'Edit' button.

  3. Select the prompt you would like to add the sentence starters for. If you are using differentiated prompts, you can add different sentence starters for each level of support.

  4. Once you've selected the prompt, scroll to the sections of the assignment. In the multi-response section click 'Edit Section'.

  5. Click 'More' below the question to add sentence starters.

  6. Click 'Add Word on Line'.

  7. Type the answer sentence. Use a pair of brackets to insert a blank for students. Any text inside the brackets will show as a tip for students when hovering over the blank (see preview below).

  8. *Optional* You can include an answer key for the short response question. If you'd like students to see the answer while reviewing their own work or peers' work check the 'Show answer key...' box.

  9. Click 'Done' to add the question to your assignment.


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