7 weeks
Friday, July 11, 2014
WriteShop Junior, Book E ~ a TOS review
WriteShop produces homeschool writing curriculum for children in Kindergarten through 12th grade. WriteShop Junior is a unit style program that provides creative writing instruction through step-by-step lessons in a fun and non-threatening way for 3rd – 6th graders. With lots of hands-on activities, WriteShop engages your child through the use of writing prompts, games, and fun worksheets.
Eight weeks ago we received the digital {PDF} copies of:
Teacher's Guide, Book E, {35.50}:
~ Includes daily lesson plans, writing samples, guided writing scripts, step-by-step teaching instructions,supply lists for each lesson, engaging learning games and exercises.
Activity Pack with Fold- n-Go Grammar { $35.50}:
~ An essential part of the program this Activity Pack is essentially two workbooks in one! It contains both the Student Worksheets for the reproducible activity pages along with journal prompts, self-editing checklists, and brainstorming worksheets. The Level 2 Fold-N-Go Grammar Pack contains all the pages needed to make 10 Fold-N-Go Grammar guides that teach and review key grammar and writing skills. Each student using the program will need their own set of Fold-N-Go Grammar Guides.
Time-Saver Pack {$6.50, optional}:
~ This is completely optional but perfect for parents and teachers who enjoy a little shortcut now and then. The Time-Saver Pack in hard copy form is a ready-made set of sturdy props for the activities in the program. In the digitial form, just print out on your own colored papers.
Junior Writer's Notebook 1 {$3.50, optional}:
~ Created to inspire budding writers with worksheets based on actual exercises used by published authors in the writing process. This is a completely optional, bonus tool and not required for success in the Book E program.
WriteShop Junior: Book E is geared towards students in 4th and 5th grade, however, it is perfectly suited for reluctant 6th and 7th graders with little to none writing instruction. It covers ten forms of creative writing divided up into ten complete lessons. Every lesson is broken down into smaller bite-sized Activity Sets as to not overwhelm the student writer. All lessons contain 8 Activity Sets with the material presented in the same familiar format each week.
Topics covered in Book E’s lessons include:
Lesson 1: Writing a Fable
Lesson 2: Writing with Humor
Lesson 3: Writing an Adventure
Lesson 4: Writing Science Fiction
Lesson 5: Writing a Mystery
Lesson 6: Concrete Poetry
Lesson 7: Writing a Personal Narrative
Lesson 8: Descriptive Narrative
Lesson 9: Writing a Book Report
Lesson 10: Writing a Nonfiction Report
Lesson 2: Writing with Humor
Lesson 3: Writing an Adventure
Lesson 4: Writing Science Fiction
Lesson 5: Writing a Mystery
Lesson 6: Concrete Poetry
Lesson 7: Writing a Personal Narrative
Lesson 8: Descriptive Narrative
Lesson 9: Writing a Book Report
Lesson 10: Writing a Nonfiction Report
Skills Taught in Book E
- Writing in different fiction genres
- Writing nonfiction and book reports
- Answering journal prompts
- Planning and organizing each writing project
- Choosing strong words and synonyms
- Developing voice and emotion
- Writing sentences of different lengths
- Learning to write using 5 paragraphs
- Creatively publishing final drafts
- Using references
- Using a variety of self-editing tools
Three different options to plan your writing schedule are included in the Teachers Guide, including a plan for scheduling two or more children. Depending on the scheduling plan you choose to follow, each lesson can take anywhere from two to three weeks to complete. The three week plan is the standard plan that most families choose to follow and will allow your student to complete the entire Book E level in 30 weeks. With this plan students work only three days out of a week.
I used this program specifically with Mikayla, my rising 6th grader. I would say that she is a reluctant writer, but if she put her mind to it she can write very well. To get us started in the program, I printed off the instructions and the first lesson and put the pages into a three ring binder. We dove into the Book E program right before baby Micah was born and completed week 1/3 in Lesson 1 on Writing a Fable. We quickly jumped back into our lessons two weeks later once I had recovered. We did have to do a quick 5 minute review but other than that we just picked up where we left off.
Now that summer is in full swing, Mikayla has morning practice 5 days a week for 5-7 hours depending on the day. Some days she is just plain exhausted so I adjusted her schedule and we worked on the lessons on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays.
WriteShop Junior: Book E Set is an incredibly thorough writing program. However, it is not a program you can just open up and teach. There is a tremendous amount of prep work involved for the teacher. With that said, the Teacher’s manual does have extensive and detailed instructions that offer step-by-step instructions for set up and implementation. Don't let “teacher prep” scare you away from this program. Simply use it as a tool an adjust the program to fit your families needs.
Mikayla and I have enjoyed this writing program and working through it so much that we will be continuing to use it as her writing program when she officially starts 6th grade in August. I am so pleased with WriteShop as a whole that I have also purchased the WriteShop Primary: Book B Set for Montana, my rising 2nd grader. Be sure to check out the Book E sample lesson form Write Shop Junior and well as the placement helps for any of your students in grades 1-6. See what my Crewmates had to say about the Junior, Book E set and sets A-D that were reviewed by clicking the banner below.
Company ~ WriteShop
Product ~ WriteShop Junior: Book E Set
Price ~ ranging from $3.50 - $35.50 in Digital PDF form
Ages ~ Ideal for 4th & 5th graders or reluctant 6th & 7th graders
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Moving Beyond the Page: Literature and Science ~ a TOS review
With summer in full swing I like to keep the girls reading, especially my two that are not big readers to begin with. Remember last year when we had the chance to review a literature and science unit study for Madison & Mikayla from Moving Beyond the Page? Well, this year we were blessed to be able to review another unit study just for Montana, my 7 year old. We were able to choose an online Language Arts package ~ Charlotte’s Web {for 7-9 year olds} and a physical copy of the Science Package ~ The Water Cycle {for 7-9 year olds} to correlate. Moving Beyond the Page offers complete literature-rich curriculum for a full year for ages 4-14. As a comprehensive unit-based curriculum it encourages children to use their minds to think both critically and creatively in topics such as science, language arts and social studies.
Equally challenging and engaging all of the units combine hands-on activities with writing and discussion assignments that appeal to multiple learning styles. Children will get to explore many great books while using this program. Each of the learning packages include learning guides and books and sometimes extra supplies or activities. Learning guides are available in either a physical or online edition.
With easy laid out lesson plans it is possible to use this a complete stand alone curriculum or as a supplement. Multiple learning styles are covered with engaging and challenging activities and projects to keep your child learning while doing. All of MBTP’s curriculum meets or exceeds National or State Standards all the while encouraging your child to think outside of the box.
We received the online edition of the Literature guide for Charlotte’s Web and a physical copy of the novel which retails for $20.92. All of the materials for the teacher and student are conveniently available online to access for 90 days. It is really simple to log in for access to all of the items in this learning guide, including PDF files for worksheets, reading questions and activity pages. This unit can be used independently, but it is perfectly designed to be used concurrently with the science and social studies unit on The Water Cycle.
We received a physical copy of The Water Cycle unit which retails for $25.94 and will help your child learn all about the unique properties of water as they follow a drop of water that falls from the sky, flows across the land, provides life for animals and plants, and makes its way back to the clouds with the book A Drop Around the World by Barbara McKinney and Michael S. Maydak. As a final project for this unit, your child will have learned a wealth of information to help teach family, friends, and neighbors all about the water cycle.
It was easy for us to incorporate using these two products into our daily routine by just setting out 20-30 minutes a day. The worksheets and activities were fun and engaging for Montana that she often asked if I was ready to start. She even tried reading the book aloud to me when I was busy tending to the baby one day.
Let’s be perfectly honest here… I have been drooling over MBTP’s website and catalog trying to incorporate some of the unit studies into our upcoming year. You know when you find a curriculum or product that just blows your mind, well this curriculum has kept me coming back for more. We definitely will be completing more unit studies as we dig a little deeper into topics for this upcoming school year. I also have already purchased the new 4-5 year old curriculum for McKenzie to use in her Kindergarten year as we solidify her alphabet recognition and sounds.
But don’t just take my word for it. Click on the link below and read what my fellow Crewmates thought of all of the unit studies that were available for review. I would list them, but there are way too many :)
Company ~Moving Beyond the Page
Product ~ online Language Arts package ~ Charlotte’s Web and a physical copy of the Science Package ~ The Water Cycle
Price ~ $20.92, $25.94
Ages ~ 7 to 9 year olds
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Friday, July 4, 2014
Random 5 on Friday ~ July 4th
I am back for another week of Random 5 on Friday hosted by Miranda at The Pebble Pond.
1. Early this morning Hurricane Arthur barreled through the coast of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Because we live not too far from this area we received some winds and rain early this morning. The storm is gone now and the sun is shining and we are ready to enjoy the 4th!
2.Micah is 6 weeks {already}. He is now topping the scale at 9 lbs. We are slowly getting into a nice routine to our day so that has been great.
3. Also, this morning the Lt surprised the girls with front row seats to Disney on Ice tickets to see Frozen in September. Montana & McKenzie are over the moon excited!
4. Madison, Mikayla, and Montana officially completed this school year now that the required yearly testing is done. {happy dance}. It was like pulling teeth with a certain someone to get it done, but its done and will be on its way for grading Saturday.
5. I popped the inner tube on my jogger this week. Waiting on the Lt. to buy another one since the rip can not be patched. I look forward to hitting the road again next week.
So, those are just a few of the random thoughts swirling through my head this morning. Do you have anything to share?
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
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