Write with WORLD

Write with WORLD is a brand new writing curriculum for middle school students from the publishers of God's World News and WORLD magazine.  I'm sure many would agree that writing is one of the hardest subjects to teach (and to learn).  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review this curriculum for the TOS crew. Write with WORLD is for students in grades 6-9 but could also be used with high school students without a lot of writing experience.

Write with WORLD aims to produce young writers who love writing, can write effectively, and intelligently share ideas, beliefs, and their worldview. We hope to support a generation of young believers who aspire to use their writing skills in the service of God's Kingdom and explain effectively the reasons for their beliefs.  -from the website

On the website, the publishers answer the question, "Why a different writing curriculum?" with these 5 reasons:

1) Persistent poor writing among those entering college
2) Existing curricula are often focused on mechanics and remediation
3) Christians need to be heard in this era of conflicting worldviews
4) Profusion of new media, in which anyone can be a content creator
5) Today's sophisticated media and messages demand that students be discerning message consumers

Click here to read more on each of the 5 reasons.

Write with WORLD is divided into 4 Units of 4 Lessons each. Each lesson is divided into 5 Capsules.  I thought the lessons provided just enough work for each day so that the student is learning and not feeling completely overwhelmed.   I wish there was a timeline of how to space out the lessons to make this a 1 year curriculum.  There are 16 lessons (5 days each).  In my mind when I see 5 sections I figure one per day but at that rate the book will be finished in 16 weeks.  I hadn't really paid attention to the total number of lessons so I guess we can slow the pace down and spend more time on each lesson.  I plan to continue using Write with WORLD.  Our school year is winding down and I'd like to save this to do next year so we will probably pick it up again full force in the fall.

This is what is covered in Year One:

INTRODUCTION

UNIT #1: DEVELOPING CRITICAL READERS

Lesson 1: Reading Images and Advertisements
Lesson 2: Comparative Reading: Sentences
Lesson 3: Comparative and Critical Reading: Paragraphs
Lesson 4: Critical Reading: Essays

UNIT#2: DEVELOPING WRITERS: BUILDING BLOCKS AND BIOGRAPHY

Lesson 1: The Paragraph
Lesson 2: Composing and Linking Sentences
Lesson 3: Creating Focus and Arranging Ideas
Lesson 4: Linking Paragraphs: Transitions and Logic

UNIT #3: WRITING AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Lesson 1: Reporting Facts
Lesson 2: Creating Character
Lesson 3: Developing Ideas with Specificity
Lesson 4: Writing Autobiography

UNIT #4: CRAFTING NARRATIVES

Lesson 1: Developing a Point of View
Lesson 2: Showing vs. Telling
Lesson 3: Narrative with a Purpose
Lesson 4: Writing a Fictional Narrative

Click here and scroll down to see year 2.

The teacher's book is identical to the student book only it has wide margins with teaching tips throughout and plenty for space for your own notes. The text is NON-consumable. Students keep their work in a notebook.  With a large family, I love non-consumable curriculum.  See this sample of the first lesson. (In this first chapter there are pictures that pertain to the lesson.  Future lessons do not contain any photographs.)

The Teacher edition is on top.
You can see the  wide margin and teacher's notes.

Write with WORLD also incorporates the top 20 grammar errors made by U.S. college students. You can see what these are here. (again scroll down)  I love "whole" learning where grammar is incorporated into writing. (Spend 5 minutes on Facebook or message boards and you will see these errors over and over again.) Students also learn vocabulary and then at the end of the lesson take those vocabulary words and have to choose an appropriate synonym using a thesaurus.  

Note that this curriculum is loosely connected to WORLD magazine and God's World News which are referenced in the book but not necessary for use.  I plan to order them though.  I meant to this year and somehow forgot.  

This curriculum is decidedly Christian and teaches children to write with a purpose and to write with a worldview.  Of course we all have a worldview. I want my children to write to the glory of God and I think this curriculum will help them to do that.

You can pre-order Write with WORLD for $95 per year, or $165 when both years are purchased together.  Year one will be available to ship this summer. Purchase will include access to a user website coming this fall that will "provide online publishing opportunities, as well as additional writing subjects to constantly freshen and augment what is in the textbooks."

Read what others are saying about Write with WORLD on the TOS crew blog.


disclaimer: I received a free copy of  year one of Write with World  in exchange for an honest review.