Create Better Writers

I think I have found the answer to how to teach writing. Create Better Writers is an easy to use, affordable writing program that you are going to want for your homeschool. Over the years, we have tried many different writing programs.  Create Better Writers uses a step-by-step approach that works for all types of writing. I received three e-books from Create Better Writers: How to Write a Paragraph, How to Teach the Five-Paragraph Essay, and The Home School Writing Action Plan.

If you're like me, the following statement could cause you to scoff. "Writing instruction does NOT need to be difficult." This is the claim of author David S. Dye. For the first time in my homeschooling life (since 1998) and the first time in my educational life (started school in 1973), I think I believe that.  You begin teaching your students how to set up their paper to write a paragraph using a pre-writing technique that focuses on one main idea for each paragraph.  Students practice setting up their paper and then delve into paragraph writing.

Watch this video to see what I mean:

How to Teach the Paragraph will teach you to teach your children how to write a paragraph starting in the 3rd grade.  If your students are older that is OK too.  This works for anyone (even adults). Once they know how to write a paragraph they can transition easily into writing essays, research reports and more. The e-book version is only $7.99 and comes free with How to Teach the Five Paragraph Essay or The Complete Writing Program.

How to Teach the Paragraph is 21 pages long including 2 topic sentence worksheets and a paragraph assessment worksheet.

The Homeschool Writing Action Plan presents the intricate subject of writing in clear and uncomplicated fashion. It presents a Summary of Steps, moves on to Pacing Charts, and finishes with The Road Map. After completing this study, your student will know how to write strong essays, research reports, great stories and intelligent descriptive sentences. They will also have a well developed vocabulary and be completely prepared for the SAT/ACT writing college exam.

This book is divided into 3 parts:

Part I – Summary of the Steps: We will begin with a summary of each step. The summaries of the steps are listed on a few pages. This will help you know, at all times, where you should be, where you are headed, and where each step fits into the big picture of your child’s writing.

Part II – Pacing Charts: Part 2 gives you sample pacing charts that will help you decide where and when to begin and how much time to spend on each activity. If you are beginning this program with an elementary school student, you will see how to slowly build you child’s writing skills over time. If you are beginning this program with a high school student, you will be shown how to quickly, but effectively, deliver the same information.

Part III – The Road Map: Part 3 will show you how to implement each step and give you strategies to help reinforce the writing concepts. However, this section will not give you specific lesson plans.

I like this book because it is written with homeschoolers in mind and really works for students of all ages (grade 3 and up). The one thing I didn't like about this book was that sometimes the sample sentences talked about vampires and ghosts.  (not big on that here)

How to Teach the Five-Paragraph Essay is the third book I received.  This builds on How to Teach the Paragraph using the same straight forward pre-writing approach. You can see the Table of Contents and view The Steps in detail. The steps are: List of Steps, Pacing Chart, Detailed Lesson Plan, Bells and Whistles, and the Next Level. The steps are covered in the first 36 pages of the book followed by 10 appendices: Topics for Five-Paragraph Essays, Sample Essay Outlines, Five-Paragraph Essay Assessment Sheet, Five-Paragraph Essay Rubric, Types of Introductions, Interesting Introductions Worksheets, Commas, Transition Words, Transition Sentences, Writing Portfolio Project-Cover Sheets.  Comprehensive?? YES!

I think this is the first time that I feel confident teaching writing.  I couldn't be happier to have found this.

Watch this video to learn more about Teaching the Five-Paragraph Essay: (I tried to embed this but I am having trouble with the html in this post.)

All in all, I highly recommend these e-books (though I think I would prefer physical copies-which technically I have since I printed them all.)  I am very glad that I had the opportunity to review this and I will be using this all year with all of the kids (4th grade and up). I will admit that Ryan was not thrilled with doing any of this but I can see progress in the short time we've been using this and so we're all going to be doing it. I think this will help me as well. (Now please don't go checking my paragraphs!! ;) )

There is a page on the website dedicated to homeschool teachers that you should check out.  It also includes a 53 minute video.


You can purchase How to Write a Paragraph (e-book) for $7.95, How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay (includes How to Write a Paragraph) for $17.95 (pdf) or $19.95 (soft cover) and The Homeschool Writing Action Plan for $17.95 (pdf).  You might also want to check out the website for The Complete Writing Program, Idioms e-book and Standards Based Grammar (go to the main page and click on the grade level you are interested in.)

Read what other crew members are saying about Create Better Writers on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.


disclaimer: I received a free copy of How to Write a Paragraph, How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay and the Homeschool Writing Action Plan in exchange for an honest review.

Lightning Literature from Hewitt Homeschooling

Our latest Schoolhouse Review crew item is Hewitt Homeschooling Lightning Literature Early 19th Century British Literature. The subtitle for this series of literature studies is Acquiring College-Level Composition Skills by Responding to Great Literature.  This soft cover book contains 233 pages.  It is made up of 4 units with 2 lessons in each.

Lightning Literature is available for junior high and a whole range of high school courses including American Literature, British Literature, Christian Literature, Shakespeare and more.  The crew is reviewing many titles from this series (and some elementary and junior high titles as well) so be sure to click on the link at the bottom of this review to see more.

Each high-school guide is a one-semester course for most students. Students who struggle with reading and writing may take up to a year to finish a guide. Additional reading recommendations are given for students who excel in language arts. All students will be exposed to exciting new authors and revisit old favorites with new eyes. Each guide includes biographies of the authors; comprehension questions; lessons on the readings; writing exercises; any short stories, essays, or poems used for lessons; additonal reading suggestions; and discussion questions.

-from website                        

Literary lessons include tone, characterization, description, persuasive writing, imagery and poetic language, setting, person and humor. Lessons are taught using poetry, novels and short stories as well as the essay. View the complete table of contents for further details.You can also view a sample chapter. The poetry studied in this course is included in the student guide. You will need to purchase (or borrow) 4 novels: Pride and Prejudice, Ivanhoe, Frankenstein and Jane Eyre. (All are available free for the Kindle.)

The introduction is written directly to students and helps them to understand why this course is important and goes on to explain reasons for reading literature, how to read literature, how to read poetry, why learn to write, brainstorming, how to write an outline and more.  It also includes two pages on the fluidity of language and pronoun confusion.  Finally, there is a 4 page student guide on how to use the guide and get the most out of the course.  

Each of the lessons begin with an introduction with background information about the author. (Personally, I really loved this and found each introduction very interesting.)  There is also information about the selection and questions to think about while you read.  Next you find comprehension questions, then a literary lesson and a list of writing exercises.  I think it would be beneficial to read through the entire lesson before (or while) reading the book to get the most benefit.  That way you know what you are looking for as you read.

Appendix A has discussion questions and project suggestions and Appendix B has a list of additional reading.  Appendix C contains 2 complete schedules. The first is for completing the guide in a semester and the other is for completing it as a full year course. I love having the schedule so I don't have to try to figure out how much to do each day.

Hewitt's Lightning Lit guides use full-length novels, autobiographies, plays, essays, short stories, and poems to teach deep reading and composition skills. Unlike some literature programs that take a scatter-shot approach (where none of the literature seems connected) or that try to include too much into one book, Lightning Literature guides focus on a few classics in depth, in a systematic manner.

This is one of the things I really love about this literature study.  Each unit focuses on one main thing while still providing plenty of in depth study (comprehension questions and writing assignments)

The teacher's guide is 3-hole punched rather than bound. It contains an introduction, 16 pages of grading tips, answer keys for the entire student book as well as the schedules and projects listed in student book. The grading guide is SO helpful. It provides checklists and rubrics to help you in grading your student's work. You can see some sample pages of the teacher guide.

The only thing I didn't really like about this study was that it has a lot of poetry and we're not big on poetry here...but since we need to cover it, it's OK. :)

Purchase Lightning Literature Early 19th Century British Literature pack including the Teacher's Guide, Student Guide and books for just $48.36 or purchase them separately. (Teacher guide $2.95, Student Guide $29.95.) The novels are also available for purchase.

Hewitt Homeschooling offers a full range of curriculum, an online school and standardized testing with the Hewitt PASS test. I have used their testing services and really like them. I will definitely consider using more of these literature studies in the years to come.  

See what others are saying about various Hewitt homeschooling titles on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog. Please ask questions if you have any.








disclaimer: I received a free copy of the Lightning Literature Early 19th Century British Literature student guide and teacher's guide in exchange for an honest review.

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.