Review: Institute for Excellence in Writing

Teaching writing. You either love it or hate it. I wasn't in the love it category. Neither was my daughter Mackenzie. Then the Institute for Excellence in Writing sent us Teaching Writing with Structure and Style (TWSS) along with the Student Writing Intensive B (SWI).  We've changed our minds.

About IEW

These DVD writing courses cover note-taking and summarizing, story writing, creative writing, and report writing. The student will learn many stylistic techniques that will make their writing clearing and more interesting.

TWSS includes:

     * 10 DVDS

     * Seminar Workbook

This set is a video seminar for parents and teachers. It gives you the whys and hows behind the program. It gives you an overview of the program as well as the nitty gritty behind teaching each of the stylistic techniques. It will take you from the basics of paragraph writing all the way through research reports and essays.


SWI B includes:

* 5 DVDS

* Student Binder with all hand outs (level B): Source texts, check                                                               lists

* Detailed Lesson Suggestions for parent/teacher: Scope and         Sequence, detailed lesson suggestions, teacher notes.

The course can be covered in 15-30 weeks and will expose the student to a variety of structural models and techniques using a variety of interesting source texts. As an added bonus, not only will your student be learning about writing but a bit of history and science as well.

Our Experience

What can I say, other than we LOVED it!!  Writing went from a dreaded subject to a much anticipated subject. We are sold!!

I watched the the TWSS on my own as it is a seminar geared to the teaching of writing. One would think that watching TEN DVDS would be overwhelming and maybe a tad dull. Not so. I loved and learned during every minute of it.

Mackenzie and I watched the student DVDs from the SWI B together. Then we go over the assignment together and I help her as needed. Like the TWSS DVDs, we enjoyed every minute of these. Mr. Pudewa is an amazing teacher. He has just the right amount of humor to keep us from noticing that a particular lesson might be 45 minutes long. We were too busy learning and having fun.


From the first lesson, note taking, I saw dramatic improvements in Mackenzie's writing. And it immediately carried over to other subjects, like science and history.  Genius!!!

When I say that this program revolutionized writing in our house, I am not exaggerating. Mackenzie went from hating writing to loving it.

Once she was given the tools and rules in IEWs program it was like a great weight was lifted. She was suddenly inspired to write. She went from writing the bare minimum to endless pages. She can now turn a 3 paragraph assignment into 6 pages in the blink of an eye. I guess that makes her what Mr. Pudewa calls "an 18-pager." lol As least as far as creative writing assignments are concerned.

At the moment, that is our biggest problem. My child is so inspired to write that she doesn't want to stop. How awesome is that?

I can not speak highly enough of this program. It has made writing, and the teaching of writing, a joy in our house. Mr. Pudewa's personality and sense of humor in the lessons makes him feel like family to us. Mackenzie looks forward to the lessons, she enjoys them, she is able to easily apply what she's learned to her writing. (Well everything except the length of creative assignments. lol) She even quotes his funny sayings to put into her scrapbook.

During the review period I was blessed to be able to hear Mr. Pudewa speak in person. His session just reinforced my love for this program. It takes common sense and applies it to create this wonderful writing program for teachers and students a like.  Dare I say, genius again??? Yes, I dare. Genius!!!

If you are looking for a way to lift the writing burden in your home, then definitely take a look at the Institute for Excellence in Writing. It's easy to use, it's fun, and it gets results.

F.Y.I.

Website: http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/

Age Range (for level B): Sixth through eighth grade

Pricing: TWSS/$169.900, SWI B/$109.00

Samples are available on the product pages.  And check them out of Facebook.

Review: Write Shop Junior level D

Finding the perfect writing program has been a struggle around our house.  My daughter has a love/hate relationship with writing.  She likes to make up stories and such but loathes the act of actually putting it down on paper. And she doesn't even want to hear about the elements that should be included in good writing.  "Boring!"

Write Shop Junior is a program that I've seen around on various blogs but I'd never really considered it.  It  appeared to be heavy on crafty type activities which generally ups the teacher prep work. I'm really not the crafty mom and I certainly don't want any extra prep.

Then it showed up on our review list so I said "why not?"  It's not like it's a life time commitment.  Boy did the program surprise me.  In a good way.

About Write Shop Junior

WriteShop Junior is a creative writing program that appeals to many learning styles. As with all WriteShop products, WriteShop Junior helps you guide children through the steps of the writing process. To keep the experience fun for everyone, every lesson includes engaging games and activities that teach and review important writing and self-editing skills. And whether you have a more advanced child or one who is just beginning, this program is flexible so children can work at their own level. 

Book D is recommended for 3rd and 4th grade, but many of our test families also used it successfully with reluctant 5th graders (and even some 6th graders). Parents also appreciate being able to use the program with struggling learners.

Skills Covered:


Identify and use proper grammar and punctuation
Narrow a broad topic to a specific topic
Brainstorm before writing
Structure a sentence
Write a paragraph
Choose strong words instead of weak ones
Use emotion words to develop voice
Use the five senses to add descriptive detail
Self-edit and revise their work

Our Experience

We received Write Shop Junior and my fifth grader was a tad on the old side for the program and she doesn't have any learning struggles but I wanted to give it a go to see if would help her enjoy learning to write a bit more.

The program came with the teacher's guide, student activity guide, and my favorite, the TIME-SAVER pack in an e-book format.

Normally e-books are pretty simple to deal with, just open and go in Adobe.  However, the teacher guide is an Adobe portfolio file and that is a little different then a normal PDF.  I was a bit confused at first.  Then I clicked the "Files" button just left of center and life got a whole lot easier.  All the lessons were suddenly in a nice neat list and when I clicked on a particular lesson it worked just like a normal PDF. And it was really easy to use on my iPad.  I just opened the file in the free Adobe Reader app and clicked on the lesson I wanted.  Easy peasy.

Next up, choose a lesson plan schedule.  They offer three ways to schedule the program, ranging from lesson completion in two or three weeks.  Each lesson consists of the following activities:

*Activity Set 1: Fold-n-Go Grammar book (Yes, there is grammar instruction included. Score!) and Reading Log.  (We didn't do the reading log because we do enough reading that I don't need to keep track.)
*Activity Set 2: Pre-writing Activity and a Model & Teach session
*Activity Set 3: Review and Skill Builder & Journal Writing Practice
*Activity Set 4: Brainstorming
*Activity Set 5: Writing Project (sloppy copy)
*Activity Set 6: Edit and Revise (includes a handy check list)
*Activity Set 7: Publishing the Writing Project
*Activity Set 8: Evaluate the Work and an optional Do More activity

The student worksheet pack contains all of the pre-writing, skill building, brainstorming, fold-n-go, and check list sheets.  They are organized by lesson so you just have to click and print.  The time-saver pack contains all the little game elements that are needed for some of the games and activities.  Little things that the teacher would have to create and prepare in advance. But thanks to the Time-Saver pack I didn't have to create and prepare. All I had to do was print them on colored card stock and cut them out. Or have the student cut them out.  ;o) Love, love, love, LOVE the Time-Saver pack. We actually did all of the cutesy games thanks to this pack.

How'd Mackenzie like it? She loved it.  She called it fun and cool and she had a blast writing stories.  She enjoyed the fold-n-go grammar, the games, and even the writing assignments.  She didn't even cry when I had her write her "sloppy copy" by hand instead of typing.

Take a peek at what it looked like at our house.

Fold-n-Go Grammar

  

Pre-Writing, Model & Teach, Skill Building, and brainstorming fun

 

The best part for me is that it never took me more than 5-10 minutes to get any of the activities together.  And some of them look pretty involved, right?  And boy did she have fun writing the stories.  We completed 3 full lessons over the 6 weeks and she wrote 2 amazing stories.  And had fun doing it. She's so proud of them that she thinks they could be published.  =o)

So while she was a bit too advanced for it academically, she was enjoying writing!  That was a win for me and we are going to keep doing the lessons as long as she's enjoying them.  And I am definitely keeping their products in mind for my little one when the time comes.

F.Y.I.

Website: http://www.writeshop.com/
Age Range: 3rd & 4th grade or reluctant 5th graders
Pricing: print version is $39.95, PDF version is $34.95
Click for Sample

And guess what?  They are offering 15% off Write Shop Primary and Junior products to our readers through June 15.  Just enter the code: CREW15   So pop by the WriteShop store!


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Disclaimer: I was given this product free for review purposes.  All opinions are my own or my daughter's.

Review: Write With World

The publishers of God's World News and WORLD Magazine have created a new, two-year writing curriculum for middle schoolers called Write with World.  We were recently given the opportunity to pilot edition of year one.

About Write with World

From the Website...

Write with WORLD is the middle school writing curriculum developed by education and media professionals. Use it to inspire and train your students to become proficient communicators who can meet educational requirements and navigate today's growing new media and conflicting worldviews.

Write with WORLD exposes students to:

• reading and critical thinking that develop discernment
• contemporary subjects and professional guidance to pique interest
• flexible exercises to build confidence and skill for using today's new media
• a thoughtful and meaningful Christian worldview

They have a very definite purpose for creating this program:

Writing skills are commonly deficient among students entering college, but the problem and its fallout begin years earlier. Poor writing skills hurt a student's performance on exams and in courses requiring composition. For Christian students, poor communication hinders the believer's voice from influencing their social circle and, ultimately, the broader public square.

Christians in particular should try to be the best communicators. They possess the truth and need to articulate a biblical worldview. Just as important, today's students must be discriminating media consumers - able to read, hear, and watch what the world is saying and to recognize the truth.

Write with World includes:

• Separate teacher/student books and online content for first and second years
• Web site (Sept. 2011) for updated examples, writing prompts, published student work, and helpful teacher forum
• Students will need their own notebook/journal to record their work

Our Experience

I used the year 1, pilot program with my 11 year old.  The book was very user friendly and easy to use.  There are four units for the entire year.  The units are made up of four lessons which contain five learning capsules.  The pages themselves are pleasing to look at. You can take a peek at a sample HERE. 

The teachers guide contains the entire student text plus additional notes in the margins with suggestions on how to help the student.  I found this very handy.  I could read her assignments and the suggestions on the same page.  

Another nice thing for teachers is that many of the assignments only use "low-stakes" evaluation.  "Low-stakes grading requires less critical evaluation and more helpful general evaluation.  Instead of awarding a final grade, low-stakes grading offers students minimal grading- at most, a general evaluation (excellent, satisfactory, weak or +/-). Offer students specific and tactful ways for improving their response: explain how they can turn a weak response into a satisfactory one.  Use low-stakes grading to encourage your student develop as readers and writers who take time to practice."  I like that because it takes a lot of the pressure off of struggling writers and gives me a break from wielding the red pen. 

The lessons themselves easy to read and the conversational tone of them is wonderful.  There are many examples of writing from published writers, mainly from WORLD Magazine.  Basically the student reads the lesson in the book and then is given an assignment in their writers journal.   The assignments were clear and well laid out.  Rarely did my daughter have to have help in figuring out what to do.   Lessons also include a bit of vocabulary and grammar too.  I really liked it.

There were only a couple things I had issue with.  I am not a natural writer myself so I could've used some more concrete suggestions on a few of the assignments.  There is eventually going to be a website that includes more examples, teacher helps, writing prompts, etc.  It will even publish the students work! Unfortunately it is not up and running yet, so I wasn't able to take advantage of the extra help. 

The other problem was Mackenzie.  She didn't really care for it but wasn't really able to articulate why.  My best guess is that it wasn't black and white enough for her.  She is very logic-minded and likes everything else to be that way too.  Many of the journaling assignments require some inferring and reading between the lines which just doesn't gel with her.  

While it didn't work well for my daughter's learning style, I still think it's worth taking a look at.  It might be something that works for your child.  In the meantime, I'm thinking about working through it myself.  Who wouldn't like some writing tips from professionals?  =o)

F.Y.I.

Website:  http://www.learnwithworld.com/writewithworld/

Age Range: Middle School

Pricing:  $95 for one year, $165 for both years.  This includes student and teacher guides as well as access to website.  Please note that curriculum will not be available until summer 2012.  Order Here. 

Helpful Info: Table of Contents, Sample Lesson

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Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Write With World for review purposes.  All opinions are my own or that of my daughter.