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I need help organizing my upcoming 8th grader's writing program for next year. What skills need to be cemented by the end of 8th grade? TWTM doesn't really spell it out at all. I know writing a great sentence and paragraph would be expected, but what about a 5 paragraph essay?

 

I am planning on covering descriptive, persuasive, narrative and a variety of expository topics like how to, cause and effect, compare and contrast, definition. We will also be covering some literary analysis.

 

I guess my biggest question is about the longer essays. I just don't have a firm grasp of what is expected of an incoming freshman. I realize not all have the same standards. I expect my child to be prepared for an academically rigorous high school environment. What skills are needed for that in 9th grade?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Blessings,

April in WA

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So take any advice from me with a grain of salt ;) But what I've aimed for is (sort of in order):

 

  • a good, solid, grammatically-correct sentence
  • a good, solid, well-structured paragraph
  • descriptive writing (a page or two on "my favorite restaurant" or "what we saw at the museum", journal entries, coherent explanations of how to do stuff)
  • writing about literature (not terribly extensive, but use of examples in the text to support an argument, and tying it back to the major themes -- again a page or two on a topic)
  • writing about science (reporting on experimentation - question, literature review, hypothesis, procedure, data, analysis, conclusions, from just short lab reports up to the length of a full science fair project -- maybe 15-20 pages total, with a short version for the display board and a longer version for the written report.)

The science fair project is as much writing as he does on one topic, and it's a work in progress over a few months.

 

What I consider more high-school-level is writing about history -- a little reporting and a lot of argument and a lot of research to find the examples to support the argument (and deal with the examples that detract from it). We're going to be starting that next year...

 

Also I think for high school we should have more extensive literary analysis than we've done so far -- something that depends more on references to other books in the literary canon (that a high schooler would have read but a grade schooler probably doesn't have in mind), or that shows more maturity of personal experience. What he's done is good, but by the time he graduates I'd like to see more of the "as Hamlet said..." or "with obvious parallels to Greek mythology..." related to whatever work he's writing about... iykwim...

 

We've never done much creative writing... I kind of waffle about whether I consider that fair game for schoolwork. If he does write something creative, I generally don't want to mark it up with grammar corrections or suggestions... so we do our writing schoolwork in the realm of non-fiction and leave his creative work mostly alone.

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Thanks Sue and Erica! I have read the post by Nan and it is a great one to remember. With that as a reminder, I guess I just need to plan on plugging away at what I know he doesn't have down, focusing on the journey and not so much on the result at this point. Maybe by the end of 8th grade I will see a miracle take place.

 

Any one else have thoughts?

 

Thanks,

April in WA

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I need help organizing my upcoming 8th grader's writing program for next year. What skills need to be cemented by the end of 8th grade? TWTM doesn't really spell it out at all. I know writing a great sentence and paragraph would be expected, but what about a 5 paragraph essay?

 

I am planning on covering descriptive, persuasive, narrative and a variety of expository topics like how to, cause and effect, compare and contrast, definition. We will also be covering some literary analysis.

 

I guess my biggest question is about the longer essays. I just don't have a firm grasp of what is expected of an incoming freshman. I realize not all have the same standards. I expect my child to be prepared for an academically rigorous high school environment. What skills are needed for that in 9th grade?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Blessings,

April in WA

 

I have a rising 8th grader and here's how I look at it.

 

1. He needs to write something every day. Not a lot, but something. At the very least, copywork of his Bible verse can work as a model. And for me, it needs to be something I can work with (i.e. not a journal type thing).

 

2. This year all his basics should be firm. I don't want either of us to waste high school time on capital letters, periods, or even fragments. I'd love to conquer solidly consistent tense, tho I'm not so optimistic on that coming to him automatically.

 

3. Our big hurdle for 7th & 8th is "organizing" his writing. Not a formula, just the very basic idea that each paragraph should have one central topic. Each speaker in a dialogue has his own paragraph. Etc. (Picture me making big square arm movements whenever ds sits down at the keyboard -- Remember to ORganize, honey!) Yes, this is taught in writing programs -- assignments ask him to teach something in steps, describe something in groups, and so on. But moving from an assigned project to generating this automatically in his own writing seems to be a big step.

 

4. He did his first "report" in 7th and will do another in 8th. The last one wasn't perfect, but we crossed the hurdle. Believe me, it was easier with an oldest child type personality :)

 

5. I'm using the literature analysis stuff as an intro to the next step in writing, but it'll just be paying attention to the shift from just enjoying the events or the interesting facts, to analyzing & evaluating. I'll wait until high school to actually do a lot of writing in that regard. I'm big on extensive foundation first and then they'll fly.

 

I want him to get the basics down as *habits* when he's writing *anything." That's my goal for 8th.

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Thanks Julie. These posts, along with the one Sue reminded me of, are really helping to put my mind at ease about next year. I know my son has SO far to go, but I think I have been putting too much pressure on myself to get to a higher level too soon. I've made out a plan using a variety of sources. We will just plug away at them and I know we will see results.

 

Thanks,

April in WA

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This thread is great! Our oldest will be in 8th in the fall and I have the same questions regarding writing. I asked a dear friend and seasoned homeschooler (of 2 graduates and still homeschooling 3) what were the most important things to work on in 8th grade to prepare for h.s. She said to work on dd's writing and develop it to become mature writing. I do not have an English or writing background. So, I need all the help I can get in the writing dept!!! LOL!

 

Any seasoned h.s moms know of a good writing curriculum for 8th grade that would prepare for h.s???

 

Thanks for responding & April thanks for posting!!

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Any seasoned h.s moms know of a good writing curriculum for 8th grade that would prepare for h.s???

 

Well, I don't really consider myself seasoned in the writing department, but we are using Write Shop for 6th-7th-8th. It has been good for me since it's not my strength. You may read my review in this thread.

 

IEW and Classical Writing get good reviews as well.

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I need help organizing my upcoming 8th grader's writing program for next year. What skills need to be cemented by the end of 8th grade? TWTM doesn't really spell it out at all.

 

I don't know if this will help any, but at the PHP conference in April, I came away with a more solid idea of how to progress (I had your exact same question about a year ago, as I was trying to figure out how to progress through logic stage, and I could NOT figure out the answer until I heard SWB speak about the progression). First it was helping kids get thoughts into words (narration) and words onto paper (copywork/dictation), ideally in grammar stage. Then in logic stage it was teaching them how to outline non-fiction, up to 3 levels (on as many paragraphs as you deem the child able to do), and then teaching them how to rewrite from those outlines, using correct grammar and punctuation (and, however many paragraphs he outlines will dictate how many paragraphs he rewrites, it seems to me anyway - I think she rec'd. 1 - 2 pages/paper, a couple of times a week). By doing this, they would be analyzing how other people write and practicing imitating that, before having to come up with their own writing ideas. And if they could get to this point (3 level outlines and rewriting from them, comfortably), then they would be ready to do a high school rhetoric/writing course. So, that's what I'm aiming for over the next few years (ds will be in 6th grade next year), and will supplement that with R&S writing exercises as I see fit, cuz it seems to me that a lot of what R&S writing covers in grades 6-8 or so is also covered in the WTM rec'd rhetoric books.

 

And for lit. writing, she talked about working up to being able to answer one or two of those logic stage lit. analysis questions in WTM, on paper. But to practice JUST talking about the book before requiring them to write about it. I'd have to go check my notes, but I think the being able to put answers on paper part was by the end of 8th grade, or maybe practicing it all through 7th and 8th. In any case, it was a lot easier than what I thought after reading WTM.

 

If PHP puts the conference sessions on CD (they said hopefully by Aug. or Sept.), I'd highly recommend the writing and lit. sessions, because they were jam-packed with practical information and "how-tos" and made me breathe many sighs of relief. :)

 

Of course the usual disclaimer of "I haven't BTDT yet." :)

Edited by Colleen in NS
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Great advice so far, just wanted to add a bit....

 

I think it is more helpful to think longer term -- you are working towards college level writing. Many 8th and 9th graders are still young -- only 13 or 14, and what they are capable of now is quite different from what they will be capable of when they are 17 or 18. They may already have the raw tools for writing but it isn't coalescing, just as when they were learning to read they might have known some phonics but couldn't read words. All they need is to mature a little more. What we think of as high school level writing might not really happen until 11th grade, and that is o.k.

 

It is a slow and steady process. Build upon narrations, outline to look at how arguments are built and supported. Keep reading together (whether aloud our just trading books) and talking about everything you read whether it is books or newspaper articles. Gently try to get them to articulate the reasons they have for their opinions, and be sure to talk and explain your own opinions.

 

I personally find it better NOT to use a writing program, but to give writing assignments from our discussions of history, science or literature as my kids are more motivated to write from that than respond to a random writing prompt. But I'm comfortable with that. I know many people who've successfully used Writing Strands and IEW or the writing assignments in Rod and Staff. And as one poster said, make sure all the basics are in place, but, based on my experience here, expect lots of stupid mistakes!!

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