Shelly in IL Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Just trying to pick one for next year. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staci in MO Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 (edited) But haven't used either one. :blushing: It's been a while since I've looked them over, but here's what I remember. The first level of WWtB does a good job of getting dc to think about descriptions, what makes them good, and choosing strong verbs, etc. There's work on writing descriptions. The second level works on essays (there's other stuff, like poetry and newspaper articles, too). Jump In doesn't do quite as good a job on teaching them to analyze good writing, but there's much better and more explicit instruction on WHAT to do. For instance, it walks you through the essay (introduction, supporting points, how to order your points, etc.). WWtB just kind of says "Here's an essay. Now you do it." I may do WWtB level 1 with my 5th grader this year. I had originally planned to do Jump In with my 7th grader, just because I feel that he needs the "check off the box" type approach that Jump In offers, and also he needs to get started on essays. Jump In would have been good, but I've decided to go with the Lost Tools of Writing instead. If I hadn't found LTOW, I would have done Jump In with him. Edited June 16, 2009 by Staci in MO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenC Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I didn't care for the references to certain topics, mainly abortion. More importantly, I didn't care for the informal way they taught to write, mainly using first and second person. Most importantly, I have strong writers and the lessons were broken down into such small steps, we often combined steps to speed things up. It didn't work for us, but I can see how it could be useful for a struggling writer. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in AL Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I LOVE Write with the Best. You analyze a well written example of writing first and then apply it to your own writing. I used it in a co-op class and applied the principles to passages from the books we were reading. Samples of my student's writing are on my Imitate the Masters blog listed under my sig. The blog has a video first, the student's writings are underneath that. All the kids enjoyed the program and have become very good, confident writers as a result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in IL Posted June 16, 2009 Author Share Posted June 16, 2009 I'm going to check out the Lost Tools of Writing as well. I have 1 strong writer and one who is still young and needs a lot of instruction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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