Matryoshka Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 I've been reading here for a while and many writing programs have intrigued me for the years ahead (we start middle school next year!), but I'm not sure which to use when (or which to pick over the other). What grade range would you think appropriate for the following curricula? Could either be used in 7th or 8th grade? Lively Art of Writing Writer's Workshop Also, two more literature-oriented programs interest me - would you use them instead of a writing program that year (they appear to have at least some writing), or alongside one - would using one of them in the same year as one of the curricula above, for example, be overkill? Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings Windows on the World And finally, has anyone used the writing programs from Michael Clay Thompson? I see a lot of people post about the elementary grammar stuff, but I don't think I've ever seen one about the middle school or higher levels, or the writing, poetry or vocabulary elements. I'm most interested in hearing from anyone who's used: Paragraph Town Essay Voyage Caesar's English 2 Building Poems A World of Poetry Advanced Academic Writing Anyone know how Essay Voyage would compare to Lively Art of Writing in teaching essays? I'm posting over here on the high school board because I'm looking for some BTDT advice. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 bump:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 I'm not a member but I see that there is a Yahoo group for users of Michael Clay Thompson's materials. See: MCTLA · Michael Clay Thompson's Language Arts Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 I'm not a member but I see that there is a Yahoo group for users of Michael Clay Thompson's materials. See: MCTLA · Michael Clay Thompson's Language Arts Thanks, I joined! Anyone got any feedback about the other curriculua (LLAOW, LLLOTR, WW, WoW), especially as regards sequence and/or using alone or with others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacalm Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 And finally, has anyone used the writing programs from Michael Clay Thompson? I see a lot of people post about the elementary grammar stuff, but I don't think I've ever seen one about the middle school or higher levels, or the writing, poetry or vocabulary elements. I'm most interested in hearing from anyone who's used: Paragraph Town Essay Voyage Caesar's English 2 Building Poems A World of Poetry Advanced Academic Writing Anyone know how Essay Voyage would compare to Lively Art of Writing in teaching essays? I'm posting over here on the high school board because I'm looking for some BTDT advice. :001_smile: I have not used the above MCT LA's books since I've only used Grammar Island and started/stopped Magic Lens. However, in my limited use of these materials, Magic Lens ties in very close with Put That In Writing Level 1. I have briefly used these two resources last summer, and only stopped when I enrolled ds in home2teach.com writing class. I have, however, the copy of Advanced Academic Writing. This is more about using the MLA format when writing or composing reports. The book is assuming that you already know the basics of paragraph writing. Sorry, not the ones you're looking answers to, but I felt close enough for me to respond to your query. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I have not used it, but other posters have said that the LOTR program is more of a supplement, to be used along with something else (or one after the other). For middle school, I just purchased some of the Flash Kids Fearless Writing series (I think they may be excusive to Barnes & Nobles). They have several books (research papers, essays, creative writing), and each one has a guide (text) and workbook available. $8 per book. The series bills itself as "step by step instruction" for middle-school writing, and that's what I like about it. We have the reseach paper guide; it covers a subtopic (say, how to cite sources) in the guide and then has corresponding practice in the workbook. It has checklists to go over every time you write a paper, and covers some of the most common mistakes in grammar, spelling, verb tense, etc. Simple, thorough, step-by-step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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