I went to the site but I'm not finding the packet that Nan mentioned--unless this is it??? I'd like to see some sample pages before I fork out $60!

Oh, that's encouraging!

http://www.hartdistrict.org/aseco/aloha/writing/ Writing Applications 2.0 2.1 Write Fictional or Autobiographical Narratives 2.2 Write Responses to Literature 2.3 Write Research Reports 2.4 Write Persuasive Compositions 2.5 Write Summaries of Reading Materials

Thanks, Nan! I can't believe I haven't come across these materials before. I need to go look more closely on the website for the packet you mentioned. I did find some materials other people have posted online, but I'm not sure it's the same thing.

I know that some people do not like using a formula for writing, but if you are a person who does, have you used this program successfully? Did you implement it on your own, or did you have your student participate in a seminar? What did you like/not like? For those who aren't familiar, here is a link.

This is my favorite transcript resource. ETA: You can find sample transcripts here and further info here. I did not buy the software, but I did use the how-to checklist and the free samples as guides for generating transcripts for my children.

We both wear ours pretty much 24/7. The only time we take ours off is when our hands swell in summer time.

Besides candy (Nerds & chocolate), my 17yo & 21yo like CD's, DVD's, Wii games, PS games, Amazon gift cards, iTunes gift cards, toothbrushes, toothpaste, other toiletry items, mints, gum, fast food gift cards...

I do appreciate the time that people took to read and comment, and I have already used many of the suggestions people made to help EK work on her paper. I did ask people to "please point out its strong points and weak points," so, no, I was not wanting people to focus only on the positives, but I didn't want people to focus only on the negatives either. Also, I expected people to treat this as a high school assignment, not a college assignment, as some did. Even though I knew that the essay wasn't perfect, I admit that I was totally unprepared to see so many negatives, let alone a 'less than a "C"' evaluation. For us, less than a "C" = "F"--we don't use D's in our grading scale--and that was a bit hard to swallow. As I said, I knew before I posted it on the forum that it needed a bit of work, but I just cannot agree that it is deserving of an "F".

I was going to have her rework her essay, but I don't even know where to start! I'm overwhelmed and very, very discouraged. "Below the level of a C"... REALLY??? I thought her essay was so much better than it actually is, apparently. :'( I am extremely confident in my ability to teach my children in every area except writing. After reading these comments, I just want to cry. EK's a high school junior and I obviously haven't succeeded in teaching her to write an essay. What have I done?!? I've obviously done something very wrong. :confused:

I have my kids take the SAT and the ACT during spring of their junior year. Then I have them retake either the SAT or ACT--whichever they prefer--during the fall of their senior year. So, they take the ACT once or twice, and the SAT once or twice.

:grouphug: Many, many thanks to all of you who responded!

Thank you, LoriD! I'm so glad you chimed in! I always appreciate your comments in literature threads, and I have saved SO MANY of your previous posts. :)

:D

The above link didn't work for me, but I searched and found this book, which I think is the book Doodler was talking about.

I had something similar happen to me with my first pregnancy. Early in the pregnancy, I spotted for 3 weeks, but the ultrasound showed nothing abnormal, except that the baby was "small for the dates". IOW, it seemed that the baby should be bigger considering how far along I was. The spotting stopped and did not recur. My perfectly normal ds is almost 22yo now, and will graduate from college in a few weeks!

:hurray::hurray::hurray::hurray:

Thanks! We just finished a unit on the French Revolution, and we referenced these, but didn't have time to read them. We've seen the movies, though, and will probably watch them again. :D We LOVE Anthony Andrews as Percival Blakeney! ;)

Thank you! I'm glad you mentioned this, because in a few weeks, we're going to do a unit on the Far East during the 18th century also. This will be great!

Thanks! That's a classic and I didn't even think of it! And yes, I'm not sure the Federalist Papers would make for an interesting movie... :tongue_smilie:

I'm looking for American & European works in particular, and especially prose. Here's what I have so far: 1712 -- Alexander Pope - The Rape of the Lock 1719 -- Daniel Defoe -- Robinson Crusoe (early novel) 1726 -- Jonathan Swift -- Gulliver's Travels (satire) 1740 -- Samuel Richardson -- Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded 1751 -- Thomas Gray -- Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard -- Denis Diderot began his Encyclopédie. 1752 -- Voltaire – Micromégas (satirical short story, early sci-fi) 1759 -- Voltaire – Candide 1761 -- Jean-Jacques Rousseau -- Julie, or the New Héloïse (French: Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse) 1764 -- Horace Walpole -- The Castle of Otranto (first gothic novel) 1766 -- Oliver Goldsmith -- The Vicar of Wakefield 1771 – Benjamin Franklin began his autobipgraphy. 1773 -- Oliver Goldsmith -- She Stoops to Conquer (farce) 1774 -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe --The Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel which approximately marks the beginning of the Romanticism movement in the arts and philosophy. A transition thus began, from the critical, science inspired, enlightenment writing to the romantic yearning for forces beyond the mundane and for foreign times and places to inspire the soul with passion and mystery. 1784 -- Beaumarchais --The Marriage of Figaro (adapted into a comic opera by Mozart in 1786) 1786 -- Robert Burns -- Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (a pioneer of the Romantic movement) 1787-1788 -- Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay – The Federalist, later known as The Federalist Papers (See also “Anti-Federalist”) 1789 -- William Hill Brown -- The Power of Sympathy: or, The Triumph of Nature (the first American novel) 1791 -- Charlotte Temple -- Susanna Rowson We will probably read excerpts of most of these, rather than the complete works. What don't-miss books would you add? Which ones of the above would you skip?

Thank you very much! Your input really is helpful. Thanks for the encouragement for me as well. :)

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/ This website has free study guides for many, many literary classics.

Well, she did give me her thesis statement before she wrote the rest of the paper, and I thought it was fine. Hmmm... Maybe I didn't read the prompt carefully enough myself. I'm planning to have her rework her paper, using some of the suggestions you and others have made. I'm not sure I can convey to her what exactly is needed, because I'm not quite sure I can even put a finger on it myself. I must confess that this is one of EK's first attempts at including quotes in a literary analysis paper. However, she has written frequent reader's response paragraphs as well as several opinion essays on contemporary topics, and a few months ago, she wrote this essay on Machiavelli's The Prince--which I think was her VERY first attempt at using quotes in a literary analysis essay.

Thanks for your input. I appreciate your constructive criticism. I have to say, though, that I'm wondering why you pointed out how this would be viewed if it had been a college paper, since this was a high school assignment.