A thread for posting extra resources (websites, videos, etc.) on the topics covered in WWS Level 1. Many of us find it helpful to give our students a little more background before diving into the writing projects. I know many have posted links scattered through other threads on the board, but I thought it might be helpful to collect them all in one place.

Thanks!

"Conventions" refers to conforming to the rules of standard written English, i.e. spelling, punctuation, word usage, and grammar. Writing can be graded without consideration of conventions if the goal is to assess ideas and structure. In the old days, instead of "grade for conventions", you would hear, "Spelling counts."

Oooh, I think I'm going to have to change my analysis and agree with this one.

I almost think "came" is being used as a helping verb here. If we try replacing, "came" with other verbs, we could form sentences such as: St. George began thundering. St. George enjoyed thundering. And so on. In those cases, "thundering" is clearly a gerund acting as the direct object. But your sentence is a little different. "Come" is not a transitive verb. To me these three sentences feel as though they have the same structure: St. George was thundering. St. George came thundering. St. George went thundering. I know that we sometimes use "to go" informally as a helping verb, as in: They went shopping. So perhaps "to come" can be used in the same way.

I've recently discovered the about.com composition and rhetoric pages by Richard Nordquist. They are an amazing wealth of resources. Here is the page on paragraphs and essays -- http://grammar.about.com/od/developingessays/u/paressay07.htm It's not a "program," but there is plenty there to keep you busy all summer (and far beyond). Be sure to explore all the related articles linked at the bottom of each page. He has compiled a virtual database of quality writing samples from all genres of writing. Lots for study and imitation.

When my ds was little (and six is very little), if he seemed reluctant, I would jump in and say enthusiastically, "I'll take a turn!" I'd retell the story with lots of flair and dramatic expression. Sometimes I'd pause as if trying to remember what happened next. Ds would be itching to jump in and tell it his way, with different details or with just the right word. I did not let him interrupt or correct me, but I would let him have a turn of his own after me. By that time he had forgotten he didn't want to do it in the first place. Other things my ds enjoyed at that age: acting out the story using props and/or stuffed animals singing the story standing on a chair as if giving a speech doing narrations while on a walk (we often did memory work then too) evening retellings for dad (you mentioned this -- it doesn't have to be every day) It sounds like she's not feeling challenged. I would look for some new ways for her to interact with the material. She could learn to outline or make a plot diagram or write a reader response. One thing I do with my ds11 is ask him to summarize something in just ONE sentence. This can be very challenging and forces him to really focus on what the main point of the passage is.

I think some kids are just more observant than others too, regardless of their surroundings. Yesterday my ds was talking to his buddy at church, who was wearing a Red Sox jersey. The friend turned around and said, "Look, it's a Youkilis." My ds had no idea what he was talking about. He didn't know the player's name, which doesn't surprise me that much, but he didn't even know that the word on the back of the jersey was the name of a player. :001_huh: Now, our family likes baseball, especially the last few years. We go to all the home games at the local college. Dh has taken ds to a few pro games, and we've watched dozens of televised games. Ds himself has played several years of Little League baseball (though they don't get names on their shirts). In all those years he's never noticed that every player has a name on the back of his shirt? He's just a total space cadet sometimes. I try to make sure he picks up the important things (like how to get around town) but he definitely has gaps in some unusual places.

What writing programs are you talking about? I would say that Rod and Staff fits your description (mostly grammar but with some writing instruction) but of course that's an English program not just a writing program. I've never seen a writing program that's as you describe. WWE, WWS, Jump In, CW, Wordsmith, Bravewriter are just a few you may want to look at.

Do you truly want to be able to eat metal objects? That is an unusual ambition! If so, I think some explanation of why you aspire to that goal would be helpful here. It isn't something most people would find desirable. If that isn't what you meant, then I would suggest rewording the bolded sentence. I would advise you to leave out the bolded sentence. If you don't have the facts, made-up numbers don't add anything to your story. Instead, talk about what you do know. Perhaps you could discuss obstacles that people with mental illness face in life or statistics on the number of people who suffer from pica, if you have time to do a bit more research. I enjoyed reading your speech and learning about this man. What an unusual life!

Thank you both. I will have to try these! BTW, I'm sure there is no prohibition against links. The board rules say nothing about it, and people post links all the time. I myself have many times without any sanctions. So link away!

This sounds intriguing. Could you post/link the recipe? Thanks!

I haven't read Life of Fred, but generally in mathematics a function is given a letter name. The letter "f" is most common (those crazy math people!). In your example, if the function were named "f", you would write f(2) = 4 f(3) = 9 and you would say f of 2 is 4 or f of 2 equals 4 Without a name, it's a little difficult to talk about the function. I guess you could say, "The function applied to 2 gives 4" or something like that.

Did you know you can organize your subscribed threads into folders? If there are threads you think you may want to refer to later, it makes it much easier to find them. I have folders set up for threads about books, writing, science, study skills, etc.

I don't think anyone is "chewing her butt". Good heavens! I think independent study is probably very reasonable here, as long as the child does not have any learning disabilities. I disagree that asking her to "teach" the material is reasonable, unless she is enthusiastic about that method of demonstrating her knowledge.

I would offer her other options for demonstrating her knowledge. Is there a reason you want her to use that method?

I don't understand. Why would she teach you the grammar? If you do not know it already, how have you been teaching it to her? Perhaps you mean that she would self-study and then demonstrate the knowledge by pretending to teach it to you. I think self-study is a reasonable option, but I would give her other options for demonstrating the knowledge. I do think requiring her to teach is the only or even the best way.

I disagree. Not all adjectives work preceding a noun. The man was alone. Clearly, "alone" is a predicate adjective in this sentence, but we would never say "the alone man". "Over" can be used as an adjective. It's right there in the dictionary. How would you use it in a sentence if not one similar to the OP?

If he was 8 in 3rd, that would have made him 5 in K. My ds has a summer birthday and was 8 in third grade -- K -- age 5 1 -- age 6 2 -- age 7 3 -- age 8 4 -- age 9 and so on.

I'd say so. :)

I think others gave good advice about whether you need to or not. If you do decide to adjust his grade level, though, here is a suggestion I've heard for explaining it. Instead of "doing 3rd grade over" you could talk about doing fourth grade over two years. You could explain that 5th grade is a new level of work and you want to spend extra time to get him ready. (Or two years of sixth or two years of eighth or whatever.) That may sound more palatable to kids than doing something over again.

Good idea! That reminds me I used to make things like samosas and spanikopita to freeze, but I haven't done that in a long time.

Ah, I see. Yes, that makes it hard to have quick meals, whether you eat meat or not. I cook almost entirely from scratch, but I do keep a few processed foods around for emergency situations. We always have some veggie burgers in the freezer and some bottled pasta sauce. If you prep your salad greens ahead of time, a salad really is very quick to make. Good luck!

Why would it be different for vegetarians? I'm trying to understand. Did you have some "quick meals" as meat eaters that will no longer work as vegetarians, or is it that you would have done fast food? If it's the latter, then there definitely are vegetarian fast food options. A Subway veggie and cheese sub or a slice of veggie pizza at a by-the-slice pizza place would be my choice. Or something from the grocery store deli (ours has a wide range of salads and ethnic foods). At home, super quick vegetarian meals: fried egg sandwich popcorn and fruit smoothies cheese plate with crackers and fruit grilled cheese sandwiches pasta with bottled sauce ramen noodles with frozen veggies added

The first job I ever got was because of a mistake I made on the application. I was writing in pen and of course had only one copy of the application, so I cut out a thin strip of white paper and carefully glued it over the line so I could rewrite it. The manager said he was impressed by my careful attention to detail, so he pulled my application to the top of the stack! :lol: