WWE/Writing Advice...

[PenKase]

I'm tentative to post this, but I'd {{{really}}} like to know what you think. This is dd10's STOW (as she wrote it) narration this week :

 

""" The Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, built a magnificent city, called Nineveh. The king provided the inhabitants who lived there with fresh water running from the canals, exotic gardens, and a beautiful place to live. Ashurbanipal enjoyed reading and instructed his scribes to gather new books for him. Unfortunately, the king was also worried that his people would not remember him after his death, and ordered his scribes to gather books and tablets with information regarding laws, medicines, stories, and history. As the Assyrian king gathered these tablets, he built more and more rooms to fill them with, constructing the first library. Many of these tablets have crumbled away, but some still remain, telling the stories of ancient Assyria."

 

 

I've been trying to decide whether or not to do WWE with this child, probably begin at level 2 because she's never done dictation before. I am using WWE with her little sister and it's working beautifully. As this is our first year homeschooling and we've never done WWE before, I'm wondering if I'll be missing something if we skip it over completely with dd10. She'll be writing ala SWB's lectures and I would like to do dictation ala Charlotte Mason or have dd begin a commonplace book instead.

 

What do you think?

[abbeyej]

No, I wouldn't do WWE with her. SWB's logic stage program, Writing With Skill should be out some time in the fall semester, and that might be a good fit, but it doesn't sound like she'd benefit much from WWE, and certainly not going back as far as the 2nd grade level.

 

If your concern is dictation, then just add that in. But you don't have to do all of WWE in order to work on dictation.

 

If you *really* want to do WWE with her, I would buy The Complete Writer (the overview book) rather than any of the workbooks, and just have her work through the sample lessons for levels 3 and 4. That'll give you about 12 weeks worth of work or so, and it will cover the material in WWE but at a faster pace, more appropriate to her age.

[Samiam]

Umm, no. Judging by my own DS12's writing skills, I think that is a GREAT narrative!

 

While I do believe in WWE, and did it for DS12, albeit Level 1/2, when he was about 10 to back up and learn some skills, we had not done any sort of composition to that point.

 

I do think that WWE, at least Lev 1 and 2 would be a great waste of her time, based on what she wrote here.

[Capt_Uhura]

How about go to Bravewriter.com and download one of the freebie Arrows? It will show you how she uses dictation from literature DD is reading and to discuss literary elements etc as well. Or I second someone above that suggests just getting the handbook for WWE and working through the weeks provided there. If you go Peacehillpress.com, and click on WWE, I believe there is a link there to a placement test. It's the same assessments found in the WWE textbook. If she passes all 4 levels w/ ease, I'd not do WWE with her, instead I'd look at something like Bravewriter's Arrow or Boomerang. That will give you ideas for doing it on your own.

[PenKase]

Thank you all very much.

 

If you *really* want to do WWE with her, I would buy The Complete Writer (the overview book) rather than any of the workbooks, and just have her work through the sample lessons for levels 3 and 4. That'll give you about 12 weeks worth of work or so, and it will cover the material in WWE but at a faster pace, more appropriate to her age.

 

No, I really don't want to do WWE with her. I thought maybe I'd be missing something if I didn't. She excells as a creative writer, but consistently fell missed the mark the ps state tests' expository writing section. I do like the idea of working through the sample lessons in The Complete Writer, which I already have on hand.

 

 

How about go to Bravewriter.com and download one of the freebie Arrows? It will show you how she uses dictation from literature DD is reading and to discuss literary elements etc as well.

 

I will look into this too. The Bravewriter confuses me a bit and I find it difficult to choose.

 

Thanks again!

[Capt_Uhura]

SWB addresses prolific creative writers in one of her talks. She says that creative writers can behave like reluctant writers when asked to do expository work. They must, must work on this.

 

here's a link http://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.bravewriter.com/page_attachments/68/ARREncyclopediaBrownSample.pdf to week1 one of a new Arrow on the book Encyclopedia Brown. The older editions aren't as pretty as the new ones.

[PenKase]

SWB addresses prolific creative writers in one of her talks. She says that creative writers can behave like reluctant writers when asked to do expository work. They must, must work on this.

 

here's a link http://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.bravewriter.com/page_attachments/68/ARREncyclopediaBrownSample.pdf to week1 one of a new Arrow on the book Encyclopedia Brown. The older editions aren't as pretty as the new ones.

 

 

Yes, Yes, :iagree:!

 

I heard her speak to this in the middle grade writing lecture. That's why I thought I'd be missing something if I didn't give WWE a run through. Her narrations have been solid and consistent and she finds them a good springboard for other writing as well. We've outsourced science this year and she has acknowledged that the history narrations have been instrumental in helping to write science compositions.

 

I'm off to check it out now...thank you for posting it.

[1Togo]

Also, take a look at the Boomerang level of Bravewriter. It has dictation, but it also includes a set of questions about the book, which are excellent for creative writers. Not a prescribed set of questions about character, plot, setting - ho, hum.

[deeinfl]

Uh, as she wrote it! This is AMAZING! 10 years old! Wow! I wouldn't do a single thing except work on honing those skills and sharpening them, but it looks like she's doing wonderfully already.

 

Dee

 

ps if you wanted to add dictation, you could just use something prepared already, or dictate chosen sentences from books she already reads. Wow, I'm just so impressed.

[PenKase]

ps if you wanted to add dictation, you could just use something prepared already, or dictate chosen sentences from books she already reads. Wow, I'm just so impressed.

 

This is exactly what I was thinking when I first posted. Dictation would be a good way to help dd hone her writing skills. DD is a voracious reader and she is one of those people for which it's paid dividends in her writing and spelling skills. Another thing that has also helped immensely is the use of a good thesaurus. We have a great one that we bought used from our library's book sale last year and she looks up words in it all the time! Funny thing is, she avoids looking up words in the dictionary like the plague. :tongue_smilie:

 

FWIW, dd attended ps all the way through 4th grade. There were many moments, beginning in 1st grade, when I wanted to rip the teacher's throats out for assuming it was age appropriate to have their students write essays in grammar school!!! Then, it was like pulling teeth trying to help dd get the words on paper, and she was not a reluctant writer. Many times we'd both end up in tears, dd because she couldn't make sense of the assignment, and me because I was furious for feeling forced (by the teacher) into an activity I knew was not developmentally healthy for my child. I found it such a relief to finally hear SWB speak to this very same thing in the WTM and her writing lectures. I knew it!!!