Hey Kilgallon peeps: check in and share your child's work

[Halcyon]

How's it going? We're making our way slowly through Story Grammar and we're enjoying it. My son is excited to be writing "fancy sentences".

 

Today, he wrote the following:

 

Model: Laughter, loud and warm from their long and intimate relationship, filled the room

 

My son's sentence: Basketballs, bouncy and round on the sleek and shiny court, passed from player to player.

 

Model: Jodi slept, curled up in back with her stuffed animal friend.

 

My son's sentence: Michael screamed, pierced in the neck with a blood red arrow.

 

Model: Little Man, a very small six-year old and a most finicky dresser, brushed his hair.

 

My son's sentence: Big Foot, a very hairy giant and quite messy eater, tore every ligament from the bone.

 

I'd love to hear how others are doing with this program!

[Haiku]

I gotta say, I'm loving the pierced-in-the-neck sentence!!

 

Tara

[Halcyon]

I gotta say, I'm loving the pierced-in-the-neck sentence!!

 

Tara

 

You'll love it more when you realize "Michael" is his father LOL....

[Kalmia]

And I was afraid to post because last time my son's sentences seemed so bloody compared to the rest of the posters' :D.

 

Here's a toned-down one. He's now into writing "opposites" to the model:

 

Model: The rain made her think of summer, of flowers in her backyard garden, and of the chirp of nesting birds voices, singing their lovely songs of the season.

DS's: The air made him think of fall, of mushrooms in his front yard garden, and of the screech of flying roach voices, screaming their odious shrieks of winter.

[Haiku]

Wow, these are great! Maybe I should actually get this for my dd. She'd love it.

 

I could add it to the 47,000 other things we're already using for language arts. *sigh*

 

Tara

[JadeOrchidSong]

I am looking hard to buy Sentence Composing for Elementary School and couldn't find any cheap used ones. Now OP has me wonder: Should I get the Story Grammar instead?

We use R&S English for grammar and writing as well as WWE for copywork, dictation, and writing. But I love the results that Killgallon produces. Can you advice me which book I should get for my ds8? I will use this as a supplement.

[Capt_Uhura]

For the same model that Kalmia posted above:

 

The LEGOs made him think of childhood, of fun and adventures, of toys piled in his room, of building structures with this dad, playing joyfully with his LEGOs.

[MyLittleWonders]

We are working through Sentence Composing with ds#1 and ds#2. Here's one they did (I blogged about it):

 

Model Sentence:

They parted the bushes on the bank and peered out over the water.

Their sentence:

The giraffes ate leaves from a tree and walked over the savannah.

 

We are only on lesson 6, I believe, but we are all enjoying it. The hard thing is wondering how to fit it in with MCT and IEW (yes, we use them all). Next year I'm only using IEW in history (and maybe science), and sticking more with a WWE approach in literature. But, our actual writing instruction would be more from Sentence Composing/Story Grammar and MCT. But, so far I'm not liking the actual assignments in MCT, but I love the teaching, if that makes sense. I like all the approaches; ds#1, especially, responds very well to IEW (which is why we are using it). We all love the way MCT teaches grammar and writing. And, I like doing dictation and narration with them from our literature read-alouds. But, I really like the actual writing practice/assignments in SC/SG.

[Crimson Wife]

I am looking hard to buy Sentence Composing for Elementary School and couldn't find any cheap used ones. Now OP has me wonder: Should I get the Story Grammar instead?

We use R&S English for grammar and writing as well as WWE for copywork, dictation, and writing. But I love the results that Killgallon produces. Can you advice me which book I should get for my ds8? I will use this as a supplement.

 

How familiar is your son with the various phrases and clauses? Story Grammar does not use the traditional grammatical terms and my DD struggled quite a bit with that when we did SG last year. She's finding Killgallon's Grammar for Middle School quite a bit easier after having done the "town" level of Michael Clay Thompson's LA program in the interim.

 

With my younger kids, I'm not going to start Killgallon until they've learned the terminology in MCT first.

[radiobrain]

And I was afraid to post because last time my son's sentences seemed so bloody compared to the rest of the posters' :D.

 

Here's a toned-down one. He's now into writing "opposites" to the model:

 

Model: The rain made her think of summer, of flowers in her backyard garden, and of the chirp of nesting birds voices, singing their lovely songs of the season.

DS's: The air made him think of fall, of mushrooms in his front yard garden, and of the screech of flying roach voices, screaming their odious shrieks of winter.

 

I love this one!

 

My kids have not come up with anything memorable yet, and today's were about butts and garbage, so I will spare you those. I have actually blocked them out of my mind!

[Country Mouse]

I am looking hard to buy Sentence Composing for Elementary School and couldn't find any cheap used ones. Now OP has me wonder: Should I get the Story Grammar instead?

We use R&S English for grammar and writing as well as WWE for copywork, dictation, and writing. But I love the results that Killgallon produces. Can you advice me which book I should get for my ds8? I will use this as a supplement.

 

I am using Sentence Composing for Elementary School with my ds(9) as a supplement to WWE. He loves it.

 

Here is an example of his imitation paragraph:

 

Model - There, inside the cupboard, prancing and pawing the white paint, was a lovely, shiny-coated little brown horse. As the cupboard door swung open, the horse shied nervously, turning his face and pricking his ears. Its tiny nostrils flared and its black tail plumed above his haunches as it gave a high, shrill neigh.

 

Imitation - There, within the labyrinth, clawing and scratching the stone walls, was a huge, fearsome mighty black minotaur. As the knight stopped quickly, the minotaur turned his head violently, flaring his nostrils and grabbing his war hammer. His horns jutted upward and his hooves dug into the ground as he gave a low, deep growl.

[Capt_Uhura]

Country Mouse - Fantastic sentence!!!!!! I just read that sentence to DS10 and he LOVED it! Your son did a great job!

Edited March 14, 2011 by Capt_Uhura

[JadeOrchidSong]

I am just wondering if I had to choose one, Sentence Composing or Story Grammar, which one is good? I don't think I can do both time and money wise with my other English going on.

[Country Mouse]

Country Mouse - Fantastic sentence!!!!!!

 

Thanks! I had to sort through all the ones about Lego Ninjas, Star Wars, Bionicles, etc. :lol:

[ElizabethB]

Those are fun!

 

I have had it in my Amazon cart for a while, I might have to buy sooner than I thought, I was going to save it for next year, but these are too entertaining!!:lol::lol:

[Crimson Wife]

I had to sort through all the ones about Lego Ninjas, Star Wars, Bionicles, etc. :lol:

 

:lol::lol::lol:

The differences between boys & girls- I'd say probably 90% of my DD's Killgallon sentences are about her little brother and/or sister.

 

Model: The swift-flowing clouds lifted and melted away, and the sun came out, pale and bright.

 

Imitation: The fast-running toddler shrieked and scurried away, and the belligerent brother got up, hot and bothered.

 

Model: Shea admired herself, careful to check everything and absolutely sure that she could look no better.

 

Imitation: [Name of sister] busied herself, happy to sing loudly and very excited that her big brother would play with her.

[Halcyon]

I am just wondering if I had to choose one, Sentence Composing or Story Grammar, which one is good? I don't think I can do both time and money wise with my other English going on.

 

i got Story Grammar solely because it was cheaper, and I wanted to try it out. I really like it. We'll get Sentence Composing next. I don't mind that they call certain parts of the sentence "tools". My goal is to help my son add color and flair to his sentences, and I don't use it as a grammar curriculum.

[Halcyon]

:lol::lol::lol:

The differences between boys & girls- I'd say probably 90% of my DD's Killgallon sentences are about her little brother and/or sister.

 

Model: The swift-flowing clouds lifted and melted away, and the sun came out, pale and bright.

 

Imitation: The fast-running toddler shrieked and scurried away, and the belligerent brother got up, hot and bothered.

 

Model: Shea admired herself, careful to check everything and absolutely sure that she could look no better.

 

Imitation: [Name of sister] busied herself, happy to sing loudly and very excited that her big brother would play with her.

 

 

These are wonderful!

 

Now I'm wondering if Kilgallon has a paragraph book....ETA: looks like his middle school book has sections on paragraphs! woohoo!

[MyLittleWonders]

I'd have to get up and confirm, but I think the end of Sentence Composing has them writing beginning paragraphs as well.

[Mom-ninja.]

Is there something besides the work text to buy? I bought Sentence Composing and I don't see where they name any parts of the sentence at all. It's just directions and an example followed by the assignment.

 

I'll go ahead and be the first and say that my ds hates this book. He cries. It's not pretty. He struggles to come up with his own sentences. A lot. He hates hates coming up with his own wording. He's not really getting it. I'm struggling trying to explain it to him.

 

He, however, likes WWE.

[RhondaJK]

Ok, this does look like fun, and something my DD could use. I found this teacher's guide link for Story Grammar: http://www.heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources%5CE01246%5CTeachGuideStoryGramREV.pdf. I also see where Story Grammar is available on Kindle for a little less than the printed book. Is anyone using the Kindle edition? Do I need the printed copy for any worksheets?

[Beth in SW WA]

Ok, this does look like fun, and something my DD could use. I found this teacher's guide link for Story Grammar: http://www.heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources%5CE01246%5CTeachGuideStoryGramREV.pdf. I also see where Story Grammar is available on Kindle for a little less than the printed book. Is anyone using the Kindle edition? Do I need the printed copy for any worksheets?

 

Thanks for this link. I just read the guide. Elements of this remind me of IEW. I look forward to using this.

[Halcyon]

Ok, this does look like fun, and something my DD could use. I found this teacher's guide link for Story Grammar: http://www.heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources%5CE01246%5CTeachGuideStoryGramREV.pdf. I also see where Story Grammar is available on Kindle for a little less than the printed book. Is anyone using the Kindle edition? Do I need the printed copy for any worksheets?

 

I wouldn't use the Kindle version-i was going to buy it until someone here told me you really should get the printed version.

[TKDmom]

Today, he wrote the following:

 

Model: Laughter, loud and warm from their long and intimate relationship, filled the room

 

My son's sentence: Basketballs, bouncy and round on the sleek and shiny court, passed from player to player.

 

Model: Jodi slept, curled up in back with her stuffed animal friend.

 

My son's sentence: Michael screamed, pierced in the neck with a blood red arrow.

 

Model: Little Man, a very small six-year old and a most finicky dresser, brushed his hair.

 

My son's sentence: Big Foot, a very hairy giant and quite messy eater, tore every ligament from the bone.

 

 

 

And I was afraid to post because last time my son's sentences seemed so bloody compared to the rest of the posters' :D.

 

 

My kids have not come up with anything memorable yet, and today's were about butts and garbage, so I will spare you those. I have actually blocked them out of my mind!

 

:smilielol5:Boys crack me up. I can't wait until my ds's start writing!

[RhondaJK]

I wouldn't use the Kindle version-i was going to buy it until someone here told me you really should get the printed version.

 

Thanks, I think it would be easier to use the printed, and I can always resale a printed copy. :)

[JadeOrchidSong]

i got Story Grammar solely because it was cheaper, and I wanted to try it out. I really like it. We'll get Sentence Composing next. I don't mind that they call certain parts of the sentence "tools". My goal is to help my son add color and flair to his sentences, and I don't use it as a grammar curriculum.

What is the difference? Isn't Sentence Composing supposed to be easier than Story Grammar and to be done before Story Grammar? I am still looking and deciding which to buy.