Writing program for 1st/2nd?

[hollyh]

I know a lot of people use dictation for this age group. However, are there any writing programs out there for this age group? I'm not sure what it would look like, but I would like to at least take a gander. :)

[PentecostalMom]

I have looked and looked. I would recommend Writing With Ease for this age group. I have looked at Classical Writing and Writing Strands. I think WWE is the best with being a gentle introduction to writing. HTH!

 

These ladies are full of wisdom. I am certain you will get other excellent recommendations.

[edeemarie]

We are using IEW PAL writing and my kids really enjoy it! It starts off with handwriting, works up to copy work, and then gets into writing. The kids are introduced to story summaries, key word outlines, and dress ups. We are very happy with it!

[Sew happily ever after]

We LOVE primary arts of language writing (PAL) by IEW. It's easy, fun, and effortless. Also you don't need prior experience with the expensive TWSS DVD seminar for teachers because the teacher guide teaches you how to teach your children to write. It's a fun and gentle intro to IEW.

[alisoncooks]

I haven't tried either, but we have WWE lined up for the fall, along with Evan-Moor's Daily 6-Trait writing. (The EM book is me making sure "all my bases are covered" in case this HSing thing doesn't pan out. ;) It seemed more in line with the writing in public schools, but won't take much extra time from us.)

[LillyMama]

I'm using WWE with my two 1st graders- one a happy writer, the other a reluctant writer. So far it feels gentle for me. The premise, to start at least, is alternating narration and copy work. Monday you pick a sentence for them to copy, Tuesday you read a passage, ask them questions, write down a summary/fact they dictate and then, if you're me, they draw a picture. Gradually you increase the output. The book is easy enough to follow, giving you one sample week which you then mimic with whatever literature you are using for the next few weeks. There is a workbook that you can buy that will actually walk you through every single day. I have it but don't use it as I prefer to use our own literature. I don't know if we just read our literature too slowly for that book, but it feels like she's taking excerpts from a new book every week. For me, copy work and narration just work better when my kids are invested in the story because we're reading the whole book. And if we tried to follow her schedule, I think the amount of literature we'd have to read to keep up would be too much for my kids. So we just use the WWE "textbook" and I let my kids direct what books we'll use, given choices from various "classics." We've used Alice in Wonderland, the first Little House book, Wizard of Oz, and now we're working through Peter Pan. Next on our list will probably be Treasure Island.

 

What's neat, for me, about the WWE copy work/narration thing is that I just use the same pattern for all of our subjects. We used HWOT tears through the 1st grade book, and I have one of their journals. I've photocopied some pages and we use them for everything. My kids do a History narration and a Science narration every week, on top of the copy work and narration they do with WWE. This is my way of sneaking more in. =) But it also just gives them some continuity, as they know what to expect when I say, "Okay, this is the history text for this week, you'll be doing a narration on it, so please listen your best!" Then they know to listen to me read from SOTW more closely than, say, Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile. ;)

[mytwomonkeys]

We are using IEW PAL writing and my kids really enjoy it! It starts off with handwriting, works up to copy work, and then gets into writing. The kids are introduced to story summaries, key word outlines, and dress ups. We are very happy with it!

 

if i had to do it over again, this is what i would choose too.

[Coffeemama]

I've been happy with Winning With Writing for first grade. We will use it again for second, before moving on to IEW.:001_smile:

[Bloggermom]

I have been incredibly impressed by both:

Writing With Ease 1 (WWE1) and Writing With Ease 2 (WWE2)

[hollyh]

Thanks for the ideas so far. Can someone give me a description of PAL?

[edeemarie]

Thanks for the ideas so far. Can someone give me a description of PAL?

 

Here a little about PAL Writing (there is also PAL reading but if your child already knows how to read you won't need it). There are three parts. The first part is printing and story summaries. If you are already comfortable with handwriting you could probably just go through the story summaries and move on to the next part. The story summaries are done orally using following a story sequence chart (looking for things like characters, setting, climax, clincher). You also start a journal that you write a few sentences in every day.

Part 2 starts copywork. They also introduce All About Spelling in this part, but if you have already started that you can just continue on (we were already at level 2 when we started PAL and the lessons really just say "continue with spelling lesson" so it really doesn't matter what level you are on). They also begin introducing basic parts of speech and basic writing style techniques. For this section the child retells the story instead of just following the story sequence chart.

Part 3 is where they begin really writing. If you are at all familiar with IEW they cover Units 1,2,3, and 7 from Teaching Writing Structure and Style. If you are not familiar, those cover key word outlines, summarizing from notes, story writing, and creative writing. I think that just about covers it:)

[Mrs Twain]

Here is what I have used for 1st-2nd grade writing:

 

--Winning With Writing (if your 1st grader is advanced, you can start with WWW2)

--WWE1 (though I don't think this builds writing skills as much as listening comprehension and summarizing practice)

--Copywork from our favorite picture books

--Evan Moor workbooks (I have used How to Report on Books grades 1-2, and How to Write a Story grades 1-3. I just got Write a Super Sentence grades 1-3 for free on HSBC)

--Journaling (draw and picture and write one or more sentences about it)

--Draw Write Now (I checked our several of these from my library)

 

p.s. If your 2nd grader is advanced, you could do IEW (SWI-A).