Need free Writing helps...

[steppingstonemomma]

I would like to have my 6th grader do some solidifying of his paragraphs over the summer... but I'm struggling because I need my material support to be FREE.

 

I want it to only take about 10-15 minutes.

 

I'd like to find some thought provoking prompts so I don't have to come up with something every day.

 

And I need a little help in knowing HOW to teach him better paragraph formation. We've done IEW and are halfway through WWS (going to finish in the fall) but I'm not feeling like he's getting the hang of a solid paragraph, especially opener and conclusion sentences. How else can I explain this???

 

 

OR,

My 8th and 7th graders are going to attempt the Elegant Essay this summer and I could have him participate with them... Anyone think this is a bad idea if he's still struggling with a solid paragraph? Or would it help him?

 

We officially started our summer schedule today but I'm still trying to figure out the plan!!

Thanks for any help!

Tiffany

[1Togo]

Not free, but not expensive. A Writer's Guide to Powerful Paragraphs by Victor C. Pellegrinio is excellent. You can purchase this from IEW, and they used to have a lesson plan handout for the book. Your 7th and 8h graders can use this as well.

[Cosmos]

I would like to have my 6th grader do some solidifying of his paragraphs over the summer... but I'm struggling because I need my material support to be FREE.

 

I want it to only take about 10-15 minutes.

 

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.

[Stellalarella]

:lurk5: I am also listening in.

[Another Lynn]

I think it was 6th grade that I ended up letting my (oldest) ds do a weekly free write in place of the umpteen million writing curricula we tried and discarded. I don't think we even edited any of them (shhhhh! Don't tell the homeschool police!). I think his writing improved as much from doing that as from anything else we tried. I DID have a list of possible topics (gleaned from a cheap writing workbook), but he never used my list. He always came up with his own. If nothing else he learned that putting words on paper is not so painful as he imagined.... and it can be done over and over again without bringing the world to a dramatic end, LOL. If you want a list of topics for free try Julie Bogart's Brave Writer blog and search for Friday Free Write topics.

[MomatHWTK]

Take a look at the free materials at TeacherspayTeachers. Also, Scholastic has $1 downloads on some materials right now- pretty close to free!

 

Visit the Open Culture website and see if they have any free courses listed for writing.

 

Check out the Teacher View resources here:

http://www.macmillanmh.com/languagearts/

 

Try here:

http://www.ck12.org/flexbook/

 

 

Sign up for the free trial here and download as much as you can:

http://www.writinga-z.com/

 

You might check out the free resources at learning.com as well. To enter, you sign up with your own e-mail and create a password, then select "e-[YOUR STATE]" as the district.

 

Here are the free resources from CurrClick:

http://www.currclick.com/index.php?search_filter=&filters=0_24300_0_0_0_0_0_0&cPath=&search_here=&page=1&sort=4a

 

More freebies:

Improve Paragraph Writing

Edited May 15, 2012 by MomatHWTK