Write shop II??

[boymama]

I never see much written in the forums about Write Shop II. I also never see it for sale. Is there a reason? DO you use Write Shop I and then move to something else? If so, what? I have used a lot of IEW and am now using Write Shop I. I like IEW, but some people were saying the if I combined them both, I would have a well-rounded curr. Let me know you thoughts. Thanks

[ladykayaker]

Personally I am frustrated by WriteShop I.

I find the assignments doable and worthwhile - ds is certainly learning new writing skills, he is doing much better as far as draft - revision - final version.

But the teachers guide and the student guide are not organized well. It isn't a book that you start at page 1, do the lesson, move onto the next page and continue in order. I have to jump around, flipping pages back and forth to find articles that the lesson refers to. Sometimes the teachers guide refers to an assignment or article that the student folder doesn't have. This flipping back and forth might work if I only had one child - but with five kids - from preschool through to high school - I find it a frustrating program. Sometimes I don't even bother to use the teachers guide and just follow the student folder.

I just wish it was better organized, that I could follow from one page to the next, with all that I need in the right order.

The program itself is well suited for ds to improve his writing skills and provides me with what I need to guide him.

[boymama]

I do agree with you about that. I often find myself frustrated between the 2 books. I think it could be incorporated into one book. I think I am mostly using the student book also. After the first 2 lessons, the TE is not really needed.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Write Shop does not seems to be as popular as IEW on these boards. I never seriously considered IEW because I knew I wouldn't watch the videos.

 

We used Write Shop 1 & 2 very successfully in 6th-7th-8th grade. You may read my review here. The flipping complaint is common. I may have voiced it myself at one point. Let me do some searching on the boards...

 

I also have a comparison written by a lady who used both IEW and WS. I don't like to post it publicly because I didn't write it, but if you PM me with your email address, I will forward it to you.

 

We did no formal composition in 9th grade - just writing within our English curriculum (Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings). In 10th grade, ds enrolled in Laurel Tree High School Composition (highly recommended - see review here). This semester ds is taking Honors Composition 1 at CC.

 

HTH!

Edited September 24, 2012 by Sue in St Pete

[Sunshine State Sue]

about the flipping:

In the teacher's book, there are sections for lesson plans, editing & evaluating, positive & encouraging comments, addressing errors lesson by lesson, common problems of mechanics, student writing samples, skill builder keys, pre-writing & lesson activity keys. I don't use all these sections, but I had to get familiar enough with each to decide what I was going to take out of each. The amount of information is overwhelming at first. Sometimes, people will comment negatively about the amount of time they spend flipping back and forth. I did a lot of flipping through all the sections in the beginning. It's all helpful and much of it is not what I would come up with on my own. The authors have done so much work for me.

 

Here's the entire thread, fwiw:

Tell me about Writeshop