Writerdaddy Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Hi there, I am using IEW SWI-A with 3rd graders who are finding it a bit challenging, although with my editing they always wind up with great results. I like the SWI-A video mainly because, well, it's not me doing the talking. I also want to keep up the pace so the kids don't get bored, but the SWI is a little bit much to keep up with for them. My main thing is how to avoid learning how to do dress-ups only by trial and error. The Who/which clause and -ly words are hard for them to use correctly or to understand how. If I stick to the the SWI (which is what I want to do) this is a problem. I model, give examples, and help them as they are writing, but on their own they cannot actually do the dress-ups, except sometimes it works out or else by what seems like sheer luck (if you plop a "suddenly" in somewhere, there's a statistical chance that it will land in the right spot). Does anyone have an practical suggestions, tips, tricks for enabling the students to actually do the dress-ups so that they can perform the exercises and eventually move on? I expect this is not a problem for most kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 We do a lot of oral writing before we begin writing on paper. I write "out loud" for the kids, to model the process of making, recognizing, and fixing mistakes. I will purposefully add dress-ups in funky places and then make this face --> :confused1: . The kids recognize the error...and the facial expression. :tongue_smilie: Then I fix it...wrong. Then fix it wrong again, maybe several times. Then they help me make it sound right. ;) We do lots of this, not just with IEW. I also explained to them that it is helpful to read their own writing as they go. I have them reread each sentence as they write, to make sure it sounds right to the ear. Then they reread the entire paragraph to themselves when they finish, to make sure it sounds smooth. I still get some funky stuff, but it's getting better! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 I'm teaching a class right now of kids ranging from 2nd grade to 4th grade. So far this semester we have covered all of the dress-ups. One of the things that I had the children do when we were working on adding in clauses was to spend some time JUST working on clauses. First, I would create sets of sentences and ask them to combine them into one sentence using an adverbial, or adjectival clause. Then I would have them give me two of their own sentences about the same topic and then combine them. We also worked on taking a sentence that already had a clause and making two sentences out of it. While we were doing this we talked about what the clause was modifying and how it changed the sentence if it was taken out (for a clause used in the middle). Basically we had to do grammar. They needed to understand what an adjective or adverb were, which we covered when we talked about ly words and quality adjectives, before they could skillfully use them in a sentence. My recommendation would be to spend a little time focusing on the grammar aspect of these dress-ups before attempting to have your dc plop them into a sentence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I am leading a SWI-A co-op. I made up a practice sheet for one of our classes that I uploaded to the IEW Co-op Yahoo Group. I gave them a list of sentences with specific dress-ups to do to each sentence. I also find that it helps ds to give him a few choices in the paragraph and put a blank in front of them. For example, to find a good -ly word, just choose some of the action verbs and write down just a portion of the sentence with a blank in front of the verb. (she _______ walked) You can do the same with adjectives by choosing nouns. For the who/which clause, pick two sentences that could be put together with one and let them try to figure out how to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Writerdaddy Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 In a rush right now -- but yeah, that's what I'm talkin bout! Thanks and keep it coming. I'll be back later to respond. More.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland_Mom Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Third grade is a great place to start. My advice: Don't worry about completing everything on a checklist. We don't want to overwhelm our kids with a long list of dress-ups that are over their heads. In these early years, keep the dress-up list simple and add to the list of requirements as their skills build. For example, If the "who/which" clause is on the checklist, but it seems too difficult for your child, don't be afraid to just cross it off the list. After they're good at doing the easier dress ups, you'll be able to introduce who/which clauses (and many other dress-ups) in later writing assignments. Another thing you can do: after you learn a concept from the SWI video and complete the assignment, practice using the same writing model again, but use a different source text -- maybe from a children's history encyclopedia, a science picture book, etc. Kids usually need to practice several times before the concepts really sink into their minds. Just FYI-- we started IEW when my ds was a 3rd grader. I remember pulling out my hair because sometimes he just couldn't seem to come up with an -ly word or a who/which clause without lots of help/input from me. Now, after four years of experience with the program, I realize that I should have done a better job at limiting his dress-up list. I also should have given him more opportunities to practice a particular writing model before moving to the next "lesson/model". Ahhhh . . . hindsight is 20/20! At any rate, I have witnessed wonderful results for both of my boys with IEW. My younger son gets the benefits of my lessons learned. We progress steadily, but a little more slowly, thus our writing "sessions" are far more enjoyable for both of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I thought I'd mention, since I don't think many are aware of it's existence, that IEW offers a Student Resource Notebook that I have found invaluable for my own children. For a younger student the verb, adjective, and "ly" word lists would be extremely helpful. What I really like is the way the words are grouped. For example, the verb list is arranged into words you would use instead of go\went, come\came, say\said, get\got, or see\look. There are also lists of words you might use to express the action of moving, singing, getting an idea, or looking for something. The adjective list is organized similarly. Using the first page as an example you would see the heading GOOD, which is of coarse a banned word, and underneath it are lists of words to use instead of good if you were describing someone's character (scrupulous), describing a sound (melodious), a food (delectable), or describing someone's skill (accomplished). There are words to use instead of bad, pretty, nice, ugly, mean, plain...basically all of the banned words and then some. Following these lists there is also a section labeled The Five Senses and Emotions. This sections gives you words to describe things you hear, feel, see, and taste, as well as words to express emotions (suspicious, unsettled, discontented, appeased...). There is more to the notebook than what I've described above, such as a nice section on grammar and punctuation use, transition words and phrases, and short sections on MLA Documentation and Bibliography Citing. It is well worth the $15. My older girls use it with all of their writing assignments (not IEW based) and I've noticed a marked decline in in the amount of grammatical and mechanical mistakes they make. My 4th grader uses the lists exhaustively, and even my 1st grader will ask me to help him find a word from the list when he doesn't like a word from one of his sentences. Anyway Winterdaddy, I don't know if that will help you or not, but I thought I'd put it out there for you or others who might be reading and find it helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plateau Mama Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Third grade is a great place to start. My advice: Don't worry about completing everything on a checklist. We don't want to overwhelm our kids with a long list of dress-ups that are over their heads. In these early years, keep the dress-up list simple and add to the list of requirements as their skills build. For example, If the "who/which" clause is on the checklist, but it seems too difficult for your child, don't be afraid to just cross it off the list. After they're good at doing the easier dress ups, you'll be able to introduce who/which clauses (and many other dress-ups) in later writing assignments. Another thing you can do: after you learn a concept from the SWI video and complete the assignment, practice using the same writing model again, but use a different source text -- maybe from a children's history encyclopedia, a science picture book, etc. Kids usually need to practice several times before the concepts really sink into their minds. Just FYI-- we started IEW when my ds was a 3rd grader. I remember pulling out my hair because sometimes he just couldn't seem to come up with an -ly word or a who/which clause without lots of help/input from me. Now, after four years of experience with the program, I realize that I should have done a better job at limiting his dress-up list. I also should have given him more opportunities to practice a particular writing model before moving to the next "lesson/model". Ahhhh . . . hindsight is 20/20! At any rate, I have witnessed wonderful results for both of my boys with IEW. My younger son gets the benefits of my lessons learned. We progress steadily, but a little more slowly, thus our writing "sessions" are far more enjoyable for both of us. I want to second this. Last year was our first year with IEW (4th grade). My son really struggled with getting all the dress ups. Sometimes we just stopped, sometimes I gave him an example (and let him use it if he wanted). This year (5th grade), he does not struggle very often. I still go thru the checklist with him but he is able to find the dress ups or add them if need be. This last week I gave him the checklist and had him do it on his own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I thought I'd mention, since I don't think many are aware of it's existence, that IEW offers a Student Resource Notebook that I have found invaluable for my own children. For a younger student the verb, adjective, and "ly" word lists would be extremely helpful. What I really like is the way the words are grouped. For example, the verb list is arranged into words you would use instead of go\went, come\came, say\said, get\got, or see\look. There are also lists of words you might use to express the action of moving, singing, getting an idea, or looking for something. The adjective list is organized similarly. Using the first page as an example you would see the heading GOOD, which is of coarse a banned word, and underneath it are lists of words to use instead of good if you were describing someone's character (scrupulous), describing a sound (melodious), a food (delectable), or describing someone's skill (accomplished). There are words to use instead of bad, pretty, nice, ugly, mean, plain...basically all of the banned words and then some. Following these lists there is also a section labeled The Five Senses and Emotions. This sections gives you words to describe things you hear, feel, see, and taste, as well as words to express emotions (suspicious, unsettled, discontented, appeased...). There is more to the notebook than what I've described above, such as a nice section on grammar and punctuation use, transition words and phrases, and short sections on MLA Documentation and Bibliography Citing. It is well worth the $15. My older girls use it with all of their writing assignments (not IEW based) and I've noticed a marked decline in in the amount of grammatical and mechanical mistakes they make. My 4th grader uses the lists exhaustively, and even my 1st grader will ask me to help him find a word from the list when he doesn't like a word from one of his sentences. Anyway Winterdaddy, I don't know if that will help you or not, but I thought I'd put it out there for you or others who might be reading and find it helpful. Great thread! We are just getting started with IEW and I appreciate all this great advice! Aime - thanks for talking about the Student Resource Notebook. I had it on my wishlist for next year (3rd grade) but wasn't sure if it was appropriate for younger kids or what exactly it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Great thread! We are just getting started with IEW and I appreciate all this great advice! Aime - thanks for talking about the Student Resource Notebook. I had it on my wishlist for next year (3rd grade) but wasn't sure if it was appropriate for younger kids or what exactly it was. Keep in mind that the Student Resource Notebook is a free download with the purchase of theme books. You can purchase it separately, but for a little more you get another useful IEW book, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Writerdaddy Posted November 21, 2012 Author Share Posted November 21, 2012 Thanks so much for all the suggestions. Also, watchers should note that there is an IEW Yahoo group where there is some help as well, but somehow all the chiming in and just sheer numbers of experiences shared is a little bit better here at WTM. On the yahoo group, someone from IEW always sends fairly elaborate replies to all inquiries, which is also nice. I haven't done dress-ups since posting, but have been doing some more KWO and also working through story plot elements using KWO from easy sources (that I write) and then having them write new KWO and swap in elements like characters, problems, solutions, and endings. I think I will work on brainstorming the dress-ups before writing up from the KWO, rather than leaving them to work it in on the fly, and also will need to do separate teaching of the proper use of the dress-ups. My main constraining factor is that I do want to stick to SWI-A and so can't really skip the order of dress-up introduction too much or the order of activities. If I didn't stick to SWI then it would be different. I'm wondering: I cant find the file on dress-ups that mom31257 uploaded. Is this a different yahoo group than the IEW sponsored one? Or is it a sub-forum that you need special permission for? I will be doing the separate teaching with sample sentences just like described by the other posters. And I do have the e-version of the student help files which came with something else I ordered. Thanks a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I'm wondering: I cant find the file on dress-ups that mom31257 uploaded. Is this a different yahoo group than the IEW sponsored one? Or is it a sub-forum that you need special permission for? Thanks a lot! I think it was on the IEW Co-Op Yahoo group. If you send me your email address, i could send it to you directly. It is sentences that I made up with a dress up to do in each one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Keep in mind that the Student Resource Notebook is a free download with the purchase of theme books. You can purchase it separately, but for a little more you get another useful IEW book, too. I didn't know that! I am planning on buying one to use. Thanks! Thanks so much for all the suggestions. Also, watchers should note that there is an IEW Yahoo group where there is some help as well, but somehow all the chiming in and just sheer numbers of experiences shared is a little bit better here at WTM. On the yahoo group, someone from IEW always sends fairly elaborate replies to all inquiries, which is also nice. I will check out that group. Thnx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I'm starting with 2-3 dress ups with my 2nd grader. I had him do just the KWO for 5 papers and then took those papers one week and worked on "ly" adverb and another week on the "who/which". I choose sentences for him from his papers and add a blank where the ly or who/which should go. Then I help him with the ly chart or make suggestions for the who/which. Eventually, he'll be able to pick his own sentence and be able to know where to add it, but for now, I just give him the sentence and add a blank. I may try a strong verb next. I'll pick the sentence out, ask him where the verb is and we'll work on suggestions of better verbs together or I'll just show him a thesaurus. So far, it's worked well and he's not frustrated with the process. Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyontheFarm Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Writterdaddy, If you can still tag this post IEW would you mind doing so. That way all of us newbies will be able to find this post later on. Thanks. I was blessed last week with six VHS IEW tapes. I am half way through the first one and my confidence in teaching writing to my children has risen 150%. I can't wait to watch the second half! If the woman who gave me the tapes (for free!) can't find her binder, I am going to order one this weekend. She also sent me the level c tapes and binder too, but they are too old for my dd to use yet. Somehow, over the past year I received the Student Resource Notebook in a pdf form for free also. I'm thinking God wants me to use this program. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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