plansrme Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I am thinking of dumping everything but math and writing next semester, rocking along at our regular pace for math and hammering on writing. My daughter is in the seventh grade, and her writing is horrible. She has been doing WWS this year, and that has been good, but we got to week 12--the one with the writing about the volcano--and we're stuck. We are repeating Week 12, but we are not making progress any more. I have high hopes of sending her to the high school her older sister attends, preferably in the STEM magnet, but without major improvements in her writing, she does not have a prayer of getting admitted. I know that we will both be miserable doing nothing but writing and math, and I can live with that. But I would love to hear any tips, suggestions, etc. She does have some kind of verbal learning issue, and I have had extensive testing done on her only to learn, "Yep, we agree, there is something going on there. Good luck!" In other words, the report was long on data and short on help. The reading comprehension issues, we are making progress on, but writing--ack, it will be the death of us both. I will definitely keep on with WWS, but we are going to need more, something daily and basic and systematic, without too many frills. Formulas would be good. Not IEW--too much focus on dress-ups and such. Think of her writing as an ugly naked crazy person--she doesn't need snazzy shoes and a great belt; she needs sweats from Walmart. Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I haven't personally used it, but if you are looking for sweats from Walmart, why not look into Winning With Writing? (I have an IRL friend who uses this. She likes it for its no-frills, get-'er-done, hit-it-every-day approach.) Check out their Scope & Sequence to see which level you would go into. Level 6 looks like it covers a lot of what you are looking for. Level 5 would be a bit easier (especially if you were going to double or triple up some days), but it doesn't cover as much. This level (5) covers direct, indirect quotations, dialogue, the writing process, creative writing, personal narrative, descriptive writing, persuasive writing, informational writing, compare and contrast writing, and explanatory writing, among other things. This level (6) covers direct, indirect quotations, divided quotations, dialogue, the writing process, thesis statements, transitional sentences, documenting sources, bibliography, creative writing, personal narrative, descriptive writing, persuasive writing, informational essay, biographical essay, cause and effect essay, and research report, among other things. Good luck! :seeya: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 I haven't personally used it, but if you are looking for sweats from Walmart, why not look into Winning With Writing? (I have an IRL friend who uses this. She likes it for its no-frills, get-'er-done, hit-it-every-day approach.) Check out their Scope & Sequence to see which level you would go into. Level 6 looks like it covers a lot of what you are looking for. Level 5 would be a bit easier (especially if you were going to double or triple up some days), but it doesn't cover as much. This level (5) covers direct, indirect quotations, dialogue, the writing process, creative writing, personal narrative, descriptive writing, persuasive writing, informational writing, compare and contrast writing, and explanatory writing, among other things. This level (6) covers direct, indirect quotations, divided quotations, dialogue, the writing process, thesis statements, transitional sentences, documenting sources, bibliography, creative writing, personal narrative, descriptive writing, persuasive writing, informational essay, biographical essay, cause and effect essay, and research report, among other things. Good luck! :seeya: That looks promising. I will take a closer look. Thanks so much for the suggestion. Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Think of her writing as an ugly naked crazy person--she doesn't need snazzy shoes and a great belt; she needs sweats from Walmart. I don't know that I can help, but that description is hilarious! How about a Spectrum writing workbook? Have you looked into an online course? Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I am thinking of dumping everything but math and writing next semester, rocking along at our regular pace for math and hammering on writing. My daughter is in the seventh grade, and her writing is horrible. She has been doing WWS this year, and that has been good, but we got to week 12--the one with the writing about the volcano--and we're stuck. We are repeating Week 12, but we are not making progress any more. I have high hopes of sending her to the high school her older sister attends, preferably in the STEM magnet, but without major improvements in her writing, she does not have a prayer of getting admitted. I know that we will both be miserable doing nothing but writing and math, and I can live with that. But I would love to hear any tips, suggestions, etc. She does have some kind of verbal learning issue, and I have had extensive testing done on her only to learn, "Yep, we agree, there is something going on there. Good luck!" In other words, the report was long on data and short on help. The reading comprehension issues, we are making progress on, but writing--ack, it will be the death of us both. I will definitely keep on with WWS, but we are going to need more, something daily and basic and systematic, without too many frills. Formulas would be good. Not IEW--too much focus on dress-ups and such. Think of her writing as an ugly naked crazy person--she doesn't need snazzy shoes and a great belt; she needs sweats from Walmart. Terri Maybe posting a sample of the actual writing instead of characterizing it? And explaining: what is the "stuck" on WWS about? We are doing an intensive focus on writing this year, and have tried a lot of things. Doing a lot has helped, and not doing too much of one thing has helped also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted December 2, 2012 Author Share Posted December 2, 2012 I don't know that I can help, but that description is hilarious! How about a Spectrum writing workbook? Have you looked into an online course? Mandy I will check these out. As for online courses, I don't think there would be enough volume. I own Jensen's Format Writing, and something that basic but with more volume would be helpful. Maybe I just need to do Jensen's over and over and over... Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted December 2, 2012 Author Share Posted December 2, 2012 Maybe posting a sample of the actual writing instead of characterizing it? And explaining: what is the "stuck" on WWS about? We are doing an intensive focus on writing this year, and have tried a lot of things. Doing a lot has helped, and not doing too much of one thing has helped also. She is stuck in that she cannot write coherently about that stupid volcano. I really thought she was making progress with WWS until we got to this point. Pardon me while I go bang my head against the nearest wall... This is a sample from Week, Day 4: "Lava is created by molten rock. it flows out of the volcano onto earth. Lavare is an Italian word meaning to wash away. After it flows for a while, the lava turns into lava flow. Volcanoes have craters. They are created by explosions. After craters are formed, debris is washed into the hole. The lava that exits the volcano is white and then it becomes red and then black. The lava will harden when it turns black. Sometimes the thick lava turns into a brownish color instead of black. When the lava runs down it may go into a hole. If it does sometimes it's possible to see the glowing red." This was supposed to be 200-400 words describing a volcano. It is 111 random words vaguely related to a volcano. Help! Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 I'd suggest grammar and mechanics. Maybe something like Easy Grammar or editing practice with Editor In Chief. If you're going to focus just on writing, then I'd look into also shoring up her grammar skills. Also Bravewriter. It's pricey, but The Writer's Jungle is a great guide to writing and gives a great run down of the editing process. Freewriting or journaling would help too. Possibly Writing Strands. Lots of people like it. Arrow guides have great dictations. I'm not aware if WWS keeps up with copywork or dictation, but I believe that it should continue throughout the grades. It takes about 5 minutes a morning and it's invaluable in helping train their memory and writing skills. So that's something to consider. Maybe a program like Writer's Express or Writer's Inc from Great Source could help. I don't know. Sounds like she described a volcano to me? But I'm not familiar with WWS so I'm not sure what the criteria for the lesson was to be. Maybe she doesn't have the background knowledge or interest about a volcano to describe it very well. Could you let her describe something else if she is truly sick of the volcano and still stay true to the meaning of the lesson? Is this her first draft? Do you work through the revising process with her? Because she has all the elements there to make a good descriptive paragraph. She really does. I wouldn't expect perfection on a first try. I'd also allow her to just write freely at times and not expect it to be revised or perfect. And then pick a few of her writings to work through and revise long term and bring through the entire wring process. IMHO the mark of a competent writer isn't getting it right the first time, but having the skills and know-how to revise and edit and make it better. And the ability to recognize when and where revising needs to be done. Do you teach her how to map her thoughts with visual organizers? She should learn how to list ideas and brainstorm and roughly outline her thoughts and then write. And then fix any spelling, mechanics and grammar errors. And then to rearrange sentences, phrases, change words, add more, take away some etc until it's how she likes it. Does she understand about topic sentences or main ideas? Something like The Paragraph Book could help with that. I think it's a great idea to focus on writing. We're pretty language arts heavy here too. But I would caution not to slack on literary elements, read alouds, vocab, spelling etc. Those are all tools the good writer needs to have in their writing toolbox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 I had a big panic halfway through 7th grade. One of my dds in particular was writing drivel. She was given a writing assignment that was supposed to compare and contrast three ancient river cultures (supposed to be based on what was in her history text), and she ended up writing lots of rambling about pottery from these cultures she found on the internet. Unfocused goo. Oh, and getting it to that stage took something like two months. Aaaah!!! I ended up signing them up for WriteGuide. Best thing I ever did. Both working with someone else to give edits, and having to write consistently (and without me being the one making them do it) made a huge difference. It took so much pressure off of me. They're both in 9th grade ps now, in honors English and doing fine. Now to get the next one in gear... she's in 6th, and needs writing boot camp. I'm trying to sign her up for an outside (live) class this spring, and then I think WriteGuide next year. She also did an online class with Home2Teach earlier this year, which did help move things in the right direction (but there's still a long way to go...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 You might want to take a look at Jump-in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 http://www.christianbook.com/jump-in-kit-2-volumes/sharon-watson/pd/437014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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