Best use of "Writing Class Time" in 5th grade so we can use WWS in 6th

[abrightmom]

DS will be 11 in 5th grade. I don't think we're ready for WWS :coolgleamA: but I have always planned to begin it in 6th anyway. Shrug. Not sure why; would rather not pull the kid through it.....

 

My plan is to keep going with IEW SWI-A. We just started. My boys love it and it's pretty straight forward to teach so far. We also use Rod & Staff English and it has great, traditional composition lessons. We do them. We have done SOME of WWE 3.

 

Summarizing is the ONE skill that I don't know about. I have NO idea if IEW will help with that and I don't think R&S will. This is what WWE does and if I'm understanding things correctly we NEED this skill in place to begin WWS, yes?

 

Should I be kicking IEW out the door and focusing on WWE? I think there is a skill gap between WWE and WWS so that doesn't sound like a good solution. Perhaps I should seek to alternate Units of IEW with a few weeks of WWE. IEW brings things to the table that WWE doesn't.

 

Please advise. :)

[SilverMoon]

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Edited September 5 by SilverMoon

[Chrysalis Academy]

I would say the two things that need to be rock solid before starting WWS are 1) narration/summary skills and 2) some basic comfort with paragraphing.

 

So, yes, whatever you need to do to get him summarizing, do that first. You can use WWE for that, or you can have him do it with books he or you read (short stories or chapters are easier than whole books, of course), or history chapters, or whatever. The goal is to get the kid able to summarize a passage in 4-5 sentences, picking out the main points without which the story won't make sense, but leaving out all the details that aren't necessary. Sometimes the second part is harder than the first, for some kids. Have them do it orally while you scribe, first, then have them do it and then write it down. Or, you can have them do it and record their voices, then have them copy their narration by playing back their own words to themselves, my dd loved to do that.

 

For paragraphs, I think there are a wealth of short resources that focus on this. On the loosy-goosy and open ended side of the spectrum, MCT's Paragraph Town is great. I think Crimson Wife used and liked Evan Moore's paragraph workbooks, and I've seen other things suggested. Maybe this is already covered in IEW, but it isn't covered in WWE, and WWS does assume that kids can do this pretty easily, and moves on to multi-paragraph writing without enough explicit discussion of when and how to start and stop paragraphs. IMHO, of course!

[abrightmom]

Ladies,

 

Thanks for the counsel. I read thru the WWS TM intro material online last night. It became very clear to me that solid narrating and summarizing must be in place. Then, I started printing WWE3 student sheets and we are picking right back up with it. Seems like Rod&Staff and WWE will do the trick as long as we write across the curriculum; maybe we should return IEW....

 

It is taking me awhile to really understand how to teach writing at each stage and how the pieces fit together. Time to cue up SWB again because I quickly forget all of that good counsel in her writing lectures. My oldest is taking the heat for my fumbling... ;)

[TarynB]

I think IEW is a great bridge between WWE and WWS. That's been our path so far. IEW, with the keyword outline method that it teaches, will teach your DC summarizing skills, along with style techniques that they won't get in WWE. IEW folds in nicely with WWE but doesn't overlap. I would suggest continuing both, alternating WWE and IEW for now, then WWS when you feel your DC are ready.

[Aloha2U]

Ladies,

 

Thanks for the counsel. I read thru the WWS TM intro material online last night. It became very clear to me that solid narrating and summarizing must be in place. Then, I started printing WWE3 student sheets and we are picking right back up with it. Seems like Rod&Staff and WWE will do the trick as long as we write across the curriculum; maybe we should return IEW....

 

FWIW, we've a similar story here, just coming from an opposite angle.

 

For starters, we'll finish FLL4 this year and move into R&S6 grammar next year for 4th grade. We've been working through the WWE series (for narration/summary skills) and plan on completing the 2nd half of WWE4 in the first semester of 4th grade. This leaves the second semester open to work on paragraph formation and such with R&S, as well as some poetry, before we begin WWS1 in 5th grade.