WWE 1 question for those who used it

[SereneHome]

I was looking through the book, thinking when I want to start and realized that I have a few questions

 

1.  Every week there is a passage from a different book for narration - did you read the whole book to your kid or just did the passage and that's it?  If you did read the whole book, was one week time frame enough?

 

2.  For narrations - did your kids really write the whole thing themselves or did they just tell you their thoughts and your wrote it for them?  While my son knows how to write, I can't imagine him being able to spell out all the words himself.

 

3.  Copywork - it seems that there are only 1-2 sentences daily - did you find that to be enough or did additional copywork?

 

I think that's all for now.

 

Thank you so much!!

[smudge]

I was looking through the book, thinking when I want to start and realized that I have a few questions

 

1.  Every week there is a passage from a different book for narration - did you read the whole book to your kid or just did the passage and that's it?  If you did read the whole book, was one week time frame enough?

We just finished WWE1 and what I did was just read the passage. Basically you are getting the kids used to hearing a few paragraphs and telling back to you what they heard. We have not read many of the books that were used in WWE1, though that is on my Summer To-Do list. Just didn't have time during the year.

 

2.  For narrations - did your kids really write the whole thing themselves or did they just tell you their thoughts and your wrote it for them?  While my son knows how to write, I can't imagine him being able to spell out all the words himself.

My 8yo wrote things down herself. The 6yo early on, would tell me what to write and then she would copy that onto her page. If your kiddo isn't big into writing yet, then WWE says to copy it for them in a nice manuscript hand.

 

3.  Copywork - it seems that there are only 1-2 sentences daily - did you find that to be enough or did additional copywork?

I found it to be fine. They did plenty of writing between all of our other stuff. I would have the younger one do the shorter sentence and the older would do the longer, until she started learning cursive then I would have her do the short sentence in cursive. It's a really easy program, don't over think it! :)

 

I think that's all for now.

 

Thank you so much!!

 

[Sherry in OH]

I used WWE with a 6-year old reluctant writer.

 

1.     I read the passage.  If the passage was especially interesting, the title was added to our list of potential read alouds.  When we finished one book, we would select another from this list.  We nearly always need more than one week per book.

2.     I wrote the narrations.  If he was to write, he copied what I wrote.

3.     Once sentence per day was plenty.  He did additional writing in other subjects.

[SereneHome]

OK, perfect.  That's exactly what I was looking for

[NoseInABook]

I only read the passage and we didn't write down any of the narrations. My 1st grader could have handled it mid-school year but we just opted out of it because she was writing quite a bit anyway with other curriculum.

[Reefgazer]

Oops, nevermind.  Answered wrong post.

[SereneHome]

Wait, now I am wondering - what other "writing" were your kids doing??

 

 

[RosieCotton]

I had the same questions you had when I started WWE1. I seemed to be saying, what is the point of this and is it enough?

 

I believe it's well worth it to listen to her lecture on Writing in Elementary, where she covers all your questions and then some. It gave me such enthusiasm for doing it "the right way" rather than just guessing what I was doing was correct or enough then feeling the need to do more and having it be inappropriate for his development level.

 

You should have them use this method she desribes in WWE across the curriculum, so once you get it down you can apply to any subject you are studying that day. You simply add that work in as your writing say for science or history.

 

Spelling errors are ok at this level, ideally you want to be there to correct right away or help them sound it out. You want to teach them to do it right the first time and not error.

 

And yes add books to your reading list, but no you don't have to read each book each week.

 

Here's the link to the lecture -- it will seriously simplify your life and answer all your questions!

http://peacehillpress.com/audiobooks-lectures/a-plan-for-teaching-writing-focus-on-the-elementary-grades-mp3-download/

 

 

 

 

[idnib]

What the others have said, but I wanted to add that you should be prepared for the kids to really want to hear the rest of the story NOW. Many times I've texted DH and requested he stop at the library on the way home.  ;)

 

If they don't ask I don't read the entire book unless it was part of my lit plan anyway (ie Peter Pan.)

[Amy M]

If you're using the workbook, you simply read the passage, not the entire book. It would be too much to get through the book every week. They narrate back to you one thing they remember, which you write for them. Towards the end, they copy one sentence that you wrote down for them. The workbook is very clear for you as the teacher to know how much to expect. At the end I think it works out to be about three copied sentences a week. Copywork twice a week, and a copied sentence from narration once. You can also apply that concept of narration to history and science and reading. In addition to WWE1's copywork, we did a handwriting worksheet every day.

[Crimson Wife]

DS recently started WWE 1 as cursive practice. For the narration days, I ask him to summarize the passage and then I print the sentence he dictates at the top of the page. He then copies it over into cursive. I do ask him to summarize the passage rather than just to tell me one thing he remembers because he's older (8 1/2).

[SereneHome]

Rosie, thanks for the link, I'll definitely will listen before we start.

 

As always - very helpful responses -thank you!!

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

lol, what timing! I just posted a blog post about WWE1 today about common questions about it and....none of these were ones I answered.  :tongue_smilie:  I agree with PPs, so I won't repeat, but if you'd like a look at a week's worth of work looks like, I've got pictures on blog post.

[SereneHome]

Oh great, I have your blog bookmarked.  Thanks