txchick Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 for a reluctant student. Age 14...I'd also like to be able to use it soon for my almost 10 year old. Neither like to write... I have IEW SWI B and they really "hate" it... I on the other hand..think its nice...however...I dont think its promoting a love of writing and I dont think they learn to understand writing for fun or creative writing from it....so I think they need some writing instruction that is not focused on outlining and reports. I know IEW does other writing later on..but we cant seem to get there... OK so Im looking at PTIW which seems to be the analytical Writing program...focused on building good sentences and paragraphs....I think the step by step is really good...but wonder if the Grammar/phrase /clause type focus will also turn them off the fun of writing. Jump in seems ok but I cant tell from the samples...how much it actually guides the kids in learning to write. What I want to accomplish this year is for them to NOT fear writing or reading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julieofsardis Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 We have not used Jump In, so I can't actually compare the two. The grammar in PTIW is specific to the writing, in my opinion. This program really helped my dd this year to get an overall idea of how to write a good paragraph. The actual writing assignments seem lame, but I think that is actually a positive in that the student is focused on the act of writing and not on the subject at hand. I did change the topic of some of the assignments to better suit my dd's interests, but tried to remain true to their intent. This is one of those programs that taught me how to teach. It gave me a bird's eye view of the writing process that I hadn't gotten from using R&S. Although I now feel I will be better equipped to teach R&S well. I expect to use it all the way through with my ds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 for a reluctant student. Age 14...I'd also like to be able to use it soon for my almost 10 year old. Neither like to write... I have IEW SWI B and they really "hate" it... I on the other hand..think its nice...however...I dont think its promoting a love of writing and I dont think they learn to understand writing for fun or creative writing from it....so I think they need some writing instruction that is not focused on outlining and reports. I know IEW does other writing later on..but we cant seem to get there... OK so Im looking at PTIW which seems to be the analytical Writing program...focused on building good sentences and paragraphs....I think the step by step is really good...but wonder if the Grammar/phrase /clause type focus will also turn them off the fun of writing. Jump in seems ok but I cant tell from the samples...how much it actually guides the kids in learning to write. What I want to accomplish this year is for them to NOT fear writing or reading! Jump In is a very gentle, informal, mostly done independently by the student program. It is broken into small "bites", and keeps a lighter tone which is helpful for a student less than thrilled with writing. It could be a very good choice for your 14yo, but I would probably not start a reluctant 9-10yo writer with it. Jump In is geared for grades 5-8. And if you have a reluctant or struggling or young student, I wouldn't start it until 6th grade. We used it last year with our struggling writer (8th grade) and he did very well with it. Wordsmith Apprentice is similar to Jump In as an even gentler program for a 10yo reluctant writer, and a wonderful intro into writing. It is probably too simple for a 14yo writer unless he/she really struggles with writing and is "behind" by several grades in writing, as it is written for grades 4-6. The non-struggling writer son used it in 5th grade and it was a perfect fit. I used WA with our struggling writer when he was in 7th grade. WA is very gentle, informal, mostly done independently by the student, and is broken into small "bites" so it is not overwhelming -- plus it has the fun theme of being a "cub reporter" on and writing for various departments of the newspaper. I have both a reluctant writer and a struggling writer, and both really enjoyed Wordsmith Apprentice. I would NOT suggest Put That In Writing for a reluctant writer. It would not be the writing program to encourage a student who loves writing, or who needs encouragement to find writing enjoyable. PTIW is very formal in tone and layout and is the type of program geared for an "engineering"-type of student, or a very logical/structured student who prefers instruction broken down into steps/processes. While PTIW is listed for grades 7-12, I would not use it until about 9th grade with a reluctant writer. I found PTIW useful for the instruction on compare/contrast, character analysis, etc., types of paragraphs, as that is the type of writing done by a high school student. We used PTIW last year (with a then 9th grader), but only with a lot of modification: - dropped the grammar exercises - did it together (the instruction part, written to the student, is written in unnecessarily formal language) - substituted our own writing assignments in place of their dull ones We have never "formally" used IEW, but we have found that using the "key word outline" technique from IEW to be extremely helpful for our boys in learning how to organize their thinking, how to support the topic sentence of a paragraph with examples, and to be able to quickly "see" what belongs in a paragraph and what doesn't. Perhaps you can implement ideas from the IEW lectures as you go along? Some suggestions of programs I am not personally familiar with, but what I've read in various threads sound like these would be very good programs to consider: - Classical Writing (for you 10yo or for both your students) - Writing Tales (for your 10yo or for both your students) - Wordsmith (for your 14yo) - Writeshop 1 (for your 14yo) - online writing class Brave Writer (for your 14yo) Below are various threads with more in-depth reviews and comments on Put That in Writing and Jump In. BEST of luck in finding what works for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D. Put That In Writing questions http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49731&highlight=writing Has anyone used Jump In for writing? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49331&highlight=writing Jump In?? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37991&highlight=writing Jump In users: now that you've used in for awhile what do you think? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13883&highlight=writing Writing curriculum to look at after Jump In? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41573&highlight=writing Which do you prefer: Wordsmith Apprentice or Jump In? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33224&highlight=writing Thoughts on Wordsmith Apprentice or Jump In? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31594&highlight=writing I really need writing help http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11699&highlight=writing Writing for a child far behind http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42807&highlight=writing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel Posted August 25, 2008 Share Posted August 25, 2008 We started Jump In last year with my 13dd and will continue with it through this year. I have been very pleased. The lessons are short, which mean that they don't overwhelm a reluctant writer. However, they do guide the student through each step of the paper that they are teaching them to write. Each assignment is broken up into "Skills" and those skills help the student set up their assignment. At the end of the assignment, the student can either use the skeleton that they have been working on to write the paper, or choose between two other options, if they are feeling more confident. By breaking the writing process up, it reinforces the steps of writing and helps the student to concentrate on that one area (say the opening paragraph). For my dd, this is much easier than getting the whole assignment and THEN having them figure out each part. It's easier to come up with a paragraph a day. Writing is still not her favorite thing, but this has made our writing times much easier than it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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