Junie Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I'm looking for writing curriculum for dd12. She is almost 13 and will be beginning 9th grade this year. She is a pretty good writer, but she needs to work on making things more concise. She tends to be wordy. I am using WWS with ds14, but that doesn't seem to be a good fit for her. She doesn't need the step-by-step baby steps that ds needs. (He tends to be the opposite of wordy.) I tried Jump In with her, but it was much too easy for her. She wants to finish high school in 3 years. She's motivated, so we're going to try. She likes to be given specific assignments -- such as write x pages about topic y. She doesn't like being given as many specifics as WWS, though. I was an English teacher, so I could write my own assignments. However, I'm kind of busy writing a Spanish I curriculum, a Newbery literature class, and 2 history classes, so I really don't want to re-invent the wheel with this one. I'm hoping that there is something open-and-go that would be a great fit for her. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Have you looked at Jensen's Format Writing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 The Power in Your Hands is the high school level book from Jump In's author. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 Have you looked at Jensen's Format Writing? Thank you. I had never heard of this before. Going to google it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 The Power in Your Hands is the high school level book from Jump In's author. I had forgotten about this one. I bought Jump In from Apologia. I forgot that this is sold on a separate website. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 There are many, many good options. Here are a few recent threads on the same subject: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/544386-online-writing-for-high-school-whats-your-favorite/ http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/551390-writing-for-a-very-reluctant-9th-grader/ http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/542164-high-school-writing-program-options/ Then there is Ruth's epic curriculum review: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/348864-my-evaluation-of-numerous-writing-curricula/?hl=%20ruth We'll be using Lost Tools of Writing this Fall. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 Then there is Ruth's epic curriculum review: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/348864-my-evaluation-of-numerous-writing-curricula/?hl=%20ruth We'll be using Lost Tools of Writing this Fall. Thank you! Ruth's thread was especially helpful. Is it pinned? Can you tell me more about Lost Tools of Writing? Do you need the Teacher's Manual and dvd set, or can you get by with the student book? Are the assignments given in the student book? (I have an English degree, so I hopefully wouldn't need the TE if it is just an answer key.) I tried to find samples, but I haven't found anything useful yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Thank you! Ruth's thread was especially helpful. Is it pinned? Can you tell me more about Lost Tools of Writing? Do you need the Teacher's Manual and dvd set, or can you get by with the student book? Are the assignments given in the student book? (I have an English degree, so I hopefully wouldn't need the TE if it is just an answer key.) I tried to find samples, but I haven't found anything useful yet. Hi Junie, It's hard for me to answer details about it since we just got curriculum in the mail. We purchased the workbook and TM. I'm not sure if you could just use the student workbook by itself. Also, one thing to note is that while LToW has excellent content and methods, one of its critiques has been that it is not the easiest to teach. That, in part, is why they have released the newest edition, to be more teacher friendly. There are quite a few here who have used it with great success as well as others who have struggled. You could post a new thread asking questions about it and/or search the archives where you will find a lot of discussions about LToW. We are going to attend a LToW teacher's workshop here in Monterey which I put together with Leah Lutz. I've heard their workshops are 'very' helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 Hi Junie, It's hard for me to answer details about it since we just got curriculum in the mail. We purchased the workbook and TM. I'm not sure if you could just use the student workbook by itself. Also, one thing to note is that while LToW has excellent content and methods, one of its critiques has been that it is not the easiest to teach. That, in part, is why they have released the newest edition, to be more teacher friendly. There are quite a few here who have used it with great success as well as others who have struggled. You could post a new thread asking questions about it and/or search the archives where you will find a lot of discussions about LToW. We are going to attend a LToW teacher's workshop here in Monterey which I put together with Leah Lutz. I've heard their workshops are 'very' helpful. Thanks, Derek. If LToW is teacher-intensive, than it probably would not be the best thing for us right now. I was looking at what I'm going to be teaching this year and realized that the next two years will probably be the most challenging. After ds graduates and we've been through the entire high school sequence once, things will probably hopefully be easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aretemama Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Patterns for College Writing, A Rhetorical Reader and Guide by Laurie Kiszner covers much of the same material as WWS Levels 1-3, plus includes argumentative essays, without the step-by-step. I love some of the sample essays. There are a variety of questions at the end of each chapter that you could pull from, setting the amount of work and the pace at the appropriate level. I would take at least a year to cover the material. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 Patterns for College Writing, A Rhetorical Reader and Guide by Laurie Kiszner covers much of the same material as WWS Levels 1-3, plus includes argumentative essays, without the step-by-step. I love some of the sample essays. There are a variety of questions at the end of each chapter that you could pull from, setting the amount of work and the pace at the appropriate level. I would take at least a year to cover the material. Thank you. Something new to take a look at! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest maried123 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 We love Write at Home http://www.writeathome.com. My son went from never writing to becoming an outstanding writer plus all the assignments are very interesting. Check them out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 Only Children Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 I like the look of Meaningful Composition and will be getting that this year for writing. I understand that you should look at skill not grade level with their books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I would recommend looking at William Henry Maxwell's books, School Composition and Writing in English. They are exactly what you are looking for in terms of writing about specific topics. I have found the instruction to be top-notch. They are free, vintage books found at Google books and as inexpensive reprints at Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 Thank you to everyone who has posted. I've looked into every one of the resources listed. I found a creative writing book at a book store that I think will be a good fit for her for at least the first semester. I'll be using that for now. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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