Meadowlark Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 My son is 9 and is doing WWE 2. He's an excellent reader and speller but we're a little behind in writing. I want him to have some concept of how to write a paragraph. What resource should I look at for this? Basic sentence and paragraph study? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 What do you think there is about paragraphs that must be studied? Most products and methods come up with rules such as each paragraph having to have at least [insert favorite number] of sentences, with an opening sentence and a closing sentence and at least [insert favorite number] supporting sentences. Although that may be true of some kinds of writing, it is not true most of the time, but teaching that as a rule often results in boring writing. You teach your child how to write well, with strong nouns and verbs, with a variety of sentence patterns, and then you help him understand that we use paragraphs to make it easier to read, and that we group sentences together that make sense together. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Treasured Conversations 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 I second the recommendation for Treasured Conversation. It really does a great job at building strong paragraphs from strong words and strong sentences. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 We've used this and liked it: http://www.currclick.com/product/81320/Super-Sentences-and-Perfect-Paragraphs?term=perfect+sentence I have also taken paragraphs from books they're reading and typed them out, cut out the sentences and had them put them in order and then copy them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Killgallon has a paragraph book too, though I haven't used it... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 We used enough of the Kilgallon Paragraph book to introduce vocabulary for talking about paragraphs (cluster of grapes, if I remember). We'll get back to it eventually, but that seemed to be enough. We're back to occasional work from the sentence book now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 We've used both Kilgallon and Treasured Conversations. I prefer Treasured Conversations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 We liked Evan Moor's Paragraph Writing. School Composition by William Henry Maxwell also helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto4inSoCal Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 We also used treasured conversation. It teaches outlining using an already written paragraph then writing your outline without a paragraph and finally writing your own paragraph. It's a very good incremental approach to paragraphs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) EPS The Paragraph Book is great for that age. http://www.christianbook.com/the-paragraph-book-1/dianne-tucker-laplount/9780838826713/pd/372671?dv=m&en=google-pla&event=SHOP&kw=homeschool-0-20&p=1179710&gclid=Cj0KEQiAn8i0BRDur-HV1PCTy4UBEiQAPuFr9DFNuNqqQV47ne-d8jw9JNtqjfa8H5jdBAF2eJjeBP4aAgLY8P8HAQ Edited January 11, 2016 by Momling 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymonster Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Treasured Conversations has been a wonderful experience for us so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Write On teaches a three sentence "report" (paragraph), which is such a nice way to bridge to full paragraphs. I really, really like it. I don't follow it strictly at all, but I find myself pulling stuff from it for my kiddo who has a pretty significant LD in written expression as well as for my typical learner. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 We're using the Just Write series. I have a 9 yo, 4th grade reluctant writer so I started with book one this year and did just the paragraph section and skipped the story section. Now we're on book 2 and following the same plan. We should be done that in the next month or two. I have book 3 on standby. The Just Write books are really inexpensive, and you can find them used but not written in on Amazon. She has become much less reluctant to write since starting Just Write. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 What do you think there is about paragraphs that must be studied? Most products and methods come up with rules such as each paragraph having to have at least [insert favorite number] of sentences, with an opening sentence and a closing sentence and at least [insert favorite number] supporting sentences. Although that may be true of some kinds of writing, it is not true most of the time, but teaching that as a rule often results in boring writing. You teach your child how to write well, with strong nouns and verbs, with a variety of sentence patterns, and then you help him understand that we use paragraphs to make it easier to read, and that we group sentences together that make sense together. Ellie, I know you recommend WS for writing, but haven't you said that the writing in R&S English series is good, also? Well maybe you've said it is sufficient. :) Wouldn't R&S English fall into this category of "most products and methods?" That is the only reason I have not stuck with R&S English... because of their writing. We are using Writing Strands and I might add Write Source (grade books) now and then. I haven't looked thoroughly at it yet, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Ellie, I know you recommend WS for writing, but haven't you said that the writing in R&S English series is good, also? Well maybe you've said it is sufficient. :) Wouldn't R&S English fall into this category of "most products and methods?" That is the only reason I have not stuck with R&S English... because of their writing. We are using Writing Strands and I might add Write Source (grade books) now and then. I haven't looked thoroughly at it yet, though. R&S definitely falls into that category. :-) But it also falls into the category of something that is a comprehensive English course, and it's silly to try to do it and take out the writing instruction. Because if someone loves all the grammar in R&S's English series, then probably the writing methodology isn't going to bother them. Children *will* learn to write, and write well. I just don't think it's the *only* way of teaching children to write, and I prefer Writing Strands. For grammar, I add Easy Grammar, when the dc are 10 or 11, and for only one year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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