Windows to the World to ??? (co-op class teaching question)

[texasmama]

I am currently teaching Windows to the World with the Jill Pike syllabus for our co-op.  I have been elected to teach again next year, if I accept my mission.   :laugh:

 

Please advise regarding a good next step for students who will have completed WttW.  I will have the same basic group of students with a range of skills and abilities.  This will essentially be 10th grade English with a literature/writing combo.  I have looked at IEW's Excellence in Literature American lit program*, but it seems like a large step up in output from WttW.  I do not own the program, so I am just judging from samples.

 

I am open to any and all ideas for a program that will dovetail nicely with WttW.  Thanks in advance!

 

*http://iew.com/shop/products/excellence-literature-american-literature

 

Edited January 11, 2016 by texasmama

[Momto6inIN]

My DS went from WttW to EiL with no problem.

There is not any writing instruction with EiL, but after reading we go through some good discussion questions before he moves on to writing, and I ask him some leading questions to help him hammer out his own thoughts on the writing prompt. He's getting better about coming up with his own thesis for his thoughts now that we've been doing it a while. We don't do 9 books per year, more like 5-6, so he has more time for reading each book.

 

ETA: We don't do the units in order, just mix and match whatever time period we're studying and what sounds appealing to us.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Momto5inIN

[Murrayshire]

Texasmama, I'm thinking of teaching WttW in our high school English Co-op class next year. This year they brushed up on writing skills 1st semester with IEW Theme US History. Now, 2nd semester, they are tackling Elegant Essay. They are incorporating Teaching the Classics throughout the entire year. The levels of writing abilities in that class varies and thought EIL was a jump for those that struggle with writing.

 

So next year I was hoping to teach WttW 1st semester and 5 Units from EIL 2nd semester. I'm all ears on advice from you & others on how well WttW went in co-op setting, as well as EIL. Other than using EIL, I was thinking of just using Study Guides for selected books during 2nd semester.

 

Sorry I was zero help, but have comfort knowing I'm in your boat!

[texasmama]

My DS went from WttW to EiL with no problem.

There is not any writing instruction with EiL, but after reading we go through some good discussion questions before he moves on to writing, and I ask him some leading questions to help him hammer out his own thoughts on the writing prompt. He's getting better about coming up with his own thesis for his thoughts now that we've been doing it a while. We don't do 9 books per year, more like 5-6, so he has more time for reading each book.

 

ETA: We don't do the units in order, just mix and match whatever time period we're studying and what sounds appealing to us.

Thank you.  This is helpful.  

 

I am considering doing a brush up of writing using The Elegant Essay with my students next year and then embarking on EIL.  I like the idea of limiting the works to 5-6 and adding in some short stories/poetry.  Where do you get the discussion questions/writing prompts?  My students will need these, some more than others.  They are still learning to write literature analysis essays.  Did you keep to the word count number on the essays?  It will be a jump up for my WttW students to write a 750 word essay.  

[texasmama]

Texasmama, I'm thinking of teaching WttW in our high school English Co-op class next year. This year they brushed up on writing skills 1st semester with IEW Theme US History. Now, 2nd semester, they are tackling Elegant Essay. They are incorporating Teaching the Classics throughout the entire year. The levels of writing abilities in that class varies and thought EIL was a jump for those that struggle with writing.

 

So next year I was hoping to teach WttW 1st semester and 5 Units from EIL 2nd semester. I'm all ears on advice from you & others on how well WttW went in co-op setting, as well as EIL. Other than using EIL, I was thinking of just using Study Guides for selected books during 2nd semester.

 

Sorry I was zero help, but have comfort knowing I'm in your boat!

Your students will be well-prepared for WttW with that line-up.  I jumped in blind with a class full of students with a wide range of skills/abilities/past writing instruction.  I like WttW, but in spite of the Jill Pike syllabus, I found it unwieldy to use in practice and ended up creating a lot of materials and exercises to explain/cement the material.  It has been very time-consuming to wrap my arms around the material and then distill it into one hour per week chunks that is useful to my students.  My class is full of a lot of sweet, quiet, little souls, as well, so I am lacking in feedback about whether or not they are understanding concepts/assignments.  

 

In short, I really do love WttW, but it has involved more work than I had anticipated.

[Momto6inIN]

Thank you.  This is helpful.  

 

I am considering doing a brush up of writing using The Elegant Essay with my students next year and then embarking on EIL.  I like the idea of limiting the works to 5-6 and adding in some short stories/poetry.  Where do you get the discussion questions/writing prompts?  My students will need these, some more than others.  They are still learning to write literature analysis essays.  Did you keep to the word count number on the essays?  It will be a jump up for my WttW students to write a 750 word essay.  

 

The writing prompts are given in EiL. But we've found that they're kind of ... ambiguous at times. It drives my STEM kid nuts lol. But I like them and they really do make him think. So that's why I have to give him some leading questions to help him realize he really does have something interesting to say about this topic. The discussion questions I just get online from Sparknotes or Cliff's Notes.

 

Once he realizes what his thesis is, he does pretty well with the writing and usually has no problem filling out the 750 words. But I also tell him that 750 is a guideline - if he can say what he needs to say and make his point well and it's not 750 then don't stress. But if he meanders all over and doesn't say much, then it doesn't matter even if he uses 1750. I think that takes the pressure off. :)

[MamaSprout]

Your students will be well-prepared for WttW with that line-up.  I jumped in blind with a class full of students with a wide range of skills/abilities/past writing instruction.  I like WttW, but in spite of the Jill Pike syllabus, I found it unwieldy to use in practice and ended up creating a lot of materials and exercises to explain/cement the material.  It has been very time-consuming to wrap my arms around the material and then distill it into one hour per week chunks that is useful to my students.  My class is full of a lot of sweet, quiet, little souls, as well, so I am lacking in feedback about whether or not they are understanding concepts/assignments.  

 

In short, I really do love WttW, but it has involved more work than I had anticipated.

 

I'm looking at very much the same scenario (although mine are less quiet...). I've got Figuratively Speaking and How to Read a Book Like a Professor for Kids on the shelf, and they've done Lively Art of Writing. Where did you need to supplement? Thanks!

[texasmama]

The writing prompts are given in EiL. But we've found that they're kind of ... ambiguous at times. It drives my STEM kid nuts lol. But I like them and they really do make him think. So that's why I have to give him some leading questions to help him realize he really does have something interesting to say about this topic. The discussion questions I just get online from Sparknotes or Cliff's Notes.

 

Once he realizes what his thesis is, he does pretty well with the writing and usually has no problem filling out the 750 words. But I also tell him that 750 is a guideline - if he can say what he needs to say and make his point well and it's not 750 then don't stress. But if he meanders all over and doesn't say much, then it doesn't matter even if he uses 1750. I think that takes the pressure off. :)

Again, this is helpful in my decisions regarding how to structure expectations.  I need this feedback from someone with a student I did not give birth to in order to imagine applying these tweaks to other students I did not give birth to, if that makes sense.   :laugh:

 

Carrying other people's students in a high school class is a not a responsibility I take lightly.  Significant bribery was offered for me to teach high school English a second year.  No one else wants to do it.

[texasmama]

I'm looking at very much the same scenario (although mine are less quiet...). I've got Figuratively Speaking and How to Read a Book Like a Professor for Kids on the shelf, and they've done Lively Art of Writing. Where did you need to supplement? Thanks!

During the two years before I taught WttW, I had two thirds of my students in a literature analysis class based loosely on Deconstructing Penguins.  The first year, we covered the terms in Figuratively Speaking orally.  In my opinion, your students should be ready for WttW.

 

I have one student with dyslexia and one student who was asked not to return to the local homeschool writing teacher's class (due to writing abilities, not behaviors) so there are some "special needs" in my class.  I did not use any other prepared curriculum to supplement other than TtC ala the Jill Pike syllabus.  I have just thought up ways to illustrate and model what it is that I am teaching and expecting the students to do.  For instance, when working on the four paragraph essay, I used a model body paragraph provided by the curriculum and wrote each sentence on colored construction paper based on type of sentence so the students could see the repeating pattern.  I used this construction paper paragraph in several different classes.  I also did some brainstorming/writing of introductions/conclusions in class and then wrote up those paragraphs, edited them some, remarked on the need for further editing, and then sent these out to students so they could experience the process that an experienced writer goes through.  I annotated a story, took a photo, and sent it to students as a model on how to annotate.  There are examples in the text of annotation, but I wanted the students to have mine, as well.  Most of what I have done is to provide explicit teaching or models to students, and I just came up with these "helps" on the fly, week by week, depending on what students seemed to need.

 

My students range in age from 12-16, and there is a very wide range of abilities in the areas of critical thinking and writing represented in my class.  I really love meeting the students where they are in their writing journey and encouraging them to the next level.  

 

I am leaning toward going through The Elegant Essay in boot camp form followed by portions of EIL.  We have done much work this year with essay writing, but the students would benefit from more of this and a refresher at the beginning of next year.

 

Hope that helps.  I have gone by the seat of my pants all year, but I am pleased with the experience I've provided for the students and with the progress I have seen.

Edited January 12, 2016 by texasmama

[MamaSprout]

Again, this is helpful in my decisions regarding how to structure expectations.  I need this feedback from someone with a student I did not give birth to in order to imagine applying these tweaks to other students I did not give birth to, if that makes sense.   :laugh:

 

Carrying other people's students in a high school class is a not a responsibility I take lightly.  Significant bribery was offered for me to teach high school English a second year.  No one else wants to do it.

 

So true on all counts! Especially boys. My high school class was all.boys. for a while. Lots of masculine essays on sports, cars, hunting and did I mention sports?

 

Thanks for your detailed answer about the WttW. I am going through much the same process you describe this year with my students. The construction paper idea is brilliant. I may need to implement something similar.

 

[texasmama]

So true on all counts! Especially boys. My high school class was all.boys. for a while. Lots of masculine essays on sports, cars, hunting and did I mention sports?

 

Thanks for your detailed answer about the WttW. I am going through much the same process you describe this year with my students. The construction paper idea is brilliant. I may need to implement something similar.

 

I was particularly proud of that one.   :laugh:

[Momto6inIN]

 

Carrying other people's students in a high school class is a not a responsibility I take lightly.  Significant bribery was offered for me to teach high school English a second year.  No one else wants to do it.

 

I don't there's enough chocolate and red wine in the world to make me take that responsibility on! :)

 

[texasmama]

I think I have one more year of teaching high school English in me, and then it will be time for these sweet little students (including the two I birthed) to move on to other teachers for input/feedback.

[texasmama]

I don't there's enough chocolate and red wine in the world to make me take that responsibility on! :)

I really understand this sentiment. :lol: