Writing Curriculum guidance for middle schooler

[aeolianharp]

Hi Everyone, I think I'm going to switch to homeschooling in Sept for my kids due to both coronavirus and my 6th grader being burnt out from school. He's a high achieving, advanced student in a top district that has always given out so much homework. He's burnt out. Transition to remote learning has made this worse because he became too anxious to do work and it piled up like crazy. It didn't take long for him to totally check out. We are hand holding him to slowly catch up. It's unlikely school will reopen in our area (NY Metro) so I'd much rather have him use homeschooling material made for learning at home rather than remote learning.

I'm looking for a writing curriculum that would fit his profile. On one hand, he's a strong student, received 5's on his PARCC exams in math, reading and writing. But, he's also a reluctant writer and he does not like creative writing, either. I'm a former teacher and prefer the workshop model approach, but would also like something similar to Common Core standards - with more concentration on non-fiction writing. I also don't want to follow DVDs, I'm happy to use material that's parent intensive. Some curricula that sound interesting from my initial research are Brave Writers, Writing with Skill, Writeshop I, Moving Beyond the Page, Lost Tools in Writing and Writing & Rhetoric. While I prefer less formulaic, I think he might need something a little more formulaic. I guess I'm hoping to find something *just* formulaic enough for a reluctant writer? And as mentioned, more non-fiction writing than creative and good for an advanced learner. I'm wondering if he should start with something that would provide him more tools to be comfortable as a writer before learning to hone his voice.

Sorry in advance for the long post.

[The Governess]

Look at The Writing Revolution. Not a corriculum, really, but a method that you apply to writing across the curriculum. 

[aeolianharp]

This looks amazing, I definitely want to integrate this, though I'd also like to find a formal writing curriculum. Thank you!

I'd like to add that I'd love to find a writing curriculum that has done away with the 5 paragraph essay and teaches mechanics for writing college essays.

[The Governess]

Yes, I think TWR really gets you through about 8th grade. Then once students have excellent sentence-level and composition-level basics down, you’d need to move on to higher-level resources that focus more specifically on thesis- based argumentation. I haven’t found the “perfect” writing curriculum. I have a few specific books on analytical and argumentative writing that I like and that have been helpful for me as an educator. One of my issues is that I feel students should write about the content they are covering in their studies, not an arbitrary topic that is integrated into their writing curriculum. 

I can attest to the fact that time spent on continuing to refine sentence-level skills, organization, etc. in the middle school years pays off in the high school years. I see many seniors that can’t identify a run-on sentence, don’t know how to use commas, can’t transition between paragraphs effectively, let alone argue a position well.  Laying a solid foundation pays off. 

If you are trying to steer clear of the typical 5-paragraph essay, WWS does that.

Edited April 25, 2020 by lovelearnandlive

[Lori D.]

Welcome!

As you consider what writing program to go with, do take into consideration what will fit both your student, for learning it, AND you, for teaching it. Also, finding resources to help you see how to go about commenting and grading writing are helpful.

Winning With Writing * or Spectrum Writing ** are workbook-based programs -- very straight-forward, fairly independent-working, and easy enough for start/stop to allow you to integrate in other resources, such as Writing Revolution, or others. I linked the grade 7 books, as I was assuming from your post that your student is currently 6th grade, and would be 7th grade next school year, but if for any reason you needed a different level, both WWW and Spectrum go up through grade 8.

* = WWW scope & sequence; gr. 7: semester 1:  table of contents, sample lesson; semester 2: table of contents; sample lesson
** = Spectrum Writing, just click on the "see inside" at Amazon for the table of contents and sample pages

Just for perspective -- I teach gr. 7-12 co-op classes in Lit. & Writing to my local homeschool group, and most students have not developed the abstract and analytical parts of the brain in the middle school years to be able to build a solid, supported argument for writing an essay. I find that it is much more useful to spend the middle school years making sure that they are solid with the following foundation, which makes it SO much easier to actually start doing the hard thinking and writing of essays and research papers in high school, rather than trying to jump into those types of assignments that require heavy critical thinking, while simultaneously trying to learn and perform the foundations of writing. JMO!

Topics I focus on in middle school: 
- complete sentences
- complete paragraphs and paragraph structure
- variety of types of assignments in the 4 types of writing: Descriptive, Narrative, Expository, Persuasive
- practice revising and proof-editing (it often works better to start off using someone ELSE's writing to work on, in a program like Take 5 Minutes; Fix-It; Editor in Chief, etc.)
- understand and get comfortable with -- or at least resign yourself to the fact, lol -- that writing is a multi-stage process, and that just because you dislike it or it's hard work, "blurbing" something down onto paper does not mean "There, I'm done!" (lol -- can you tell I run into this a lot?? 😉 ) 

Stages of Writing:
* brainstorming -- generating ideas, both the "big overall idea" (eventually part of the thesis), as well as points/reasons to build an argument for the idea, and specific supporting examples/details/facts to flesh out each point/reason
* organizing -- sorting through the brainstorming, grouping what is working well together, setting aside what doesn't fit, putting the brainstorming into some sort of order (it can be an outline, but many students do much better with a graphic organizer or mind-mapping or web/bubble way of visualizing all the parts of the paper)
* rough draft writing (sloppy copy) -- once you have all you need from brainstorming, and you have it in some sort of order or structure, turn each of those parts of the organizing into complete sentences and paragraphs; turn off the inner editor and keep the flow going -- you turn back on the inner editor LATER, for revising and proof-editing)
* revision ("big grit" sandpaper) -- add what's missing; remove what doesn't fit; combine repeating sentences/ideas; move parts around for better flow; fix obvious problems (sentence structure issues; run-ons/fragments; etc.)
* proof-editing ("fine grit" sandpaper) -- fix typos, capitalization, punctuation, doubled words, spelling, minor things previously, PLUS: formatting (I require MLA format), and adding a title

Again, welcome! And all the very BEST as you plan for next year! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[aeolianharp]

Lori D. and lovelearnandlive  -  Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and taking the time to write it. I have a lot more to think about and research now.

lovelearnandlive - Did you mean that WWS does or does not steer clear of the 5 paragraph essay?

[The Governess]

WWS *does* steer clear. 😁

Have fun researching!