Skills Introduced in Book D
Identify and use proper grammar and punctuationBefore Write Shop, we were using a writing curriculum that focused more on basic paragraphing skills. It really wasn’t going into different genres of writing. With Write Shop Junior, one of the very first lessons had us working through the process of writing a letter of invitation. A quick peek at the Table of Contents (below) demonstrates how much variety students are using in their writing:
Narrow a broad topic to a specific topic
Brainstorm before writing
Structure a sentence
Write a paragraph
Choose strong words instead of weak ones
Use emotion words to develop voice
Use the five senses to add descriptive detail
Self-edit and revise their work
Table of Contents
Letter of InvitationWe have only been able to go through the first couple of lessons, but they have been fun and I can already see a writer emerging in my child. She is very creative and I think this program is really helping her focus her creativity and get her thoughts into words.
Humor
Adventure
Science Fiction
Mystery
Poetry/Haiku
Folktales
Historical Fiction
Personal Narrative
Expository Writing: Factual Article
We have been using the Write Shop Junior, Book D, e-book. We received the Teacher’s Guide and the Student Activity Pack (actually a 2 book set for the activity pack). The Teacher’s Guide provides daily lesson plans, writing samples, guided writing scripts, step-by-step teaching instructions, engaging learning games and exercises. It is thorough and simple to use. The Student Activity Pack contains:
Worksheets to be used to complete the lessons including:
- Pre-writing activities
- Skill Builders
- Journal prompt pages
- Brainstorming worksheets/graphic organizers
Reading log forms
- Self-editing checklists
- Evaluation Charts
- Punctuation Marks
- Self-editing
- Nouns
- Pronouns
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Prepositions
- Capitalization
- References
One thing that I really appreciate from Write Shop is the fact that it teaches students to self-edit. Grammar is integrated, but not harped upon. Instead, students are given checklists to guide them through the editing process. I think editing is a lost skill these days because of spell check and grammar check features on computers. Teaching children at a young age to proofread their own writing and to be able to identify and correct errors is vital. Along those lines, students learn to edit their work for content. They work through word choice and varying sentence structure, along with including important and interesting details, to make their writing more interesting. We give Write Shop Junior a total ‘thumbs up’ at our house. For students in grades 3-5 (or even the sixth grade student who needs some writing encouragement), it is an ideal writing curriculum.
Our TOS Homeschool Crew has been using this product as well as other Write Shop products over the past few months. To read their reviews, visit the main crew blog page.
To purchase Write Shop materials, or to download samples and peruse them before you buy, visit the Write Shop website. Pricing ranges from $11.95 – $39.95 depending on the products you purchase. Write Shop is offering a 15% discount on any Primary or Junior products, good until June 15, with the code CREW15. There are both print products and e-book products available. You will need the Teacher’s Guide and the Student Activity pack to begin. Other products are optional. The total cost for the e-book version of the essentials is $64.90. The e-book version is ideal to use with multiple children because you can print as many worksheets as you need. If you have a perfectionist in your family, like I do, you can also reprint worksheets when your child wants to do one over again to make it perfect.
**Disclaimer: I have received no compensation from TOS or Write Shop in exchange for this honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.**
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