Jan. 23, 2009 - Write for the Right Reason
Write for the Right Reason
Welcome to those of you visiting my blog today after reading my Gardening Basics for Beginners article in the January/February issue of New Harvest Homestead!
I’ve been struggling with blogging of late, since most of my writing time is spent working on assignments for the Christian Writer’s Guild (CWG). The word assignments conjures up dreams of paid work, doesn’t it? Well, in a sense it is paid, though I pay them for a writing mentor and I get two plus years of bi-weekly writing assignments. It’s been quite an experience though. I highly recommend it for those of you who want to learn to write for the right reasons and develop your craft in a variety of genres.
I’ve been taking CWG’s Apprentice Writer course since April of 2008. Not surprisingly, that was the last time I posted blog entries with any regularity. However, I am now determined to end the silence on the blog set.
My promise to you – I will always post interesting, informative, and/or thought-provoking blog entries so bookmark this page now and come back often. No mindless twaddle or boring entries about running out of cat food.
Also, note you can use links on the right to access my posts on a particular topic.
Last, but not least, please let me hear your comments and questions about Gardening Basics for Beginners.
Hugs,
Sallie
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Mar. 7, 2008 - The Egghead Report- March 3
Click here to read The Egghead Report- Vol 1, Issue 1. March 3, 2008
The Egghead Report is a newspaper written entirely by my writing students, ages 12-14. Enjoy!
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Nov. 13, 2007 - Heartland of America Christian Writer's Conference
Heartland of America Christian Writer's Conference
Just back from the HACWN Annual Writer's Conference in Kansas City, I'm bursting with ideas and enthusiasm.
In a cram-packed two and a half day format, I went to a wide variety of workshops on topics ranging from "How to Write a Book Proposal" to "Marketing Your Book" to "Edit like an Editor" and many more. I absolutely must say that this conference was exactly what I needed at this stage of the process.
Some of you know that I decided to sell my CPA practice last year to focus my efforts on homeschooling the children full-time. But I also decided to pursue my long-time romance with writing at that time. Words and ideas have been spilling out of me. My brother once said of me, "You never do anything half way." Well, that is true.
So, with this blog post, I am officially launching my writing career. It's not a get-rich quick business, and it will probably be a get-rich never business, but I'll be writing about what I'm passionate about, and that's what really matters.
In the meantime, I'll keep you posted on my writing endeavors and I'll also commit to updating my blog at least weekly.
Bookmark my site while you're here and check back often. I'll try to make sure that each and every post has substance.
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Sep. 13, 2007 - Fix-It Grammar Curriculum
Fix-It Grammar Curriculum
Fix-It Grammar is a wonderful way to get the children to apply what they have learned about grammar, punctuation and capitalization. The program provides abridged versions of several books that the children re-write and edit in small portions during the course of the school year. Since I use IEW (the Institute for Excellence in Writing) curriculum I was especially pleased that Fix-It grammar also reinforces stylistic writing techniques taught in IEW. They truly go hand in hand. It is not a stand-alone grammar program, but rather a program to apply what they have already been taught.
Although I have just started to implement this program in my writing class, I think I’ve worked out the kinks for our class.
For the first week of class, I felt the children didn’t completely understand what I was asking them to do. Here are the Fix-It Grammar’s author’s comments when I contacted her:
I recommend that students rewrite the sentences into a spiral notebook, since that way they've got the prior sentences in front of them and can better tell whether to begin a new paragraph. I think they also take more care to find errors when they slow down to rewrite.
The disadvantage is that they don't have their corrections right in front of them. One solution has been to do both. Some students bring the edited typed version to class but rewrite at home. I've also created a workbook that I could send you if you would like it. Each week is presented on a two-page spread, with a place for the vocabulary words on the left and room to write the sentences on the right. The sentences are on the page they bring to class. One of my students draws errors to the original error. (I think that would be hard to follow!). Some students circle the fixes on their sentences, so they can quickly find their corrections in class.
Hope this helps some.
Pamela in TN
And my response- A week later after our second class.
Pam, We did have a better class this week. I made overheads of my Tom Sawyer handouts. With each student following along with their handwritten version and a red pen, I made the corrections on the overhead for the first week's handout. Then I did the same for the first assignment of the second week's handout. The children had some aha moments and seemed to catch on pretty well this time.
For an incentive, I am passing a sheet around during class for them to write their points earned on. I counted the total points possible and they deduct one point for every red mark they had to make on their paper. I have promised rewards for Tom Sawyer Fix-it Grammar points.
They are definitely motivated now.
One thing I will do for next week, is make the overheads with a larger font for readability.
One other note, Fix-It Grammar has 5 complete works for the children to re-write and edit, each with increasing difficulty. So you could chose an appropriate level for your child(ren) or even do all of them successively over a five-year period. The program comes with a CD with everything you need to format and print them to meet your needs. There is also a vocabulary word from the excerpt to define with every daily assignment.
I give Fix-It Grammar 4 stars out of 5, since I did need to do quite a bit of formatting to get the weekly assignment sheets in the format I thought was best, but that is the only drawback.
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Sep. 6, 2007 - Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) Jeopardy
Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) Jeopardy
Question from a reader: I would love to find out how you set up Jeopardy?
Answer: I found the Jeopardy idea and sample questions in the IEW loop files (IEW_Co_op@yahoogroups.com), probably under classroom helps. I ended up modifying, adding & deleting categories and questions, but it gave me a great start. One thing I did is rotate turns, rather than having them "buzz" in. If they missed a question, then the point value was deducted from their score, and then the next team could attempt or pass. We did use a timer, during which each "team" could confer quietly and decide their group answer to the question.
I made a poster of the categories and point values and crossed them off as they were used. I made overheads for the questions.
I had one Mom run the timer and another Mom keep score. It was a definite favorite and a very effective review of concepts learned. I also had a couple "double Jeopardy" questions worth double the potential point value.
The winning team tended to be less risky, opting for "safe" categories and point levels, gradually working up to the harder ones. They also did not blurt out the answers without conferring first. Some of the lowest team scores were the risk-taking kids who wanted to 'go for the glory' with the max point value questions right off the bat and kids who blurted out the answers without consulting with the group. It was also an excellent character building exercise and the rematch was played with much more finesse.
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Sep. 6, 2007 - Highlights of Last Year's Writing Co-op
Highlights of Last Year's Writing Co-op
I am an Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) homeschool co-op teacher starting my second year using IEW. Last year I taught Level C and High School Essay Intensive to High Schoolers as well as Level A to nine children ranging in age from 9 to 13. This year I am continuing the younger co-op by starting out with Level B (as a review and refresher) before continuing on to the Level B Continuation Course. We had tremendous success, even with the varied ages. However, this year, my two youngest students are joining a Level A continuation group so that I can really challenge the older students.
For the Level A first year class last year, high points of the year were playing "IEW Jeopardy," crafting their own versions of "The Princess & the Pea, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and The Lion and the Mouse and making their own books to treasure them in. The children also enjoyed writing their animal reports using the mini-books. We ended the year with thoroughly researched and well presented state reports (including a sampling of each state's indigenous foods) and a highly anticipated IEW Jeopardy rematch.
For the High School class, high points of the year were sharing their creative stories, a library field trip for research reports, a hilariously competitive IEW Jeopardy game, writing a 5-paragraph essay on forks (no kidding), and a wonderful culmination to the year with a 7-week research paper project where the the students presented their Christian worldview on topics including abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, global warming and the authentic version of the Bible. Wow.
IEW rocks!
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