What's Your Method for Teaching Writing Skills? Part I
Author: KerryBeck Total views: 8 Word Count: 353
When we decided to homeschool our children, we did not buy a writing curriculum. As a fifth-grade teacher with six years experience, I knew how to create a writing curriculum. Most of the homeschool writing programs I saw were like the writing curriculum in the public school system. These programs taught students what to write, not how to write.
Then I discovered Andrew Pudewa's Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW). He has a terrific flagship product called Teaching Writing: Structure and Style. It is designed to teach students how to write, rather than focusing on choosing a topic. In the public school system, teachers and students brainstorm ideas together. Students select a topic and begin to write. Mr. Pudewa's program, on the other hand, is designed so students learn how to write. It is an interesting approach, especially considering that most students agonize over selecting a topic.
Andrew Pudewa's approach to writing is completely different. Rather than have students decide on the topic, he tells them what to write about. Using his lesson plans for writing process, students learn a variety of "structures". These structures consist of outlines for various types of writings - essays, letters, and more. Students choose an appropriate outline depending on what kind of writing they are doing and the reasons for writing.
In addition to teaching structures, Teaching Writing also shows students how to improve their writing "style". Thus, the name of the program is Teaching Writing: Structure and Style. Students learn a variety of ways to vary their writing style. Mr. Pudewa shows students how to dress up their sentences with strong verbs and quality adjectives. Other dress-ups include adverbs and clauses. After mastering the dress ups, students learn how to open their sentences in a variety of methods.
Join us for part two of this series, which includes a simple activity that you can do right now to improve your child's writing skills. Whether you have a younger child, or an older student who is struggling to read and write, these tips will help your student to excel in writing.
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About the Author
Kerry Beck helps teachers and homeschoolers about lesson plans for writing process. She offers a free mini-course that demonstrates to teachers how to teach writing at Teaching Writing.
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