Other English Language Arts

Examples of strong writing...

feeds@yuku.com (curlyQ) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:44:21 GMT

Captu asked me to start a thread. I don't know of samples of good writing online necessarily but I have some samples that I can retype sections of here I guess. As a 4th grade teacher we focus on moving kids from simplistic topic sentences that sound like, "There are three reasons why skunks are interesting animals." to more complex topics sentences like occasion/position statements or topic sentences that use a subordinate clause. For example, "Even though the...

8th Grade Language Arts

feeds@yuku.com (mabelen) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:19:51 GMT

As you may recall my 8th grader has just started attending public school. She has been tested as gifted, especially in the Language Arts area. This is the kid that was reading fluently in both English and Spanish by the age of 4 without having had any instruction. Soon after the beginning of the school year she started complaining her Language Arts class was too easy, and that her teacher gave very easy work with very generous deadlines, and made it look...

First Hand curriculum (for writing)

feeds@yuku.com (piraterose) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:32:54 GMT

Anyone familiar with First Hand (a division Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) for primary writing (K-2)? I believe that my daughter's teacher is using this in her classroom (when I was a Boo Hoo breakfast this morning in the media center it was open and marked with Elisabeth's teacher's name and room number on the book holder). From what I see on the website it seems pretty advance for kids still learning to write their ABC's properly - as it seems to focus on teaching kids how to...

D'Nealian Handwriting

feeds@yuku.com (Ann) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:25:19 GMT

Our school teaches D'Nealian. Wait, let me rephrase. They demand D'Nealian, but do not teach handwriting in any structured manner. They sent home one D'Nealian model worksheet at the beginning of the year and expect the parents to micromanage every single letter on the endless worksheets to make them look like D'Nealian.

Anyhoo.

Does anyone know of a workbook I could get to do a bit of D'nealian practice over the summer. I googled, but I can only find...

Student Writing Intensive program from IEW

feeds@yuku.com (Purplecow7) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:37:32 GMT

http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/

SWI A - grade 3-5
SWI B grade 6-8
SWI C grade 9-12
2009 cost $99 plus shipping

Level A "presumes no previous experience; levels differ mainly in the type of source texts used, speed of presentation, and sophistication of vocabulary. Choose the level based...

Writing Contests

feeds@yuku.com (talexand) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:28:00 GMT

Jonathan won second place for 4th grader in a local writing contest! The contest was to write a tall tale about how a beaver used his speical adaptations for create the natural landmarks in Oregon. I found a flyer about it in the office at school so I decided to pick it up for a unit study at home. We spent homeschool time on learning about tall tales and listening and reading quite a few, we studied the beaver and its special adaptations, and we researched the natural attractions in Oregon....

Invented spelling?

feeds@yuku.com (Ann) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:13:19 GMT

So we just got our second report card. All was fine I guess, but the teacher made a comment in the comments section that our child needs more practice in "invented spelling."

Does anyone know what invented spelling is? I was under the impression that's when kids just write words however they want, and as long as they know what they mean, it's fine (for now).

How would I get a kid to practice that (even if I wanted to)?

Tom Swifties

feeds@yuku.com (SgtAmi) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:23:27 GMT

In composition, we are working with modifiers. The lesson today was on Tom Swifties. Tom Swift is a series of adventure novels in which the author avoided using the word "said" without a descripter. A Tom Swifty is a pun in which the adverb describes the speaker's statement as well as what he said.

Example "Who got the license number of that steamroller" said Tom flatly.
"I got first prize" said Tom winningly.

This is one of those...

Spelling test vs spelling when writing

feeds@yuku.com (Purplecow7) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 08:43:12 GMT

How do I discuss this topic with W (4th grade) teacher? How do you help a child who can not spell when they write? (I have this problem, but I was dx with dyslexia)

W last spelling test he had words like, ancestor, carnivore, comprehend, duration, evident, extinct, ferocious, gigantic, obscure, option, premature, preserve, prey, puny, survive. He got 100%. He also had to know all the definitions and parts of speach he got a 97%. He has had similiar word test and so far his...

Nov is Nat'l Novel writing month & free workbooks

feeds@yuku.com (captuhura) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 14:31:39 GMT

Check out these free workbooks to help your elementary, middle school, or high schooler write a novel. link

Analogies

feeds@yuku.com (Purplecow7) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:00:27 GMT

Is anyone afterschooling how to do analogies? (this would be afterschooling a test taking skill)

Curriculum: Retrain the Brain

feeds@yuku.com (ack26) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:35:52 GMT

Has anyone heard of a supplemental handwriting program called retrain the brain which uses classical music in conjunction with find motor skill development? Ds's teacher is using it with his class for just a few minutes a day, but I have never heard of it.
The school has dropped HWT and is now doing ZB (Zaner-bloser) handwriting. Ds's class is using both ZB and retrain the brain. It seems that retrain the brain is...

Druidawn

feeds@yuku.com (captuhura) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:20:17 GMT

Druidawn

Welcome to Legends of Druidawn! This creative writing game inspires reluctant children to get words onto paper like nothing else on the market. It works as a great centerpiece to your creative writing clubs, and it has a companion book, Druidawn Volume 1 and a

Student written class newsletter

feeds@yuku.com (contessa20) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:19:45 GMT

This year I'll be meeting with 3/4 of DS9's 4th grade class for a couple of hours every other week to write a class newsletter. So far I've broken up the participating portion of the class into three groups which I will work with on rotating months. Each student in the group will have a specific topic to write about; math, science, social studies, writing, reading and misc.

I will have a window of at least an hour, possibly an hour and a half, each session to work...

Reluctant Writers

feeds@yuku.com (SgtAmi) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:11:36 GMT

I actually believe in teaching kids the thinking behind the writing before the writing so the two together don't cause meltdowns Ami. I've worked with a lot of kids with real writing issues. Most of them are really, really great thinkers who's hands can't move as fast as their brains.

I would like to explore the issues with reluctant writers.

My son H is a reluctant writer. Writing is the only subject that he is at level (and barely at...

Banning words in writing

feeds@yuku.com (denpratt) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 08:50:13 GMT

Ami wrote that three packages she reviewed (Meaningful Comprehension, Writeshop, "IEW"?) banned words. Just yesterday, reviewing Vivian's year end report, I banned two words.

This topic lists words that parents might consider banning in their children's writing.
pretty
big
said
nice
very
really
and
"there is"
"It is"
big
cool
honestly

Teaching Expository Writing...

feeds@yuku.com (curlyQ) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:36:03 GMT

I said, I'd write up some info on teaching writing... When I teach expository writing I teach the basic construct first. I start with first graders this way. And Yes, it's fairly dry and boring sounding, but it gives them confidence and a place to start.

* Topic Sentence- A beginning level topic sentence would be something like, "I have three reasons why pizza is my favorite food." or "Swimming is my favorite activity for two reasons."
*Details-...

Getting kids to speak properly.

feeds@yuku.com (katfam) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:20:54 GMT

I'm slowly being driven to madness.

My kids are 8 and 5. I don't expect them to speak 100% properly all the time, but I'd like them to try.

My girls REFUSE to say the word, "put". They must say, "putted" a dozen times a day. Every time I say, "there is no such word as putted". Then they try to correct themselves and STILL say "putted". I can't even catch them saying "put" to give them positive reinforcement. It is...

Poem Structures and Elements

feeds@yuku.com (denpratt) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 09:39:01 GMT

Discuss the alternative structures and possible elements that a child may have ot understand (and use) about poems.

How to AS Idioms

feeds@yuku.com (denpratt) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:36:27 GMT

Discussion about teaching or not teaching idioms to your child