Catching Foxes

It's Monday? Write Again! #2

Submitted by kim on Mon, 09/17/2012 - 20:05 in Homeschooling, Writing

BREAKING NEWS!  The 2011 Nation's Report Card on Writing was released last week!  Check it out here.

Why should homeschool parents teaching writing be interested in this report?  

The NAEP report shows trends in writing and writing instruction. It is a very reliable test with decades of sound research behind its use and interpretation.  By evaluating the report, we can learn what works and doesn't work in writing instruction.  As homeschool parents, we don't need to wait for these results to filter through state and local Boards of Education, curriculum developers and purchasing committees, and classroom teachers.  We are the most innovative educators around. And we can implement what works TODAY! 

Trends I see in the new report?  

Use of computers and technology improves student writing.  I discussed this in the Write Next To Me project.  If your homeschool writing curriculum doesn't include strategies for using a computer in writing, your students are missing out. 

Writing improves student writing. The new NAEP results show students (8th and 12th grades) who wrote four or more pages per week for their English curriculum had higher scores on the writing test. Four pages?  Wow! Let's get writing folks!

On that note....

This week the Write Next To Me Writing Communities are using pictures as prompts to generate writing in our notebooks. Writers often use photos to jump start writing. Remember a writer’s notebook is a place to gather thoughts, it is not a diary.  

Try this out!  Find four photos to glue in your notebook:

·      A photo you associate with happiness.

Under the photo make a definition diagram with the word happiness in the center. Write the dictionary definition of happiness, the synonyms, the antonyms, a personal definition, and important facts why the photo is associated with happiness.

·      A photo you wish had never been taken.

Write for 15 minutes about why you wish it had never been taken.

·      A photo you treasure.

Make a list of reasons why you treasure the photo.

·      A photo that taught you something.

Make a 5 W’s chart explaining what it taught you: Who? What? When? Where? Why?

Here an example of the last prompt:

Photo:

My Five W's chart:

Want more information on the Write Next To Me© Writing Communities or how to receive parent handouts? Email kim@catchingfoxes.com.