Hello Everyone,
I need to do my ordering for the next school year by the second week of May. I need a really good writing program. I feel that I’m lacking in that area. I’m using Wilson for reading, and I’ll be using Math -U-See for mathematics, but I do not have a writing program in place. Could anyone recommend an excellent writing program please? I really want to give my students the best chance possible.
Thank you,
Caron
Re: Best Writing Program
What grade/ level of writing?
Another excellent program is CHarlotte Morgan’s _When They Can’t Write_ which can be had from Pro-Ed ( http://www.proedinc.com/ ) — it’s very structured but still allows for students to be creative so it works for very different kinds of thinkers and differently abled students.
Re: Best Writing Program
I use Step Up to Writing and love it. My kids (LD) have learned a ton with this program. Last week was our state test. It prepared them well for every writing prompt. Most of the kids felt so confident and jumped right into the extended writing piece with ease. The other LD teacher who helped with the testing was quite impressed with how my kids did their prewriting/planning and final copy.
It is not cheap but worth every penny. If you are a visual learner the HOW TO tapes are nice as well. They are expensive but….if the school will pay, they are great. It is like going to a 4 day workshop but on tape. I have watched them many times, each time getting something new out of them. I was able to get my last school to purchase them. They are nice because new teachers who are new to teaching can watch them.
Michelle AZ
Re: Best Writing Program
I’ve heard great things about Step Up to Writing, but another one to look at is from SRA direct instruction called High Performance Writing. I have the chance to go to the training this summer but haven’t decided yet. I think it is very structured and user friendly. Some people have said Step Up requires a lot of study to figure out. So it may be a matter of teaching/learning style as to which one might favor.
Janis
Re: Best Writing Program
I purchased the Step Up to Writing Program a couple of years ago for my regular classroom. It has been quite successful there. Even the students who are challenged in the writing area could produce a good paragraph as we worked through it. It starts out very basic with sentences and works up to several paragraphed essays.
The layout of the program is not the best. I personally would like it a little more structured as to the actual lessons. I think it would be very helpful to go to a training session on it.
HTH
Shay, who used to post here lot spoke highly of Sopris West’s Step Up to Writing. I have not seen it myself, as I have heard it is not parent friendly—it is aimed more for classroom teachers. Many homeschool co-ops use Institute for Excellence in Writing (www.writing-edu.com). These are a series of DVDs of lectures with written materials aimed at teaching how to teach writing. The approach used is especially good for reluctant writers. The website is very difficult to follow, but if you click on articles, and then click on “Writing Without Tears,” you can get a good idea of the key word concept, which is the building block of the program. You can also sample some of lectures on the site. The forums at the welltrainedmind.com have a lot of posts on IEW.