My 8th grade child (SLD - Written Expression) understand the structure of the 5 paragraph essay. This seems to be the main focus of the writing process since 5th grade. However, his difficulty does not lie in the structure of the essay, it is in the composition of quality sentences using descriptive words, powerful verbs, and phrases that tie information together. At present, he writes short, non-descriptive sentences. He seems to have trouble finding the words when writing.
I am looking for a good resource that I can purchae and use over the summer that contains direct instruction in creating more complex and descriptive sentences. I am not a teacher (nor a good writer). So, I need it to be very direct and contain a good answer key.
Anyone have some suggestions?
I really like Stack The Deck - http://www.stackthedeck.com/ - which is written by teachers. It is designed for use in the classroom but is easy to adapt to 1:1. There are a lot of exercises on combining and expanding sentences. It also has a great way to look at your writing and see if you are using the same “starting” words too many times. I found 4 of the books at a local used book store last summer and have been extremely happy with them.