Teaching Writing. in High School. Sample file. with Writing Classes You Can Use. By Meredith Curtis Meredith Curtis All rights reserved.

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1 3 Teaching Writing in High School with Writing Classes You Can Use By Meredith Curtis

2 4 Teaching Writing in High School with Classes You Can Use Copyright 2009 by Meredith Curtis. All rights reserved. Powerline Productions/Kingdom Building Services, Inc. All Photos & clip art Joshua Nolette & Sarah Joy Curtis & Phoebe Nolettte & Laura Nolette & Meredith Curtis & licensees/used by permission. Cover photograph 2009 Meredith Curtis Covers Graphic Design 2009 Brad Gilbert/HTG Designs Printed in Lake Mary, FL All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior permission from the author. This book was created in Microsoft Word All inquiries can be made to the author, Meredith Curtis, through Meredith@powerlinecc.com or contact her through her website: or blog: or online column: /index.html

3 5 In our house, we love to write! From texting to blogging to snail mail letters, we love to jot down our thoughts on paper for our family and friends to read. We especially love to write about humorous incidents. In our house, we love Jesus! We love Jesus more than writing. We want our writing to please and honor Him. We teach writing in our home from a Christ-centered perspective meaning that try to write truthfully and graciously! There are many delightful ways to communicate God s love and truth through writing. Since God chose to reveal Himself through the Written Word, we want to imitate Him by writing with excellence for His Glory!

4 6 May this book inspire and equip you to teach writing to your teenagers not so that they get that English credit out of the way, but so that they can communicate their heart through writing for the rest of their lives! After all, their writing might change the world! From our house to yours, we wish you the very best in you homeschooling and most of all in your ministry to the Lord. With Love in Jesus, Meredith Curtis

5 7 Table of Contents Questions You Ask about Writing The Art of Literary Research Writing Curricula I like How to Create Your Own Classes Sample Classes You Can Use Communication: Oral & Written Classes Non-Fiction Writing Classes Fiction Writing Classes Eclectic & Delight-Directed Writing Classes Remedial Writing Classes Literature & Writing Together Page 10 Page 50 Page 58 Page 62 Page 68 Page 70 Page 86 Page 110 Page 148 Page172 Page182

6 8 If you re homeschooling journey includes high school and you are looking for some ideas on designing your own classes, then you are the person I am writing for. This book is for you and your family! When my oldest daughter was 12, I began planning her high school curriculum. There were so many things on my heart for her to learn, books I wanted her to read, and dreams I had for her high school education. I designed her entire high school curriculum. It has been adapted for my next two daughters and Laura s oldest sons. They have been the guinea pigs so that their younger siblings can have the best classes possible. My classes have been, are, and will be adapted to every child to fit their own needs and designed to take advantage of opportunities that arise, such as coop classes, vacations, and seminars. This series is simply my philosophy of educating my high school children at home, along with classes we have used in our family over the years. Hopefully, you will be inspired to create your own classes! Or, you can adapt my classes however you would like to! After all, you are the teacher! My goal for high school is to provide a general education that can be a springboard to any and every possible career and education path that exists. That is a HUGE goal, so I may not reach it, but if you aim for nothing you ll hit nothing, so I am aiming for something BIG! With that in mind, I try to cultivate and develop gifts, talents, and goals. I don t expect my teenager to know what he/she is going to want to do for the rest of his/her life, so we try to prepare for ALL possibilities. Here is Teaching Writing in High School with Classes You Can Use! I hope it will be a blessing to you! If you wanted to be inspired and motivated to teach literature this book was written just for you. It is filled with practical tips and helps to make you own homeschooling journey as easy as possible. From one homeschool mom to another, let s continue to homeschool high school to the Glory of God!

7 9 This is the first class in the Homeschooling to the Glory of God series, but there are more classes and collections of classes coming. Here is a list of current & upcoming books in the series! Teaching Literature in High School with Classes You Can Use Teaching Writing in High School with Classes You Can Use Teaching Bible & Character in High School with Classes You Can Use Teaching History in High School with Classes You Can Use Teaching Government in High School with Classes You Can Use Teaching Math & Science in High School with Classes You Can Use Teaching Art, Music, & Drama in High School with Classes You Can Use Teaching Economics, Business & Personal Finances in High School with Classes You Can Use Teaching Physical Education & Health in High School with Classes You Can Use Teaching Homemaking in High School with Classes You Can Use Here is a list of individual classes that are available now & in the future! New Testament Survey Worldviews & Apologetics Foundations for Christian Living Growing in Christ for Girls Growing in Christ for Guys Godly Womanhood & Motherhood for Girls Courtship, Marriage, & Family for Girls Courtship, Marriage, & Family for Guys Homemaking for Girls Friendship & Hospitality for Girls Traditions & Celebrations for Girls Homeschooling for Girls Leadership for Guys Fatherhood & Hospitality & Homeschooling for Guys

8 10 Questions You Ask about Teaching Writing! Questions about What to Teach in Writing Questions about How to Teach Writing Places to Publish Writing & Websites & Blogging

9 11 Is it already time for high school? It seems like just yesterday you were helping him to write his own name. Is it time to write essays and do the dreaded research paper? Where has time gone? We often feel insecure about teaching writing, even if we are good writers ourselves. Writing seems nebulous to us. Those who write well seem to have some kind of intangible gift of writing. True, writing is not easy to test concretely like mathematics is, but producing good writers is not an impossible task. No one is just born a good writer. Good writers are cultivated and trained. You can produce excellent writers in your home school. It isn t as difficult as you might think. The essay and the research paper are two difficult writing experiences that should be learned in high school. A high school graduate should be able to write an excellent essay on any given topic. There are several types of essays so give your child plenty of practice in this area. Another lifelong skill to be honed in high school is the outline with summaries. Effective notetakers use this skill each Sunday during a pastor s sermon to jot down information and exhortation to apply to his/her life, thus growing in godliness. Being able to summarize makes studying for college tests easier because students simply pull out their summaries from both textbook reading and lectures. Yes, there is a problem in our nation in the area of writing. Few high school graduates can write well, much to the dismay of college professors. But your high school student can be the exception. You can teach your child to write successfully and spend a lifetime impacting the world for the glory of God through the written word.

10 12 You may have some questions about teaching writing in high school. Do you have any of the following questions? What kind of writing should my child do in High School? What writing should my child do before high school? What role does reading play in writing? What role does speaking & acting play in writing? What does poor writing look like? What does good writing look like? What does excellent writing look like? What is the difference between fiction and non-fiction writing? When and how should I teach Fiction and Non-Fiction writing? What is an essay? How can my teenager learn to write an excellent essay? Should my child write poetry? Should my child write plays? What is the difference between formal and informal writing? How informal should my child s writing be allowed to be? How can my child s writing glorify God? Should I teach writing and literature separately or together? Should I add writing assignments to other classes or teach writing separately? Should my child write a research paper? How can I help my child write a research paper? Should my children write about literature? What are the elements of literature? How can my teenager analyze literature? How can my teenager write effectively about other subjects? What if my child is not a good writer yet? How can I publish my child s writing? Can I use creating a website or blogging to teach writing? What are the dangers of , websites, & blogging? What English handbooks do you recommend? What websites do you recommend? Let s address these questions!

11 13 What Kind of Writing should my child do in High School? By now, the foundation for writing should have been laid. High school students should be able to write clear and concise paragraphs and essays. Each sentence should be well-written and transitions between sentences and paragraphs should be smooth. If this is not the case, they need remedial writing work. Don t despair! (See section under Classes You Can Use!) Teens should write a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction in their high school classes. Add writing to as many classes as possible, so this variety can be spread throughout all of their high school classes. In their Writing classes, they will write nonfiction and fiction. Here is a list of writing that should be part of your high school student s overall curricula. Outlines Summaries Precis Interviews Articles Blogging Letter writing/ ing/texting Business letter writing Reports Essays Research papers Literary Research papers Journaling Poetry, prose Prayers Short stories Writing for children Stories for children Testimony Plays or skits Instructions or directions

12 14 Now, let me show you some ideas for writing in different classes. Science Classes Reports Essays Summaries from textbooks and lectures Conclusions from experiments Blogging Outlines Note taking & summarizing Homemaking Classes Book Reviews Essays Summaries Photo captions Journaling Letter writing Business letter writing Stories & other writing for children Bible & Character Classes Summaries Essays Poetry, prose, prayers Songs, song lyrics Journaling History, Economics, or Government Classes Reports Book reports Essays Summaries from textbooks and lectures Poetry Newspapers articles & Interviews Short stories Speeches Outlines

13 15 The foundation of good writing is proper word usage and excellent sentence writing. Words are the medium a writer uses to create a masterpiece that communicates information or emotion. Sentences are the tools that carry the words and their meanings to the reader of the writing. When writing is good, these aspects of writing are good. When writing is poor, this is the place to begin to work toward improvement. Words are lovely things with multiple meanings and implications. A good writer plays with words like a basketball player picks up and dribbles a basketball without thinking much about it. If you hand a soccer player a ball, he will most likely drop it to the ground and begin to dribble it with his feet. Why? It s what he does. A writer plays with words. Anything that helps your child play with words will improve his writing. Games such as Dictionary, Scrabble, Outburst, Catch Phrase, Hilarium, or Scattagories will help with writing simply because it allows your writer to play with words. Talking, talking, talking with your children about the subjects he is writing about will help his writing more than you can imagine. In fact, I cannot stress enough the importance of talking to your children and enjoying intellectual discussions around the dinner table to cultivate good writing skills. We often link good writing to reading which is true, but we forget to link writing to chatting and discussing. A good writers makes liberal use of the thesaurus and constantly goes back to change words in her writing, making the writing more clear with better word choices. Require use of a thesaurus in high school writing. Allow your writer use the one in the computer all the time. A good sentence strings carefully chosen words together to communicate the heart, mind and intention of the writer. The sentence carries the message. This is where grammar comes in. Grammatically correct sentences are not legalistic, they are important to keep the message clear. If your child does not have a firm foundation in grammar by high school, then I recommend two excellent grammar books to help with her writing. Easy Grammar Plus by Dr. Wanda Phillips Easy Writing by Dr. Wanda Phillips Proper word usage and grammar eliminates unnecessary words and keeps sentences concise. Require that all writing be kind, true, clear, and concise. The balance between clear and concise is a tricky one that will require the liberal use of a thesaurus, finding the perfect word so that a long string of less clear words can be eliminated.