From the Publisher
A teacher's biggest challenge is time. Between mandatory testing and the test preparation that goes with it and the few resources schools still have, there is precious little time for real instruction. The Personal Writing Coach helps streamline instruction so even homeschooling parents will find it accessible and easy to use.
This book contains 13 themed units, designed to meet the interests and abilities of your young writers. Each unit brings the prewriting through art, word association, questioning, form poetry, planning and finally composition of prose. Taking the themes through these same steps can help to build writer confidence and fluency.
From the Author
The 13 themed units in The Personal Writing Coach will work with experienced writing students giving them many opportunities to play with language. The Personal Writing Coach will also help your reluctant writers by encouraging them into the process step by step, starting with artwork and progressing gradually to organized pieces of writing.
The process begins with drawing. Meshing the visual with the verbal is a natural first step in writing. Getting them to draw makes the physical action of putting pencil to paper less fearful because it is an already familiar activity.
Listing words in the Word Parade is the next logical progression after the artwork. Even though many children have complete thoughts derived from their artwork, jotting down words is less fearful than having to write full sentences.
Repetition with basic and personal vocabulary will give the reluctant writer slow and steady experience with words. For the experienced writer, it provides opportunities to play with words by building on established language skills.
The poetry page is our personal favorite. A variety of poetic forms are included throughout The Personal Writing Coach. These help students create a piece of written work using their own words without having to worry about rhyming or meter patterns. Teachers are encouraged to change the forms in ways that suit their lessons.
The four square is a tool to help students who have never used a graphic organizer. We recommend that teachers model the four square and its connection to the actual writing which can be the final piece or just a rough draft. We've included an example in pages vi and vii to help you with your modeling.
