Write Shop

• Write Shop Junior Book D
• 3rd, 4th, and reluctant 5th graders
• Students learn to write fiction, nonfiction, and poetry
• Uses a variety of pre-writing games, graphic organizers and self-editing tools
• Available both as a Print edition and an E-book version
• Write Shop also carries writing curriculum for grades Kindergarten through High School

Cost

WriteShop Junior Book D Teachers Guide Print Edition  $39.95

WriteShop Junior Book D Teachers Guide E-book $34.95

WriteShop Junior Activity Pack, Book D Print Edition $39.95

WriteShop Junior Activity Pack, Book D E-book $29.95

WriteShop Junior Book D Time Saver Pack Print Edition $13.95

WriteShop Junior Book D Time Saver Pack E-Book $13.95

Write Shop is offering a 15% discount off any Primary or Junior product in the WriteShop Store. Use code CREW15 at checkout. This offer is good until June 15, 2012.

ClarkClan Thoughts

Write Shop has worked wonders in our family. Ben and Rebekah both look forward to writing lessons now. I have been amazed at how well they have taken to this program. We were able to complete three lessons during the review period.  After the third lesson, the kids were just as excited about the program as when we began.

I have two kids who used Write Shop Jr. Ben, who is 10, and Rebekah, who is 8. I had read before starting that Write Shop was great for kids with ADHD, like Rebekah. I have read that ADHD kids need some adaptations to do well, but that all kids will benefit from these same adaptations. Write Shop Jr. has proven this principle to me as Ben loved this program and benefitted from it  as much as Rebekah.

The lessons were broken up into nine manageable chunks and spread out over 2 weeks. There is a 3 week option, but my kids were able to handle the slightly faster pace with no problems. Each lesson keeps the same order for activities. For example, Day one is always working on a Grammar Fold and Go, day two is pre-writing activities, day 3 is model and teaching and so on. I liked this because order and structure is an important part of our school work.

Write Shop took away the “fear” of writing. The lessons are presented in a fun, engaging, hands on way.  The first three days the kids are not asked to write anything by themselves, only play games and tell you (the teacher) what to write. By the time that the kids are asked to write anything, they are having so much fun with the lesson that it does not seem like work.

A few favorites with my children.

• Hands On Activities – Who knew that writing could be fun and have games? Each lesson had some type of hands on activity related to it. When we were writing letters of invitation, they learned the parts of a letter playing an “invitation mix and match” game. They also got to cut out and put together a robot with all the parts of a letter. These hands on activities, early in the lessons before any actual “writing” took place set their minds in gear for what we were doing.  They both loved the incredible shrinking machine, which taught us how to narrow down an idea. Each lesson had some type of game that they just loved.
• Brainstorming—Ben and Rebekah liked this idea. Each of them had a sheet, with graphics related to the lesson, and we brainstormed together ideas for their own writing. By doing this together, they could bounce ideas off each other and mom could help out too.
• Journal writing,—These were  based on the lesson topic. My kids loved this because they were told to write and not worry about mistakes. It was amazing how much Ben and Rebekah wrote willingly. I think this is due to having lot of laughter and fun during the lesson, which extended to the writing session.
• Grammar Fold and Go’s. These were folders I made up using pages printed from the Activity Pack. There are 10 fold and Go’s, one for each lesson. These are grammar review items and focus on one topic at a time.  I made these up ahead of time and they were used for day 1 of each lesson.
• Sloppy Copy—Ben and Rebekah loved this term, and were happy when it was the day to write their paper. Knowing that mistakes would not be looked at until the next lesson seemed to free them to write.
• Self-Editing—This was made to be a fun activity as well. We had a special bag with highlighters and finger puppets we pulled out for editing day. First they would take a highlighter and mark all the good, correct things they did in their paper. Then they would put their elephant finger puppets on and the elephant would help them find mistakes.
• Publishing the final copy—This was a fun way to make writing a final copy special, and not extra work. The kids would publish their final copy. One time we wrote it on paper and glued it onto a construction paper background. For their humorous stories, I had special paper with lines at the bottom and space at the top for pictures. Their adventure stories we typed up.

 

ClarkClan Cautions

I have just told you how much I loved this product. Did I like everything about it? Well, not exactly. There were a few items that I feel are important to know about.

1. Teacher intensive – It sounds funny but one of the things that make this a great program, also can be a detriment. This is a very teacher intensive program. The teacher needs to physically teach each segment of the lesson. As well, there is a lot of preparation work.
2. Preparation intensive—We reviewed the download version of Write Shop Jr. Level D. This means I received 3 PDF files. Initially, I was quite confused about how to implement the program. It was only after I printed out the teacher manual, then sat with the hard copy and the student file as well as the Time Saver pack file that I could make heads or tails out of it.  It makes sense once I figure out the system. Even the PDF files are slightly different in nature. I really like how they work now, but I was frustrated and confused to begin with. 
3. Paper Intensive—Because I had the download version, I had to print out everything. While you can get by not printing the teacher’s manual, I prefer to have a hard copy, so I printed it. There are many student materials to print out and it is recommended that you use certain paper such as cardstock or different colors. This need for printing can be eliminated by buying the physical products as opposed to the downloadable product.

Conclusion

I would highly recommend this product, especially for kids who are afraid of writing or say they hate writing. The activities were a lot of fun and helped to eliminate fear and anxiety about what to write, while still allowing individual creativity to shine.

I feel very honored to have been able to try this product. Most likely this is not a product I would have purchased on my own. I typically avoid anything that takes a lot of teacher preparation. When I first looked at this, I made the decision to take a couple weekend nights and prepare everything ahead of time. I think this decision is one of the reasons that the program was such a success. Having everything ready for each day ensured that the lessons were completed.

Many other TOS Crew Mates reviewed a variety of WriteShop products. Visit the Crew Blog and read what their children thought about the program.

Disclaimer:  As an Independent contractor for The Old Schoolhouse and member of TOS Homeschool Crew I received a WriteShop Junior Book D, Activity Pack and Time Saver pack E book versions, for free from WriteShop in exchange for my honest review of their product.  All opinions given are mine and/or my children’s