"Which should I choose?" is a common question from parents and teachers exploring IEW's two main options for teaching the Structure and Style® methodology. While some create their own lessons, most prefer ready-made lessons in the Structure and Style for Students video courses or theme-based writing lessons. Although both options follow the concepts taught in Teaching Writing: Structure and Style, student and teacher materials offer varied resources within a similar format.
The primary difference between the two is the instructor. In the video courses, Andrew Pudewa brings his humor and experience to instruct, encourage, and motivate the students. Because these courses were recorded with live classes, students who begin their lessons with the videos often feel as if they are a part of the class and sometimes even interact as Mr. Pudewa asks questions of the class. With the video instruction, the students are kept to a set time for each lesson and a certain pace.
By contrast, the theme-based writing lessons require an instructor, whether a parent at home or a teacher in a class. Theme-based writing lessons are designed to be taught by someone who has completed or is completing the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style (TWSS) teacher training seminar. With a live instructor, the pace of instruction and assignments can be adjusted for the students’ needs and level of experience.
The theme-based writing lessons are just that—lessons arranged around a theme that carries throughout the book. The books pictured above are the ideal choice when teaching multiple grade levels as these books follow the same format and pacing. Because these books do not build on each other, a teacher can choose a theme that appeals to a student’s interest or a curriculum focus. These books encourage the teacher to scale the information by referencing Simplified Source Texts or Advanced Additions and by following the EZ+1 philosophy.
The new partnership with Hillsdale College offers a series of publications that integrate teaching across the curriculum, ideal for single-grade classes. Starting with Adventures in Writing, elementary students progress systematically through the series, building skills incrementally. Even dress-ups increase in complexity as students move from one book to another. For example, in Adventures in Writing students learn to dress up writing with -ly adverbs. However, as the books progress, the instruction and the style exercises increase in complexity to encourage students to learn that words must be chosen purposefully and deliberately, not repeatedly or accidentally. By the time they reach Frontiers in Writing, they understand interestingly may be an -ly adverb, but it is not an acceptable -ly adverb dress-up in all situations. The series also introduces comma rules gradually. For instance, Adventures in Writing teaches third graders to use commas with who/which clauses while concepts like essential and nonessential clauses appear in later books. This approach contrasts with other materials, which present all rules upfront, leaving teachers to decide what to emphasize.
Both the video-based courses and the theme-based writing lessons include vocabulary. The vocabulary in the Structure and Style for Students courses is based on words found in the source texts. The vocabulary in the theme-based writing lessons is selected for students to learn and use in their compositions. Additionally, the theme-based lessons incorporate numerous vocabulary exercises and include PDF downloads of illustrated vocabulary cards.
All of IEW’s materials follow the same scope and sequence and include additional resources available as PDF downloads to assist instructors and their students. The student books include source texts, checklists, and an overview to divide each weekly lesson into daily tasks. The teacher’s manuals include all student book pages as well as additional notes to assist with teaching, suggested answers to student exercises, and references to the TWSS seminar for teacher preparation.
Thirty years have passed since the original TWSS seminar. As parents, teachers, and schools have asked for additional resources to help them teach the Structure and Style methodology, IEW has responded with a buffet of materials that instructors can choose from, finding what works best for their students and their situations. Teachers can trust that all the materials follow the concepts taught in Teaching Writing: Structure and Style so that they do not have to learn a new system as students grow and mature into confident and competent communicators and thinkers. Most importantly, all of IEW’s materials are designed to make teaching writing easy and enjoyable no matter which option is chosen.
by Danielle Olander
