Since thinking begins with asking questions, IEW’s Structure and Style® methodology is the perfect place to practice thinking. Far from being formulas or templates, the structural models and the stylistic techniques provide tools for students to learn how to think and thus how to write. IEW’s methods emphasize invention and imitation, two of the Five Canons of Rhetoric.
Through practicing the retrieval and arrangement of facts within structural models, students learn to think about what they are writing. In Unit 1: Note Making and Outlines, students learn to choose key words from each sentence to best reflect the main idea of a sentence. After they have written a KWO, they test it, an exercise which requires them to ask whether their notes are clear by forming the notes into sentences. Evaluation is a key thinking skill that requires paying attention to details. In Unit 2: Writing from Notes they then rewrite the notes from the key word outline.
In Unit 3: Retelling Narrative Stories, students are given the Story Sequence Chart with questions that begin to train them in thinking about the parts of a story and how best to retell a narrative. The information needed for the KWO will be found by asking questions about a source. Subsequent lessons encourage students to imagine how they can elaborate on a story by adding details while still keeping the conflict the same. The questions on the Story Sequence Chart encourage students to expand their creativity through imitation and variation.
In Unit 4: Summarizing a Reference, students learn to ask not just what are the facts or main ideas but which facts are interesting or important facts related to the topic. Before they can do this, they have to consider what topic—a division of the subject—they wish to write about and what topics their sources include. Through this exercise, they are learning how to think about subjects and topics.
Unit 5: Writing from Pictures provides a chance for students to indulge their creative sides as they work from a series of three pictures. They ask themselves first what is the central fact of each picture and then employ the “I Keep Six Honest Serving Men” as Kipling called them to find the answers that will fill in the rest of the outline. Knowing questions to ask about an event is not just a creative activity. This will help them as they write for later assignments.
As the students move into the later units, they further refine their thinking skills. Through Units 6: Summarizing Multiple References and 8: Formal Essay Models, students continue to gather interesting, important, and relevant facts from multiple source texts. Unit 8 expands the research report to an essay by requiring students to think about the subject and topics and form an opinion about what is most significant about their subject. Unit 7: Inventive Writing requires students to ask questions in order to generate the content of their compositions. Finally, in Unit 9: Formal Critique, students think about literature by critiquing how the author crafts the characters, develops the problem, and resolves the conflict. As they learn to apply questions to various types of writing assignments, they will improve their thinking skills.
Students also learn to think through adding stylistic techniques to their writing. When they are first introduced to -ly adverbs, who/which clauses, and other stylistic techniques, their word choices may be a bit awkward. However, they are learning to think about language—looking for a verb to add an -ly adverb to or looking for a noun to describe further with a who/which clause. As they mature in their writing, they learn to refine their word choices. Is this word/phrase/clause adding a strong image or feeling? Is it adequately adding information or merely filling space? I tell my students that they can’t just choose a word as if they have thrown a dart at a word list. Andrew Pudewa reminds students to choose words intentionally and carefully, not repeatedly and accidentally.
To assist students in their word choices so that they are not just pulling words off the top of their heads, IEW has a plethora of resources. From the Writing Tools App and the thematic thesaurus A Word Write Now to the Portable Walls™ for Structure and Style® Students and Practical Printables at IEW.com, students and instructors have many options.
Another way IEW teaches thinking is through teaching students to edit their work. Every writing assignment has a checklist. Not only are the students aware from the start what the expectations are for the assignment, but they are also given the tools to self-evaluate their assignments. Comparison is a key thinking skill. Students compare their work to the checklist before submitting it to their editors. In teaching students the grammar of the stylistic techniques through punctuation rules and structural patterns, instructors train their students to ask themselves whether the words they are marking fulfill the requirements of the assignment. The checklist provides a concrete reminder to think about what they are writing.
Throughout the Structure and Style method, students learn how to plan, organize, and evaluate their writing. This process requires observation, invention, comparison, and analysis—all critical thinking skills. Learning to write with IEW provides a practical environment that allows students to practice and immediately apply these thinking skills. Becoming stronger writers leads to better thinkers.
by Danielle Olander
