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IEW’s Structure and Style® methodology trains students to write by teaching structure and style. Structure refers to the way a paper is arranged. What is style?
In writing style refers to the language—words, phrases, and clauses—a writer uses to express ideas. Writers intentionally choose specific words to express tones, moods, or emotions. Additionally, writers insert phrases and mix main clauses and dependent clauses to express ideas and add layers of description. Writers adapt their styles based on their purposes and audiences.
The IEW dress-ups are descriptive words and clauses that students add to a sentence. Three of the dress-ups challenge students to deliberately choose more sophisticated vocabulary. The three other dress-ups challenge students to incorporate dependent clauses. Instruction intentionally alternates between the two categories: -ly adverb, who/which clause, strong verb, because clause, quality adjective, www.asia clause. Carefully placed adverbs, verbs, and adjectives clarify meaning by creating images or evoking feelings in the mind of the reader. Dependent clauses affect the flow of a sentence and add to the clarity of a composition.
The IEW sentence openers are descriptive words, phrases, and clauses used to open a sentence. Placed before a main clause, sentence openers alter the emphasis of a sentence and affect the rhythm of the composition. To understand the need to use various sentence openers, read the paragraphs below aloud. Notice how the emphasis and rhythm differ although the content is identical.
Students are taught dress-ups and then sentence openers one by one following the EZ+1 principle. Students learn the -ly adverb first and insert one in every paragraph. When the -ly adverb becomes easy, teachers introduce the who/which clause. Now, students insert one -ly adverb and one who/which clause in every paragraph. When inserting both dress-ups is easy, teachers introduce the strong verb. Eventually students insert six dress-ups and six sentence openers in every paragraph. To challenge more advanced writers, teachers may introduce decorations at any time. Advanced dress-ups and openers are reserved for experienced students to give them an extra challenge.
The first year an elementary student progresses through the program, the goal is to insert the dress-up into a sentence correctly. As long as the inserted word is indeed an adverb, any -ly adverb will do. In fact, many students begin by inserting -ly adverbs with adjectives: really hungry, especially interesting, amazingly fun. This is easy and natural. When they are confident inserting -ly adverbs, introduce the who/which clause. Require students to place it after the noun it describes and to use commas. They should use who to describe a person and which to describe a place or thing.
IEW is a spiral learning program. As students revisit the same concepts year after year, teachers gradually increase expectations. Although the ultimate goal is for the student’s writing to improve, the initial goal for the teacher is to challenge at a pace that encourages yet does not overwhelm. Do this by building from the known to the unknown in a systematic way.
When students begin using the -ly adverb the second year, teachers can challenge them to find a verb and ask how or when. As students discover they can change an image or feeling in their prose with a single word, they learn to enjoy words. For example, consider how the -ly adverb changes the meaning of these three sentences: The child casually walked into the room; the child belligerently walked into the room; the child promptly walked into the room.
At this stage in the process, praise students as they play with words. Give them words lists and teach them to use a thesaurus and dictionary. There is plenty of time in future years to train them to make purposeful choices based on semantics.
Encourage third- and fourth-year students to use a thesaurus. Tell students that although they may begin with the word in their brain, they should not use that word. Instead, challenge them to look in a thesaurus for a word that expresses an exact intention. Additionally, encourage them to include details with their clauses. Although a young student may write Ashley pulled her wagon, which was red, seasoned students should recognize that it is better to write Ashley pulled her red wagon, which her father had owned. As Andrew Pudewa says, “Use your words thoughtfully, purposefully, and deliberately.”
After a solid foundation has been laid, experienced students are prepared to focus on technique and artistry as well as the nuances of punctuation. Students who have been exposed to IEW stylistic techniques for several years should use them to add depth and meaning to their writing in order to convey complex ideas.
Writing is a skill. Learning to perfect a skill takes time and practice. Be patient! The repetition and the process eventually pay off.
by Heidi Thomas
