As a co-op teacher, I would often roam the classroom at the end of our time together, overseeing the different levels of tasks assigned to my students. This was an important time when I could observe them attempting their own key word outlines (KWOs) or smirking as they jotted down a creative dress-up. I could give them some one-on-one attention before they went home to complete the Assignment Schedule on their own. While most would work on summarizing their source in their key word outline, others would be ahead and tasked with completing their Style Practice pages. My eye would catch that latter group doodling at the top of the page or daydreaming, thinking this task beneath them and their abilities. You may circle your own desks or dining room table, overseeing your own students who look up and ask, “Do we have to do these pages?”
What is the purpose of the Style Practice pages included in our Writing Across the Curriculum books? Are they just more worksheets or busywork? Under the Writing Across the Curriculum umbrella, nearly all of our courses include pages where Structure and Style® concepts are introduced and students are given the opportunity to practice new skills before composing their weekly assignments. These pages are especially useful for struggling students since the practice intentionally sets students up with style they can use in their own assignments. These resources begin with the KWO template for that unit, which follows the weekly source text(s). Reminders are included in the instructions so that students can begin right away with the key elements of the task in front of them. From there, New Style pages follow, allowing the parent or teacher to introduce new concepts each week. New stylistic concepts include dress-ups, sentence openers, decorations and, eventually, advanced style techniques. You can easily perceive that these pages have an important purpose of instruction but also practice!
Following the introduction of new style concepts, students have one or more pages where they are able to practice their new skills. Often included is a section where the students raid their word lists to gather -ly adverbs, strong verbs, and quality adjectives that create strong images or feelings. They may be asked to mine their favorite thesaurus for synonyms that can replace the latest banned word. Sentence starters will sometimes be provided so that students can fill in the remaining blank with a who/which clause or a www.asia clause. As an endcap to these pages, Vocabulary Practice is included. As parents and teachers, our job is to keep these pages fun! Create incentives for thoughtfully filled out Style Practice pages and exclaim over students’ efforts as you circle the room and observe. We know that students must put their knowledge into practice in order to hone their IEW skills, and this early preparation will make the eventual composing of their assignments so much easier.
Co-op, classroom, and homeschool teachers alike recognize the value of these practice pages. They allow the teacher or parent to recognize early on any difficulty students may be having as they wrestle with the concepts introduced. If you find that students are struggling with a specific style element, you can search for blogs on our website that offer further explanation and additional examples. It is almost as if IEW representatives have also been roaming, noting customer’s needs and diligently seeking to provide resources and practice pages so that students and parents can confidently complete each task within their Writing Across the Curriculum books.
by Katie Eades
