My IEW SWI-C came. HELP!!

[StaceyinLA]

Okay, what is what? What needs to be copied for each student? The packet of stuff? The stuff in the binder?

Also, how, exactly, do you use this? In 4 days like a workshop, or little bits daily?

Input on implementation please!

[yinne]

I have used both the SWI and this year the continuation course. I would recommend that you go to the IEW website and print out the lesson plans that go with the SWI-C.

http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/index.php?q=catalog/%5Bcatpath-raw%5D-0

Hopefully once you have the lesson plans things will seem a little clearer.

Yvonne in NE

[StaceyinLA]

Gosh they are LONG!!

[FloridaLisa]

Stacey,

We used SWI-C in August. I don't recall having to copy anything. Do you have one packet per student? I did; it came with a small 3-ring notebook and had all of the check-lists and samples necessary to implement the course.

We were trying to get through it in 2 weeks so that my oldest could do the Continuation Course through co-op. We viewed about 1/2 of each DVD every day. Pudewa completely teaches the lesson and introduces the assignment. After watching the DVD, I sent my kids off to complete the assignment. Some were longer than others.

The DVD portion usually took about 1 hour and the assignment was anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 1/2. We didn't have the luxury of first drafts and editing since we had only 2 weeks to get through the course.

I haven't seen the lesson plans, but I think a good schedule might be:

Day 1: watch 1/2 of DVD (end after assigns the homework)
Day 2: complete first draft of homework and turn in
Day 3: edit after teacher (mom) makes comments
Day 4: turn in final draft

If you want extra work on certain assignments, you could pull from what you are working on.

I've got to go rescue a baby from the leaf piles outside. :)

Enjoy!
Lisa

[StaceyinLA]

for use within your own home.

I have a 3-ring binder AND a packet of papers. I'm a little confused as to what to do with those...

[Kimber]

You need to set up a binder for each student and copy the writing models as well as the banned word less and list of prepositions for their independent folders.

[Kimber]

I am trying to recall this from memory. :) When I taught this in co-op, I also gave each student a printed copy of the SWI-C syllabus from the IEW website.

[wendybern]

Sign up for the IEW Users yahoo group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IEWfamilies/. Here you will find a wealth of information, be able to ask any question, and you'll get good answers quickly. I highly recommend it.

Wendy

[Alyce]

We're using this program this year. I have taken a very laid back approach with it. First bookmark the lesson plans on IEW website. second make a copy of all the pages in the notebook for each student to have. The lesson plans tell you exactly what to watch ie: Disc 1 section a to section b. So it's really easy to know what you should be doing each day. We dragged ours out a little longer because some of the sections assigned to watch were long (at least for us) maybe 45 mins in one day. One those days we usually watched half of it one day and the other half the other day. One the video the teacher will tell the student when to use which form. You might need to make extra copies of the checklist but since they get more complicated as you progress I'd wait to make those copies when they are needed. On the lesson plan pages on IEW website there are some extra assignments to help them get the hang of the method even stronger. It really is very simple to use. My son hates to write but likes this method. It has helped him alot.

[StaceyinLA]

I am going to try and make the copies today for the kids. I don't have the binder with me, but it doesn't have much in it to copy - I can do it at home. I am going to copy the packet of papers while I'm at work this afternoon.

I guess I need to really read the lesson plans, and get started!