Working backwards and catching up on writing

[ChemMommy]

ooo....I hope that title grabbed your attention.

Here's what I'm thinking. Remember my post from last week about my 15 yo son's load and the glaring lack of writing? I'm working on slowly increasing his load over the next two months, while at the same time getting him to read more deeply for meaning and holding him accountable.

BUT, we need to add a writing component--this kids really needs to write elegantly and efficiently since he thinks he is being called in the ministry. And I have failed to cover this part of his education. (And part of me feels overwhelmed with the thought of all we need to do to catch up--writing programs, grammar programs, practice papers, research projects!)

At this point, I don't know how much we can get through before college, but I was thinking that if I chose a reasonable writing goal (help me define this), I could work backwards to where we are today (mid 9th grade) and decide how to get to the goal.

So, what are reasonable GOALS for a senior in high school to be able to accomplish is writing! What are your thoughts here?

Research papers, certainly? 5-paragraph essays, sure?

I would like him to be able to:

1. write a coherent paper supporting a thesis where each sentence plays an appropriate role (rather than just takes up space)

2. research and write a paper over a historical event, a piece of literature, or a theological topic.

3. be able to write a logical compare/contrast paper given a topic

4. use excellent grammar and a variety of sentence structures in his writing

5. be unafraid of tackling a writing project



What goals would you add or how would you tweak my goals? BONUS points will be awarded if you offer advice on how to achieve any of these goals! LOL

[Lori D.]

One idea I picked up from Momof7 on this board that has been a great help in formulating thoughts and writing is once a week to practice doing a 20-25 minute timed essay, using essay writing prompts, especially ones used on past SAT tests. We ALL sit down together and write, then read them aloud and discuss a little. This has been very helpful for preparing/organizing your thoughts and coming up with specific supporting examples and then getting it all on paper with an interesting opening to "hook" attention, and to sum it all up. Below are some websites with prompt ideas. BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.


Online Math Learning:
http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/sat-writing-prompts.html
or
http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/sat-test-prep.html
(scroll to bottom of page)


Approved Regents' Test Essay Topics
(these are college level questions, but there are still a lot of good usable prompts for high school students)
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwrtp/topics.htm

College Board:
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/after/essay_prompts.html

Free SAT Prep:
http://www.freesatessayprep.com/

[Nan in Mass]

Have you looked at Format Writing? It is rather horrible, but perfectly doable in a year. It might be a good place to start with an older beginner. It teaches writing paragraphs of different types, 5 para essays of different types, and a few other types of writing. It would be easy to use it as a guide for producing a piece of writing every day.

[Katia]

Is he looking at pastoral ministry?

My dh is a pastor, and the sermons he writes/was taught to write are what he calls "3-point sermons". Basically, they are a 5-paragraph essay with an intro to the topic, 3 points and a conclusion. If you listen, most pastors use this type of sermon, even though their delivery style may be very different.

Anyhow, this might help him to not only want to write essays, but the Bible will give you much subject matter for him to practice his sermon-writing and you to teach him 5-paragraph essay writing. This translates easily over to literature, science and history, but if he is looking at becoming a pastor, this could be great motivation for writing.

Also, a lot of pastors write three of these 5-paragraph essays each WEEK (Sunday morning sermon, Sunday night sermon and Wednesday night lesson). Learning to write an essay in several different subjects at the same time will be good practice for this.

I agree with the previous poster who mentioned Format Writing for a great book to work with older beginners.

Hope this helps and/or inspires!

[TejasMamacita]

I got a lot of helpful information about my son, who is also 15 and we've also neglected writing, in this thread (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75427) last week.

The replies were generous and plentiful. I've been researching their suggestions and hope to settle on one by the end of the week.

Perhaps it can help you as well. Good Luck!