?? IEW and style

[RhondaM.]

I recently bought IEW TWSS and SWI C. Love it. I think this is a turning point in our school. Anyway...

This is going to help my 6th grader with his writing because he very much needs the structure part of IEW.

I'm just not so sure that I should force him to do the dress ups and openers when he seems to do them naturally without any prompting from me. Here is an example of something he wrote just for fun...before I ever bought IEW. Of course it isn't perfect, but he is only 11. And this was his first draft. He worked on it some more after this and it sounds a bit more polished.

Finally, after 72 hours of unbroken combat, the bloody, snowy plains were silent. During the three days and nights of the grueling all-out struggle, the earth itself seemed to groan as it absorbed an ocean of men’s blood. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were strewn about for miles; leaving a bloody swath in history that mankind would never forget. Silent figures picked their way over the silent forms of the thousands…is this all that has become of the proud American hearts and courageous souls that marched against the Japanese forces? It was a solemn moment. One could sense the dreadful silence of death that encompassed the entire plain…sorrow was the dominant emotion here…but there was a large sense of pride for the noble lives lost.


I took this out and looked at it this morning to compare it to what IEW teaches about openers and dress ups and other stylistic points. This paragraph has nice openers, powerful verbs, ly words, and more.

I can see showing him the stylistic points, but not forcing them. His writing (to me) sounds natural, not forced. I'm a little afraid that forcing the stylistic points might cause his writing to sound rather stilted.

My 9th grader on the other hand needs help with this...so I can see its value.

What do you more experienced IEW people think? Should I require the stylistic points?

Thanks.

[MIch elle]

Rhonda,

His writing is excellent!

Using the IEW checklist will probably just confirm for him that he's already doing an excellent job naturally and make him feel good. Ask him what he thinks about using the check lists. I would suggest using them but tweak whenever you feel the need. Try it and find out what happens.

Blessings,

[Kimber]

I think SWB said not to worry about the stylistic techniques. I'm not exactly sure, though. If you look through the combined post on Writing With Ease she recommends IEW to someone on the board and talks about this.

Great writing example by the way.

Kimberly

[Lori in MS]

Yes, SWB did say to skip the dressups. She said to do the assignments in IEW because the teaching on structure was good.

[RhondaM.]

Ok, great. I'll just lightly cover the style portion of IEW and focus more on the structure.
Thanks very much.

[Leah]

even for a natural writer is the grammar that can be learned along with it. Your child seems very comfortable writing varied sentences, but you might bring in the dress-ups for information later on, with a focus on the grammar of the dress-ups: the noun clause ( a who/which) or the adverb clause are two great examples.

[RhondaM.]

even for a natural writer is the grammar that can be learned along with it. Your child seems very comfortable writing varied sentences, but you might bring in the dress-ups for information later on, with a focus on the grammar of the dress-ups: the noun clause ( a who/which) or the adverb clause are two great examples.

This is very true. I never even thought of that. Now I am really glad that I asked. Thanks for mentioning it! Very helpful!

Thank you!:)

[Kimber]

I teach IEW SWI-C at the high school level this year. And on many Fridays, we write paragraphs as a class and go through the process of modifying the sentences as a group. On other days, we take one sentence and modify it per all of the dress up styles. In order to do this, you have to understand the grammar involved. This is sort of like CW Homer six sentence shuffle.

You can do these two things without making the dress-ups mandatory in the writing itself.

[RhondaM.]

I teach IEW SWI-C at the high school level this year. And on many Fridays, we write paragraphs as a class and go through the process of modifying the sentences as a group. On other days, we take one sentence and modify it per all of the dress up styles. In order to do this, you have to understand the grammar involved. This is sort of like CW Homer six sentence shuffle.

You can do these two things without making the dress-ups mandatory in the writing itself.

I love CW Homer and the 6 sentence shuffle. We've worked through week 12 of Homer A. I'd have stuck with it (and may one day return to it) but the kids found it very tedious. Anyway, I like your idea of spending a day doing the dress ups with individual sentences. Thanks for the idea.

[angela in ohio]

Yes, I think you should.

The paragraphs they write with IEW are not supposed to be wonderful paragraphs. They are like drills. Just as you don't walk around reciting math facts, but instead use them as you need them, so too will dc use the stylistic techniques as they need them once they have learned them through these "drills."

[RhondaM.]

Yes, I think you should.

The paragraphs they write with IEW are not supposed to be wonderful paragraphs. They are like drills. Just as you don't walk around reciting math facts, but instead use them as you need them, so too will dc use the stylistic techniques as they need them once they have learned them through these "drills."

Exactly. And he does know them. He uses them naturally in his writing. I can see still covering them and working w/ them through individual sentences as others have mentioned...but just not in his actual writing.
We actually do some of this anyway with a book called Sentence Composing for Middle School: A Grammar Approach. So IEW isn't the only place he is working on modeling.

My older son will absolutly need the stylistic points, both in sentences and his writing. My younger son needs more help with structure.

Thanks so much for your reply. I love these boards, everyone is so helpful! :)

[Strawberry Queen]

I just wanted to say that your son's writing is very good. It was a very strong opening, and gave a great picture of what he was describing without being over the top in carnage. You've both done a terrific job!

[RhondaM.]

I just wanted to say that your son's writing is very good. It was a very strong opening, and gave a great picture of what he was describing without being over the top in carnage. You've both done a terrific job!

Thank you so much. I can't take any of the credit for his writing, rather all the wonderful books he has filled his head and heart with over the years get the credit. I will certainly let him read your post however...it will make his day.
Thanks again. :)

[hose]

I don't have any suggestions (we've only done about 7 or 8 lessons so far), but your son's paragraph is great! I found myself wishing it hadn't ended! Good job, son!