Curriculum Review: Imitations in Writing
Imitations in Writing, by Matt Whitling
Logos School
110 Baker St.
Moscow, Idaho 83843
(208) 882-1226
http://www.logosschool.com
Email: logosschool@turbonet.comNote: At the time of writing this review, I have in my possession the following materials from Logos Schools: Imitation In Writing—Fairy Tales, Imitation In Writing - Greek Heroes, Imitation In Writing -The Grammar of Poetry, all by Matt Whitling and also Writing Trails in American History by Laurie Barrie. In addition to those, I have, in the past, owned and used Imitation In Writing- Aesop's Fables by Matt Whitling.
Description:
The Imitation in Writing series from Logos School is grounded in the principle that students, in order to become good writers, must imitate good writing. In the Logos School curriculum, this series is recommended for grades 3-6 in the following sequence: Fables and Fairy Tales for grade 3, Writing Trails in American History for grade 4, and for 5th grade and above, Greek Myths [which I have not had a look at], Greek Heroes and Grammar of Poetry. Apart from Grammar of Poetry, the lessons in all the books have a very similar lay-out, hence I shall deal with those books first and discuss Grammar of Poetry separately.
Each of the books contain a student text only, each with a short introduction where the value of imitation exercises is explained. This is followed by a section of instructions for the teacher on how to teach the lessons. The whole series is meant as the classroom writing curriculum for Logos Schools, but can easily be used in the homeschool without alteration. All lessons [apart from those in Grammar of Poetry] are of a very similar format: Read story, narrate orally, define a list of vocabulary words, outline story, list characters, rewrite. Each book contains 20-35 stories to imitate, one or two semesters' worth of work depending on speed of student and how many drafts you decide to require of the student.
For Fables, the story is a short paragraph from one of Aesop's fables. The outline is meant to be filled out with 2-3 key words per sentence. In the American History lessons the paragraphs are longer than the Fables but shorter than those in the Fairy Tales and Greek Heroes. The American History stories are by far the easiest to read, since they are written in modern day English, whereas the Fables are, at least for my children, considerably harder, in that they contain more antiquated English. For American History, each line in the story is numbered, corresponding to a point on the outline, and the children are supposed to choose 2-3 key words per sentence for each point in the outline. For Fairy Tales and Greek Heroes the stories are progressively longer. In those books, the stories and the outlines are divided into three sections. Each section is dealing with a 2 -3 paragraph narrative event in the story. Each event is headlined in the lesson book outline with outline points beneath the head line for the student to fill in. In all the Imitation books, the outlines guides the child to write a summary of the stories on a separate piece of paper. This is done with the outline in hand, not looking at the text. In the Fable lesson book, there are dashed lines below the fable, where the child cuts with scissors, so he can turn that half page over while finishing his writing with his eyes on the outline. For the other texts, the story is on a separate page from the outlines, so the text is easily removed from sight.Impressions:
Here is a ready made affordable writing curriculum which focuses on the classical skill of imitation. Take it off the shelf and use it, no preparation for mom. The materials used for imitation are great moral stories, as well as historical and mythological material which allows for easy integration of the writing curriculum with the literature and history curriculum.
My personal observation with my two children so far ,who are or have been 3rd graders, is that the Fables' vocabulary can sometimes be difficult for the recommended age group, 2nd - 4th grade. Not that you shouldn't stretch their vocabulary, but with several of the lessons in Fables, I had to explain the entire story line to my child.
For our homeschool, were we to go through the entire series, I would alter the sequence, start with American History which is clearly the easiest material and format for a 3rd grade student. I would follow that up with Fables, then Fairy Tales and so forth according to the Logos School recommendations.
All these books teach solid imitation skills. The material is predictable and the format is somewhat boring [not that repetition is always bad]. My main contention, for the mom who likes to make her own materials, is, that this would be so easy to create on your own, if you are willing to search for fables and legends in your current history materials and make your own fill in the blank spread sheets for imitation.
Writing Trails in American History varies its format slightly in that two of the exercises are copywork of The Gettysburg Address and also of the Star Spangled Banner. Each exercise includes a checklist for writing mechanics: title, indentation, spelling, punctuation and name and date. The American History exercises in particular are nice for a beginning writing/copywork curriculum. Owning this manual might enable some homeschool moms to spring-board into making their own copybook/imitation materials.
A good writing curriculum ought to contain more than just rote practice of one skill (rewriting). The books lack clear goals for improving student writing. In the older student books, there are rubrics for evaluating student writing assignments, as in: The parent should assign so and so many points to each skill in the writing process. For example, in Greek Heroes and Fairy Tales, you are instructed to divide your evaluation as follows: outline 10 points, handwriting 10 points, title/indentation 5 points, vocabulary 15 points, sentence structure 15 points, writing mechanics 25 points and story line 20 points. The rubric for the American History is simpler and involves more emphasis on basic writing mechanics. Greek Heroes and Fairy Tales provide student examples, so you have an idea what level of writing you are aiming for. The books also provide an answer key to the outlines in the back, so that you can make sure your student has filled in the outlines correctly. However, there are no tips on improving writing skills, excepting a recommendation in Greek Heroes to look at Institute for Excellence in Writing by Andrew Pudewa [also reviewed on the WTM web site] to bring in additional requirements such as stylistic writing, figures of speech, etc.Imitations in Writing: Grammar of Poetry
This curriculum is geared to middle school students. It is meant to teach and practice the nuts and bolts of poetry. Grammar of Poetry sells as a consumable student text and a separate teacher's manual, which is mostly an answer key with a couple of pages of teaching tips in the beginning. The back of the Student Text contains a wonderful anthology featuring about 50 poems, some long, some short, mostly of a historical nature. The curriculum covers basic poetic meters and feet, the most commonly used rhyme schemes in the English language as well as about a dozen figures of speech.
The lessons are meant to run over a semester with twice or three times a week 30 minute poetry sessions. It can be self teaching depending on the skill and independence of your student. I did spend at least 10 minutes with my 5th grader every session before turning him loose with the exercises on his own.
The format for each lesson is fairly simple. First a definition of the new term is presented, followed by examples of the uses of that term, then practice of the term by recognizing its use in verses, and finally a review of all previously learned material. Interspersed in the 30 lessons are 7 lessons where the students write their own poetry, following a known model, combining and using the terms they have already learned. All the lessons include on a straight forward protocol for "scanning." Scanning means identifying the meter, foot and rhyme scheme of a poem. This concept is used and reviewed throughout the text and is clearly mastered by the time the student is through with the text. The text also provides a final exam to test your student's retention of the skills learned.Impressions:
This book is unique. I have not seen any other curriculum aimed solely at the structure of poetry with this level of rigor and imitation. It was a delight to go through with my 5th grader last year and I plan for all 4 of my students to go through this during 5th or 6th grade. However the grade recommendations are subject to student ability. If your student is a weak speller or if your student has trouble dividing words into syllables, this is not the time to begin poetry. Make spelling and syllabication a priority first.
If you're the type who is inclined to make up your own materials, certainly, you can make up your own list of prosody terms, figures of speech and figure out a simple model of imitation. However, the amount of work required is considerable. It takes time digging through poetry anthologies every day looking for 8 stanzas to illustrate the daily lesson on dactylic trimeter or several examples of synecdoche, even if you are very familiar with the terms yourself. I think this material well worth the price of $30.
One last clarification: If you are looking for a resource which teaches the analysis and meaning of poetry, this is not the book . It deals almost exclusively with the mechanics of poetry, not the interpretation of it.Conclusion:
Grammar of Poetry will enhance your student's appreciation for the structure of poetry as well as increased his knowledge of figures of speech. It is, of all the Imitations in Writing books, Matt Whitlings best work. I highly recommend it for a 5th-7th grader.
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