*DISCLOSURE* Thank you to Sharon Watson for providing product samples in order to facilitate this post. All thoughts are strictly my own.
As a homeschooling mom, one of the hardest subjects to get my kiddos excited about is writing. We have tried a number of different writing curriculums, most of which haven't worked out for us for two reasons. One, I felt the skills they were teaching were not relevant in this day of technology at our fingertips and two, they didn't get the kids excited about writing. I admit, I am a bit pickier about writing than I am about most other subjects. Writing has always come easily to me and was a subject I excelled in during school, so it is especially hard to teach discouraged writers to embrace and enjoy it. I feel most writing curriculums are way too rigid and discourage creativity, so I am always on the lookout for one that fits our family better. We recently got the chance to try out Sharon Watson's Jump In 2nd Edition and so far we've been pleasantly surprised. Take a look:
Writing with Sharon Watson
Jump In offers easy, bite-sized lessons to guide your student through the complexities of writing essays and the finer points of writing. Each lesson is broken up into separate skills that cement the lesson a bit at a time and build a good foundation for the essay writing that comes later. Often these pre-skills are simple lists that help to build the writer's confidence.
With Jump In, students will learn nine types of essays, a research report, story writing, poetry, and more in 98 daily lessons. You can go at your own pace, doing a lesson a day or a couple of lessons each week...whatever your student needs. They’ll practice topic sentences, a main idea (thesis statement), in-text citations, and other essential building blocks of composition. The text is incremental, the tone is light with a sprinkling of humor, and the assignments are very achievable.
Each essay assignment comes with a suggested writing schedule and a specific checklist to help students proofread their work. This is super helpful for writers of any level AND their teachers!
Jump In 2nd Edition also has a Teacher's Guide that is full of information.
Check out the list of lessons included in this curriculum:
I love that each work is broken down into the expectations for the writer. You can tweak each essay to fit your students need of course. I've found that tweaking is quite necessary with reluctant writers, no matter what curriculum we use, but Jump In offers a really great foundation and starting point for the teacher to get a good idea of what the student should be capable of.
There is also a section of 10-minute Writing Plunges, writing topics to sprinkle in amongst the other lessons whenever you or your student need a little break from the regular lessons. These plunges offer quick writing assignments to reinforce writing skills and gives your students the chance to explore creative writing adventures.
The Teacher's Guide also offers a great section on how to grade an essay. They give examples of essays for each letter grade to help the teacher understand the best way to grade without completely crushing your writer's confidence. It's a fine line as a parent between wanting them to get it right and helping to build up their spirit so that they continue to want to write. This book helps us find that balance.
If you are looking for a solid writing curriculum to use with middle grade writers, Jump In 2nd Edition is a great choice. Both of my kiddos are beginning to find that wiring doesn't have to be a lesson they dread😊
Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
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