Monday, May 21, 2012

WriteShop Junior Book D ~ TOS Review



My family and I recently had the opportunity to review a Junior Book D from WriteShop.  I was very excited about this, as I felt it would be a great fit for my 11 year old.

“WriteShop Junior is a creative writing program that appeals to many learning styles. As with all WriteShop products, WriteShop Junior helps you guide children through the steps of the writing process. To keep the experience fun for everyone, every lesson includes engaging games and activities that teach and review important writing and self-editing skills. And whether you have a more advanced child or one who is just beginning, this program is flexible so children can work at their own level."

Book D is recommended for 3rd and 4th grade, but I found it to be a nice fit for my 6th grader who struggles with her reading and writing.

My family received The WriteShop Junior Book D Teacher’s Guide, Activity Pack (2 pack containing the Student Worksheet Pack and the Level 1 Fold-N-Go Grammar Pack), and the Time-Saver Pack.

The WriteShop Junior Book D covers such topics as:
  • Letter of Invitation
  • Humor 
  • Adventure 
  • Science Fiction 
  • Mystery 
  • Poetry/Haiku
  • Folktales
  • Historical Fiction
  • Personal Narrative
  • Expository Writing: Factual Article

Different skills taught are:

  • Identify and use proper grammar and punctuation
  • Narrow a broad topic to a specific topic
  • Brainstorm before writing
  • Structure a sentence
  • Write a paragraph
  • Choose strong words instead of weak ones
  • Use emotion words to develop voice
  • Use the five senses to add descriptive detail
  • Self-edit and revise their work




The Teacher’s Guide offers step-by-step teaching instructions, daily and weekly lesson plans, guided writing scripts, writing samples, exercises, fun learning games, and lists of material you will need for each lesson.





The Student Worksheet Pack (part of the Student Activity Pack) has all the activity pages your child needs to complete sections of each lesson. These worksheets introduce your child to writing skills such as brainstorming and self-editing.

  • Pre-writing activities
  • Skill Builders
  • Journal prompt pages
  • Brainstorming worksheets/graphic organizers 
  • Reading log forms
  • Self-editing checklists
  • Evaluation Chart


The Level 1 Fold-N-Go Grammar Pack (part of the Student Activity Pack) are fun reference tools with easy to do exercises that introduce or review grammar rules and the necessary writing skills.  The Grammar Pack can be printed on colorful paper and assembled on the inside of a file folder to create 10 large flipbooks.  There is one flipbook for each lesson.

  • Punctuation Marks
  • Self-editing
  • Nouns
  • Pronouns
  • Verbs
  • Adjectives
  • Adverbs
  • Prepositions
  • Capitalization
  • References





 
The Time-Saver Pack is an optional tool for parents like me who welcome shortcuts.  The Time-Saver Pack includes a multiple ready-made props for the various activities, such as spinners and game cards.


Our thoughs:
My reluctant writer has enjoyed WriteShop Junior so far.  She finds it easier for her to get her thoughts rolling if she has some prompt along the way and WriteShop does just that.  In the beginning it was a bit challenging for me to understand how everything flowed together, but I eventually figured it all out



The WriteShop Junior Book D is available in hard copy and eBook.
Teacher’s Guide: Hard copy $39.95 or eBook $34.95
WriteShop Junior Activity Pack (required): Hard copy $39.95 and eBook $29.95
WriteShop Junior Time-Saver Pack (optional):  Hard copy $13.95 and eBook $13.95


Purchase any WriteShop Primary or Junior products (eBooks included) and receive 15% off. Offer is valid through June 15, 2012. Use coupon code CREW15 at checkout.

WriteShop offers products for Elementary through Junior High and High School.  If you would like to look over those products you may do so HERE.

Check out what my fellow crew members had to say and WriteShop Junior and other products 




** Disclaimer: I received the Teacher’s Guide, Student Activity Pack which included the Student Worksheet Pack and the Level 1 Fold-N-Go Grammar Pack, and the Time-Saver Pack free of cost in exchange for my honest, unbiased, and fair (not always positive) review.





No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...