As a public school teacher for several years, one huge positive was that it gave me exposure to examples of quality materials in the area of writing. As a homeschooling mom, now, I realize that there are lots of products to choose from. The TOS Crew was recently given the opportunity to review The Writer's Workshop by Maggie Hogan and J.B. Hogan, which is an ebook writing program offered by Bright Ideas Press. If you've been interested in starting a writer's group for your students or within your homeschool group, this is a resource you'll want to check out.The Writer's Workshop is all about how to have a meaningful, productive writer's workshop. Many aspects of writing are covered in the lessons. The authors begin by explaining just what a writer's workshop is and how to get one started, basically the nuts and bolts of it for those of us who haven't ever participated in one. And they get specific, too, which is helpful. Outlines of 28 lessons then follow, each one spotlighting one aspect of successful writing. Each lessons contains a short writing assignment as well, to give the students an imediate opportunity to put into practice what they learn. Click here to see the table of contents and a few lesson pages. For anyone who didn't click on that link, here's a partial list of the topics covered in the program's lesson plans.
- Favorite Author
- Caldecott and Newbery Award Winners
- Webbing
- Character Sketches
- Plot
- Synonyms and Antonyms
- Observation
- Commonly Misused Words
- Collecting and Using Interesting Words
The Writer's Workshop isn't just lesson plans....the authors give guidelines for how to use the time spent each week in the group, and while the lessons are important, they stress author sharing time as the top priority of the group time. I love that. All the programs and lesson plans in the world don't take the place of just writing and sharing your work. And I appreciate that the authors also provide some very clearcut guidelines for this sharing time, so that the kids get some useful feedback, but in a caring, nonthreatening environment.
The Writer's Workshop is written to be used for a group, and it is designed for homeschooling moms. The authors suggest that the moms of the group take turns teaching the lessons. The focus is on getting the kids writing and sharing what they write, and that is stressed in the program's introduction. For those who are not confident in their own writing skills or the ability to teach competent writing skills to their students, never fear! The authors were very thorough in their lesson plans, even though each one is only meant to take a few minutes. Each lesson plan is well organized and contains what you need to know to be able to teach it to the kids.What age is The Writer's Workshop for? While parts of it could be used with our preschoolers, I think that really students that can both read and write are the target age. I think the trick is in how you set up your group. The authors express the importance of considering the makeup of your group and how they get along. And, yes, it's okay to have a wide age gap among the participants. As I've gone through the material, I've observed that the lessons focus on topics and skills that would benefit any age writer. They're not too tough for our younger writers, nor too babyish for our older ones.
What's the cost? This ebook is $14.95. It's a 76-page download. And this is a resource you can use again and again. That being said, I know that most of us are really one-income families on a budget. $14.95 might be a stretch in November. But add this to your list of possible resources for next semester or next year and take some time to examine the sample pages. To find out more about ordering, click here to go to the Bright Ideas site. And for those who do order this book, really get into it--the authors have created a really informative, helpful, effective guidebook on how to get kids involved and excited about writing. To find out what other Crew members have to say, click here.
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