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Teaching Writing: Structure and Style in Writing Seminar

Publisher: Institute for Excellence in Writing Author: Andrew Pudewa Review last updated: July 2009 This is one of my 100 Top Picks!

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See the complete review in 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.

Andrew Pudewa teaches parents how to teach their children how to write via DVDs (12 hours). The seminar workbook is a teacher resource that enhances the DVD seminar with samples and teaching suggestions. The seminar also includes a two-hour DVD with Pudewa teaching some lessons. The set now also includes the Tips and Tricks DVD which I describe later in this review.

This program makes it easy to teach your children how to write. Pudewa addresses potential problem areas and uses an easy-to-follow format that takes the mystery of teaching composition skills. It's also enjoyable to watch!

Parents can watch the entire seminar in advance, then begin teaching, or they can watch each individual lesson just before teaching it. Older students might watch the seminar with parents.

The Structure and Style Seminar is a great investment for one or more families to purchase together, then form a group class for students to work together. (IEW offers a Structure and Style Overview DVD for $10. It features almost 2 1/2 hours of video of Andrew Pudewa explaining the program . This DVD gives you a very clear idea of how it works. For those unfamiliar with the methodology, this might be a wise investment before purchasing the entire course.)

Lessons first focus on structure as students learn to organize and present information. From the beginning, students are taught to ask themselves questions to help formulate their thoughts. Implementation of this technique throughout the course results in students who can easily develop content for essays or other writing projects, and who also learn how to think in what might be considered a classical fashion about what they read and write. This makes IEW's methodology an especially good fit for those using a classical approach to education.

In the years since the introduction of the Structure and Style course, Andrew Pudewa as well as parents and teachers using the course, have come up with many strategies that make it easier to teach the course. Pudewa shares these ideas on a two-hour DVD titled Tips and Tricks for Teaching through the Nine Units. He walks through each of the units, spending varying amounts of time on each section. He highlights potentially challenging points in the curriculum with suggestions for overcoming them as well as sharing creative and fun ideas that simply expand on the original ideas. After working through each unit, he also spends time on the "dress ups" with even more tips and tricks. I highly recommend this DVD because I think it will give parents and teachers even more confidence as well as lots of inspiration.

For additional instruction for students, consider purchasing one of the Student Writing Intensive DVD sets (four DVDs with about 7 1/2 hours of instruction). These are available at three different levels: elementary, middle school, and high school.

IEW's resources are some of the best on the market for making it easy to teach composition in a way that students develop excellent skills in both structure and style. The same techniques (and often the same resources) can be used across a wide age span, making it a practical choice for homeschooling families.

A number of additional "themed" books are available that might be used after completing the initial lessons. All of these are presented within a single book so that you need purchase only one item rather than separate student and teacher books.

Some of these books follow the same order of lesson presentation as in the original course's nine units, building from key word note taking, to writing from notes, up through writing a research paper using several sources, creative writing, and writing critiques.

Bible-Based Writing Lessons in Structure an Style and Fables, Myths, and Fairy Tales are two such books. Bible-Based Writing Lessons in Structure an Style, by Andrew Pudewa and James B. Webster, uses Scripture passages from various Bible translations as fodder for students as they work through the different techniques. For instance, in one of the lessons on writing stories from pictures, students first read the story of Esther from Scripture. Then, using a question approach (i.e., who, what, why, when, where, how?) they derive key word outlines from the three pictures that follow the story. Finally, they create their own story in relation to the pictures, "dressing it up" with style techniques they have learned. As with many IEW supplements, lesson assignments are presented for levels A (beginning), B (intermediate), and C (advanced). This book suits students in grades 4 through 12.

Fables, Myths, and Fairy Tales: Writing Lessons in Structure and Style, by Maria Gerber, uses the various forms of literature in the title as material to present lessons in a fashion similar to Bible-Based Writing Lessons. It is best used with students in grades 3 through 5.

A few other theme-based books that cover all or most of the nine units of the core course are All Things Fun and Fascinating by Lori Verstegen for grades 3 through 5, Life Science-Based Writing Lessons by Danielle Olander and Peter Swett for high school students, and Character-Based Writing Lessons by Daniel Weber for grades 6 and up. All these books indirectly teach some grammar and usage through practical application as well as a few practice exercises. However, these are not a replacement for more comprehensive grammar instruction. In addition, all of these books assume prior use of the core seminar and will be difficult if impossible to use without that background.

Fix-It!: Grammar and Editing Made Easy with Classics by Pamela White makes a perfect companion for IEW students to reinforce grammar and writing skills. See the complete review of this product here.

Lori Verstegen has written a series of history-based writing books so that Structure and Style principles can be learned and applied within the context of the study of history. Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons, Medieval History-Based Writing Lessons, and U.S. History-Based Writing Lessons Vol. 1 each work through all nine IEW units. These three courses can be use with students in grades 3 through 6. The fourth book, U.S. History-Based Writing Lessons Vol. 2, might be used for sixth grade through high school. You might use both U.S. History volumes together at high school level since the second book shifts into more advanced skills such as MLA formatting required for research papers. Some of these courses require a companion Student Book.

Aside from the Bible-Based Writing Lessons, IEW resources are non-sectarian.

IEW is continually expanding its line of products, so please check their website or catalog for more information on the above items and others.

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