Curriculum Review- U.S. History-Based Writing Lessons, Vol. 1

U. S. History – Based Writing Lessons, Vol. 1

Explorers-Gold Rush

Institute For Excellence In Writing

By Lori Verstegen

Let me start by saying that I feel as though I paid a pretty penny for this curriculum. I was nervous after I ordered it, wondering if it would be worth the money. And as I am horrible about sending things back, I didn’t want to be stuck with something I didn’t like or wouldn’t use. After I got it, I sat down and opened the book and the package of student          resources. I really liked what I saw. I read and studied, learning how to teach writing as this has been what I struggle with.

I liked the fact that the writing assignments have to do with history lessons. No sense in having a writing assignment for English class to learn a technique then having to write a different paper in history class. Why not combine the two? The techniques learned in these assignments can easily be converted to any time and historical event. For instance, the first lesson is an easy poetry lesson. Yes, my sons will cringe and gasp and probably even thrash around on the floor faking convulsions, but this poetry lesson is going to be painless for them. The stress is on quality adjectives, strong verbs and alliteration. I can see that what they are taught here will be carried over to other assignments. The history lesson is about Native Americans and European Explorers. One poem describes Native Americans watching explorers come to their land. The other poem describes the explorers; their physical description, dreams, things remembered. There is an example of the same poem using a hockey player. The same type of poem can be used to describe anyone in history or fiction.

There is a simple grading system for the parent to use. It is a point system. The kids get a copy ahead of time so they see how they can earn points. If you use an action verb in every line, you get 10 points. If you use two words that end in –ly you get 4 points. There is a way to get 25 points for each poem. Very nice as grading is always a wonderment to me. What do I base it on? That line as a mom and teacher can be hard sometimes. This makes it so nice. The checklists get bigger as more assignments are given, as I see on Lesson 14 checklist, there are still points (not as many) for using –ly words and action verbs plus all the other things taught between now and then.

One thing I like is there is a progressive list of banned words. Some assignments the banned words are “I”, “MY” and “YOU”. I am not even sure I could do that! SEE!

There are vocabulary words taught throughout the lessons. Not many, mind you, but the ones given to be used in that writing assignment will take creativity to use. I favor the simple approach as it is the technique that is valuable.

The appendix contains examples of work from students of varying ages. It is nice to see examples of the work done to inspire my sons. They are not that creative on their own, but they can see something and say “I can do that”.

There are 32 lessons with each lesson meant to be taught at one setting, then the assignment given for the child to work on for a few days. For my 15 year old, I think we can do 2 lessons on a calm week and then just one on the normal busy week.

I really like this curriculum. This was the first I have purchased from this company. I wish I had had this years ago. It was worth the money to me. If you struggle with teaching, or want an easy format and lessons, this is the way to go. Next year, I will be checking out the rest of the Excellence in Writing line.