NEW LITERATURE GUIDE COMING SOON!

In the TWJ classes, our experienced instructors follow the same principles laid out in the new Blending Literature With Writing Guide written by Kris Cordell. Kris and her staff have successfully used these tried and true principles for nearly twenty years in classes. The amazing fact is, this guide does not take years to study and put into practice. Parents and families may apply the guide’s methods immediately in their homes. Here are some of the practices we utilize in classes at The Write Journey.

Our instructors:

• select award winning literature or classics

• read the entire novel to identify the theme/s

• work to develop critical thinking skills in students

• foster healthy discussion and discourse

• ask MANY “how” and “why” questions in class discussions

• develop writing prompts from the story

• pace the novel reading slowly

• have students study the text instead of hurrying to “find out what happens”

• assign vocabulary words from the text

• identify and teach the literary devices found in the novel

• create enrichment type projects from the contents of the novel

When our instructors blend this type of literary study with the writing process taught in our Foundations in Writing Handbook, the entire subject of Language Arts is covered. Students learn to love literature, and through discussion, find meaningful ideas to express in writing. We encourage you to explore fun ways to make the most of reading a great novel with your children.

Click here to explore our new Literature Guide!

HISTORICAL FICTION & BIOGRAPHIES

Historical settings and past events open up the class discussions to new and wonderful ideas. For instance, our middle school classes are studying Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. In the first discussion about the novel, the family is moving from one town back to Salem, Massachusetts. The students were asked to consider the differences for a family move back then compared to a family move today. The topic allowed students to think about the tremendous amount of work involved in moving, and most believed it was much more difficult in the late 1700’s. However, there were good points about the challenges in finding a new home in modern times!

Some of our classes are reading novels set in the Puritan culture. Some are studying remarkable individuals, including Benjamin Franklin and Amos Fortune. And some students are visiting the bygone era of the earliest settlers that made their homes in the wilds with the indigenous people around them. With rich settings and times, we want to help our students connect to the facts that, most likely, our lives look completely different. Instructors take the time to help their classes consider the many ways the daily life of the characters required planning, hard work, and hope. It is this focus that we encourage all of The Write Journey community to explore this month. We hope families help their students “walk a mile in their shoes” to grow in understanding, appreciation, and perspective.

Here are some questions to ask your students, whether they attend our classes, or if you are teaching the subject at home:

• What did [character’s name] do on a typical day?

• How did a family get their food?

• Where did clothing come from in this story?

• What steps would a person have to take to build a house or building?

• How were the laws and rules different back in the story’s time?

• What was school like in this story?

• Do the people in the story care about the same things that you care about today?

• Name a couple things about daily life that you believe were very challenging from the story.

Try asking these questions and others like them to explore the rich history from any story’s setting! This will open up wonderful discussions for everyone involved. This often helps students LOVE learning even more.

December 2022: Holidays, slow down, gather

A Christmas Literature Guide

The Write Journey Team benefits greatly from the available teaching guides published by Total Language Plus® (TLP). These comprehensive guides offer activities, writing prompts, editing lessons for grammar, and vocabulary lessons as well. We often use this resource as we create our Reading & Writing class assignments. There are both discussion questions to check for comprehension, as well as deeper questions to develop critical thinking skills. If you choose to use one of the guides during the holiday months while students are not in our classes, nearly all of the prep work is done for the parent. And who could not benefit from some extra time during the holidays?! TLP offers a guide with three Christmas short stories, or a guide for older students with the classic Dickens novel, A Christmas Carol. Use the link below to visit the website and consider purchasing whichever format you prefer for your family. You may even explore other options as you plan for your future Language Arts instruction!

READING SLOWLY & CLOSELY ALLOWS DEEPER EXPLORATION

When asked “Why would The Write Journey choose to only study one novel in class for a whole semester,” I understand the concern. Don’t we want our students to be considered well read? Don’t they need to read many novels to even qualify as well read? If only it were that straightforward! As an avid reader, I could not limit myself to just one book over 12 weeks. However, we study a novel as opposed to simply reading the story to find out what happens. Students that want to gobble up stories may choose to read many alongside our class novel. Let’s look at the purpose of slowly and closely studying literature.

Great literature opens the door to a deeper and more meaningful exploration into many aspects of a novel. In class, we teach students to pay attention to important aspects of their novel. While we may not closely study every aspect on the list in each and every novel, over time, students learn the different components of the greats!

•  The parts of a story

•  The author's craft or methods

•  Strong vocabulary

•  Well-written sentences

•  Conflicts

•  Character development

•  Literary devices, such as tone, similes, metaphors, irony, satire, hyperbole, etc.

•  Theme

•  Genres

• Point-of-view

When a student finds the information that the instructor directed them to seek, they mark the novel. However, they do not underline or highlight entire pages! Instead, students learn to use symbols, abbreviations, and words written in the margin to indicate the purpose for which they marked the page. They also record the information on a chart, which is kept throughout the entire study. This allows the student to easily find that information. Classes deeply discuss short sections of the novel in the classroom discussion, and much of the scheduled time is devoted to that discussion. TWJ highly values interaction, lively discussion, and even discourse. Students are able to critically think through the deeper layers of concepts in the story, which are often highlighted by the instructor to ensure students truly understand all that they read.

So- why study just one novel? Briefly, students gain more. Therefore, less is more. Many past students, when asked to share their favorite all time novel, will state one of the novels from our classes. They develop a close relationship with the text. The story lasts, and it matters. And THAT matters to The Write Journey.

SUMMER 2022

The end of the school year brings the long awaited season of rest, relaxation, and recuperation. For many, this means vacation. Others may choose a stay-cation, especially with the cost of gasoline. No matter where your family finds themselves this summer, we hope some reading materials are close-at-hand; what better way to while away some free time?

I personally enjoy picking up a couple novels I had to set aside until I had time enough to sit and enjoy them. I also read in preparation for the next school year, so I will try to reread as many of the novels taught in all of our classes. One thing is certain- if I do not plan in advance to read, I may not make the time available.

I live in a humid climate, so mid-afternoons offer an excellent window for choosing to stay indoors in the air-conditioned house. However, I have also been known to bring a book along to the water’s edge at a lake or even in a boat! I simply use a one-gallon or two-gallon sized ziplock bag that is big enough to lay the book open and turn pages with some effort. The extra work is worth it to me. What a way to enjoy new adventures, think deeply, or get lost in an old favorite.

Some other options include heading over to the local library, where you may sit and read in a quiet place. You may also try that new coffee shop or cafe. Also, don’t forget to take along a book during an extended drive (my daughter believes there is ample time to read in a 5-10 minute car ride), as long as you don’t get too carsick. Audio books work in car rides as well, and many library memberships allow one to borrow these options.

However you decide to enjoy the three ‘R’s’, I hope you find yourself with a book in hand. Remember to share your new titles in our social media pages!