One of my main tasks this summer was to complete my biennial reaccreditation with IEW. The process includes submitting: A summary of six hours of IEW audio lectures; My lesson plans for each of my courses; Letters of recommendation from a parent and a student; Two papers, one written at the beginning and another at … Continue reading Reaccredited!
NEW Story Chart: THE BLACK STALLION
Visit my story chart page for the newest addition: The Black Stallion!
Last Week for Early Bird Discount!
Although registration for my 2021/2022 Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) classes, for both local and live Zoom online classes, will continue through July, the $35 Early Bird discount for registration ends this coming Monday, May 31st. If you want to find out more about the classes, go to my CONTACT tab and send me an email!
Featured Story Chart: WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS
Well, I finally read it. All my life I have avoided Where the Red Fern Grows because I knew it was a sad dog story. But one of my students wanted to write about it, and I needed to make a story chart, so I finally read it. Not only is it a beautiful story … Continue reading Featured Story Chart: WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS
Twenty Years of IEW: A Tale of Very Fortunate Events
"It was a dark and stormy night..." Actually, it probably wasn't stormy, but it was dark and night, or, more accurately, it was about 2 AM one day in early May, 2001. My eyes had popped open and I had lain in bed for a while. Realizing I wasn't going back to sleep, I had … Continue reading Twenty Years of IEW: A Tale of Very Fortunate Events
It’s All Over But the Grading!
This was the last week of classes for all Writing to Learn levels! It was a swift and busy year, with my largest number of students ever. Levels 1 and 2 completed Final Exams, and Level 3 presented their Super Essays, a term paper that that they worked on throughout the year, on the subject … Continue reading It’s All Over But the Grading!
Why Do People Assume That Homeschoolers Should Work Independently?
Why do people assume that homeschoolers are self-learners, self-starters, lovers of academics? Homeschoolers are just ordinary people with all the different personalities and quirks and talents and shortcomings that ordinary people have.
C.S. Lewis on Why Literature Matters
Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom fully realise the enormous extension of our being which we owe to authors.
Planning summer reading? Check out my Story Charts!
If you are new to my website, Writing to Learn, you may not know that I have a page devoted to story charts for literary analysis! These are free to download and I am constantly adding new ones. I use the Center for Lit method of literary analysis in my writing classes, and I started making the story … Continue reading Planning summer reading? Check out my Story Charts!
One of Those Literary Stories
I have students who do extra work just because they want to. 😀 In Level 1, we have just finished the literature unit. I teach the students how to recognize the elements of literature using the Center for Lit method. First, we write a couple of short stories with a very carefully crafted structure, using … Continue reading One of Those Literary Stories