Last week I interviewed Tyleigh Spiller, one of my recent Level 3 graduates, about her experience of entering and winning an essay writing contest! The South Carolina Department of Education and Dominion Energy offered students the opportunity to choose and write about an inspiring African American from South Carolina. A winner was chosen from each … Continue reading Featured Student: Essay Contest Winner!
Student Writing: “What the World Needs”
I opened my emails yesterday to find the latest edition of Magnum Opus, IEW's newsletter of student writing! The newsletter features one of the nine units of IEW structure each month, and the March edition is devoted to Unit 7 "Writing from the Brain" essays, or, as they now call it, "Inventive Writing." These are … Continue reading Student Writing: “What the World Needs”
Student Writing: “A Wonder of Times Past”
In Level 3, students write ten different models of essays often taught in freshman college English classes. One of the ten models is the Process essay, in which the writer describes a process in stages and steps. Like all essays, this one has a thesis, an opinion that the essay explains. Tyleigh Spiller, one of … Continue reading Student Writing: “A Wonder of Times Past”
Featured Writing Student: Michael Bowen
As a writing teacher, one of my greatest rewards is seeing students using their hard-won skills in real life. One student who has recently done this is Michael Bowen. He graduated from my Level 3 class in 2019 and went straight to joint enrollment, completing his English requirement the next year. He graduated from high … Continue reading Featured Writing Student: Michael Bowen
Not Good at Writing Stories? Try It the IEW Way
One of the fun parts of teaching writing is reading my students' papers. In Level 1, we write stories in a very specific format, known as the "3-Paragraph Story." This assignment is designed to practice the elements of literature, so that when we begin literary analysis, the students can recognize the literary elements of the … Continue reading Not Good at Writing Stories? Try It the IEW Way
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
Student Writing: The Level 3 Super Essay
Level 3 students spend the year learning and writing ten different types of essays that traditionally are taught in college freshman English classes. While they are learning and writing with these models, they are also researching for the final paper of the year, the Super Essay. The subject of the Super Essay is "A Great … Continue reading Student Writing: The Level 3 Super Essay
Student Writing: “Golden Champions”
In Augusta, it's "the second most wonderful time of the year!" This coming Monday Masters Week begins! People descend upon Augusta from all over the world to enjoy the gorgeous grounds and the world's best golfers at the country's most famous golf tournament. I'm not a golfer, but even non-golfers love the Masters. If you … Continue reading Student Writing: “Golden Champions”