Course Schedule

Navigating the WriteShop Video Course Schedule

Daily Plan

Schedule (TM vs. Video)

1. Day One

The Skill Builder worksheet contains three sections: “Day One,” “Day Two,” and “Day Three.”
We flex the days for the Skill Builders a little differently than the Teacher’s Manual does. Kids on our normal schedule complete the worksheet over the course of two days (today and tomorrow) while the accelerated ones do it all in one day. As you will see, the three projects are usually comfortably completed in this time frame.

You do not have to present anything. We provide the Pre-writing Activities mentioned in the lesson plan for you. This comes in the second segment of the lesson (usually the Brainstorming video). That’s the day they actually begin writing. Then, we start with a presentation that captures their interest while demonstrating the core concept with real-life examples.

2. Day Two

The TM lists “Day Two” as the day to work on the practice paragraph. To accomplish that goal, we present students with a sample paper in the Brainstorming Video. We demonstrate by example how to edit it to achieve the lesson’s objectives (just as co-op teachers do when they model a practice paragraph with a group).

Consequently, our own schedule for Day Two doesn’t require that you do a separate practice paragraph. A few parents choose to do one in addition to our demonstration, while most do not.

As the WriteShop website says, “If your student quickly gets the hang of each writing assignment and appears to follow directions well, you might only choose to write a practice paragraph now and then, perhaps when a new kind of writing is introduced. On the other hand, if she has trouble staying on track, needs more guidance, or has trouble grasping lesson objectives, you’ll probably want to write practice paragraphs more often.”

If you feel that your own student would benefit from doing a practice paragraph with you, Day Three would be the day to do it, after he or she has watched the Brainstorming video. Look at page 16 of the TM for step-by-step instructions.

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