Interactive Guide Grade 6

Sixth Grade Core Subjects : : Composition (Writing Workshops II & III E-books)

Level III

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Writing Workshop

Level II

by Sandra Garant

Writing Workshop

Many students struggle with writing. Think about it—writing involves juggling grammar, spelling, sentence structure, logic, and knowledge. That’s a lot of elements to keep in mind for beginning writers! And that’s why Sandra Garant, author, certi fi ed teacher, andhomeschoolmother, developed WritingWorkshops .

by Sandra Gara t

Many students struggle with writing. Think about it—writing involves juggling grammar, spelling, sentence structure, logic, and knowledge. That’s a lot of elements to keep in mind for beginning writers! And that’s why Sandra Garant, author, certi fi ed teacher, andhomeschoolmother, developed WritingWorkshops .

Directions: The electronic fi les have been formatted to use as saved fi les on a disk or computer drive, or you may print the pages. 1. Read the lesson and work the exercises and activities. These prepare you to complete the assignment. 2. Write the assignment. 3. Use a dictionary or spellcheck program. Read your assignment aloud and follow the proofreading guidelines to evaluate your work.

Excerpt from Level II E-book

Directions: The electronic fi les have been formatted to use as saved fi les on a disk or computer drive, or you may print the pages. 1. Read the lesson and work the exercises and activities. These prepare you to complet the assignment. 2. Write the assignment. 3. Use a dictionary or spellcheck program. Read your assignment aloud and follow the proofreading guidelines to evaluate your work.

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Lesson 2— Conquering Writer’s Block

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What is writer’s block? It is when your mind goes blank, and you cannot think of anything to write. Your fi ngertips are idle on the keyboard, and your pencil poises in midair. Nothing happens. In fact, writer’s block happens to professional writers. What do you do when you cannot think of a single thing to write?

I often go for a walk. I get some of my best ideas going for a long walk, but sometimes I cannot leave to take that long walk. Perhaps it’s raining, or I have students coming. At those times, I might read a few paragraphs from one of my favorite authors, or sit at the piano to play some music. Sometimes I leave the keyboard and pick up a pencil and try the activity below.

Keep Those Pencils Moving

When I describe this activity to my students, they do not like the sound of it because they do not think they can do it. But they can keep their pencils moving! I set a timer for fi ve minutes, and we pick up our pencils and write as fast as we can about a topic. I try to put an object on the table that is the topic or represents the topic. This is helpful to keep us focused. You might want to put your topic on the table when you do this exercise. The pencils have to keep moving and stay in contact with the paper. Do not lose contact with the paper. If you cannot think of anything to write about the topic, write “I can’t think of anything” or “What else can I write?” repeatedly until something occurs to you. Very few of my students end up writing that, even though they assure me that they will never be able to write for fi ve whole minutes. You may write a list of words, phrases, sounds, questions, descriptions, sentences, a story, whatever comes to mind. At the end of fi ve minutes, read aloud what you have written. Underline anything—a word, a phrase, a sentence—that you particularly like. Most of the time, you will have written something that has possibility for a more polished piece of writing. Topics: a shoe, a football, a stuffed animal, a pair of scissors, a chocolate cake, a fl ower, a bowl of fruit, a Christmas ornament, a pair of gloves, crayons, a mask

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