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Course Schedule
Navigating the WriteShop Video Course Schedule
1. Choosing Your Schedule
2. Overview of the Daily Routine
3. Differences Between Our Videos and the Teacher Manual
4. The Flexibility of the Program
5. Play With Words!
1. Choosing Your Schedule
You’re free to work through the program at whatever pace is comfortable for your student. Of course, that will be determined by how old they are, how much writing they have done, and how far they have progressed in grammar lessons.
With young students, we take it slow and spread the workbook over three years. With teens preparing for graduation, we accelerate the speed to work on one lesson each week and finish one book per semester.
Finally, with kids in between those two groups, our schedule allows them to move consistently while still enjoying the process of writing and participating in the other activities in their lives. Using that normal schedule, kids usually finish one lesson every two weeks to wrap up one manual each year.
Below, you’ll find the two most common schedules: 1. Normal Schedule and 2. Accelerated Schedule.
2. Overview of the Daily Routine
Because PlayWith Education developed the video course after the WriteShop® Teacher’s Manual (TM) was printed, the TM does not mention the movies. We have carefully coordinated the schedule with the ones that can be found in the Teacher’s Manual. You’ll find the normal routine (for most students) Lesson Plan Overview: Two- or Three-Year Track (Option One above) on page 18 and the ACCELERATED speed (for teens nearing graduation) Lesson Plan Overview: One-Year Track (Option Two above) on page 19.
PlayWith Education’s videos present everything for you. You do not have to add anything to the material being shown. As students finish one segment, the next one will unlock. Therefore, they will know what to do next by which module is available to view.
Students watch the film and then do that day’s work. The only day that does not start with a video is Day Two for the Option One—Normal Schedule, but kids will know what to do because they finish the Skill Builder worksheet that they started the day before.
Students are required to study the directions and added tips in the Student Workbook. As teens get used to the routine, they become expert at coordinating the book with the assignments.
3. Differences Between Our Videos and the Teacher Manual
We have broken the teaching segments into short easily-digestible pieces instead of presenting it all on Day One (as the TM does). Therefore, the website’s schedule deviates from the chart on Page 18 and 19 of the TM in two ways:
1. Day One
Kids watch the Skill Builder video and do the first Skill Builder exercise for “Day One.” The Skill Builder worksheets are an absolute requirement as this course builds on the ideas practiced there.
2. Day Two
Scholars complete the two remaining Skill Builders for “Day Two” and “Day Three.”
4. The Flexibility of the Program
Please note that the schedule is not set in stone; some lessons deviate from it. Moreover, there will be many days when your own scholars will need to flex due to illness or holidays or life in general. Feel free to take time when you need to!
In addition, an extra week has been added to Lesson 1 because it covers so much territory. The Skill Builders will be the whole assignment that first week. Teens will start with the Brainstorming movie the following Monday.
Finally, there is one other time where we added an extra video because the concept required extra explanation. By the time kids get to that, they’re so used to opening the next video and carrying on that they don’t even notice that it’s an addition.
5. Play With Words!
Most importantly, have fun with your students while you are brainstorming, writing practice paragraphs, creating Sloppy Copies, finding a better word for a dull idea, and even correcting errors on the First Revision. Joke around. Laugh together. Have a good time so you teach the attitude that composition can be fun, not drudgery.
Daily Plan
1. Normal Schedule
2. Accelerated Schedule
1. Normal Schedule
The movies guide you through the course (NOT the lesson plans).
- View the first video together.
- Do the assignment in the Student Workbook.
- Repeat.
Daily Projects:
- Day One: Skill Builder Video (8-12 minutes), read section in Student Workbook, and complete Day One of Skill Builder Worksheet (Plan 20-30 min.)
- Day Two: Finish Day Two and Day Three of Skill Builder Worksheet (Plan 20 min.)
- Day Three: Brainstorming Video (7-12 minutes), read Student Workbook, and fill out Brainstorming Worksheet (Plan 30-40 min.)
- Day Four: Sloppy Copy Video (7-12 minutes), read Student Workbook, and write Sloppy Copy (Plan 30-60 min.)
- Day Five: Day Off! (Finish Sloppy Copy if not done)
- Day Six: Writing Skills Checklist video (14 minutes Lessons 1 and 2 only). Edit Sloppy Copy. First Revision Video (6-8 minutes) and write First Revision (Plan 40-60 min.)
- Day Seven: Teacher’s day for editing
- Day Eight: Final Draft Video (6-8 minutes) (Lessons 1-3 only) and write Final Draft (Plan 30 min.)
- Day Nine: Teacher’s day for editing
- Day Ten: Write Second Final Draft (if necessary) (Plan 20 min.)
2. Accelerated Schedule
The movies guide you through the course (NOT the lesson plans).
- View the first video together.
- Do the assignment in the Student Workbook.
- Repeat.
Daily Projects:
- Day One: Skill Builder Video (9-12 minutes), Read Student Workbook, Do ALL of the Skill Builder Worksheet (Days One, Two, Three) (Plan 60-90 min.)
- Day Two: Brainstorming Video (8-13 minutes), Brainstorming Worksheet, Sloppy Copy Video (8-12 minutes), Read Student Workbook, Write Sloppy Copy (Plan 90-120 min.)
- Day Three: Student Checklist video (14 minutes. Stops after Lesson 2), Edit Sloppy Copy, First Revision Video (4-6 minutes), Write First Revision (Plan 50-60 min.)
- Day Four: Teacher’s Day for Editing
- Day Five: Final Draft Video (5 minutes. Stops after Lesson 3), Write Final Draft (30 min.)
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.
