From the Desk of WriteShop

Reviewing a homeschool curriculum or textbook is different from reviewing a novel. In Part 1 of this series, I shared four basic steps to writing a homeschool book review, and Part 2 looked more closely at writing a neutral or unbiased review.

But what if you’re so impressed with a curriculum or book that you feel you MUST give an opinion? More than simply summarize its main features, you want to share your enthusiasm and encourage others to check the product out, too! If ths is the case, you’ll want to write a positive review.

This type of product review is designed to influence a purchase. It not only presents the facts, but it adds the writer’s personal bias.

The reviewer has not used the material but clearly loves what she sees, and doesn’t hesitate to say so. So when you write a positive review, even if you haven’t used the product, share why it appeals to you and mention the features that make you say, “Wow!”

If you’re visual like me, it always helps to see an example, doesn’t it? This review, written by Deborah Cariker of Eclectic Homeschool Online intermingles facts about WriteShop with her personal excitement about the program, even though she hadn’t used it herself. While she stays focused on the program’s key features, she also manages to impart a “Where has this been all my life?” flavor to the review.

Review by Deborah Deggs Cariker

for Eclectic Homeschooling Online

I met veteran homeschoolers Kim Kautzer and Debbie Oldar, saw their curriculum, and knew that I was looking at something special. I am a writer, but I never really learned how to write. No one sat down and taught me how to paint pictures with words. I did very well in English and Literature, but can’t tell you why. I won the National Council of Teachers of English award my senior year and had my essay published in an English textbook, but can’t tell you what was so special about what I wrote. I have believed throughout my ensuing writing career—for radio, television, newspaper, and magazine—that “my ability” is God’s gift. I also thought that this was impossible to teach.

Wrong! (Read complete review here.)

Next week, we’ll close out our series, “How to Write a Book Review,” by taking a look at reviews written by homeschooling moms who have actually used the products they’re reviewing.

Announcing the Winners! 

Congratulations to our winners in WriteShop’s diamante poetry contest. With approximately 70 students submitting a total of 116 entries, it was really hard to select just four winners. My hand went into that bowl with much prayer!

The task of choosing my favorite of the four was even tougher! After all, I had to deliberate between fabulous adjectives such as blustery and timid; strong nouns like tusks, igloos, and frost; and amazing participles including shimmering, lumbering, and crackling. Wow!

In the end, though, I decided on Vincent’s Arctic/Desert diamante. First, I love his topic. It lends itself beautifully to a descriptive diamante. And not only did he choose each word with great care, he painted a dazzling word picture as well. So congratulations to Vincent, our Grand Prize winner, and to our runners-up: Gabriella, Hannah M., and Levi. Well done!

GRAND PRIZE WINNER!

Arctic
Blustery, desolate
Swirling, screaming, freezing
Caribou, igloos . . . Camels, tents
Burning, blinding, whistling
Barren, dry
Desert

 Vincent, age 13 (Indiana)

RUNNERS-UP

Elephant
Heavy, strong
Lumbering, trumpeting, spraying
Trunk, tusks . . . Whiskers, cheese
Scurrying, trembling, gnawing
Tiny, timid
Mouse

Hannah, age 13 (New York)

. . . . .

Sunrise
Pink, purple
Shining, shimmering, brightening
Dawn, light . . . Dusk,shadows
Changing, glowing, darkening
Red, orange
Sunset

Gabriella, age 13 (Washington)

. . . . .

Fire
Red, hot
Scorching, burning, boiling
Ember, flame . . . Frost, glacier
Freezing, crackling, chilling
Blue, cold
Ice

Levi, age 10 (Colorado)

. . . . .

Vincent has won a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card for himself and a $10 WriteShop gift certificate for his mom. Congratulations!

Runners-up will receive our brand-new poster! 

I hope you take a few minutes to read some of the other entries as well, for all our contestants gave their best. You’ll find some true gems, evidence of creativity, hard work, and time spent with The Synonym Finder! As a matter of fact, one mom emailed us to say:

“Thanks for having these contests. I love seeing [my kids] writing for someone other than myself and digging through the thesaurus!” —Theresa

Stop by every 1st and 3rd Wednesday for a peek into the world of spelling, punctuation, or grammar gone horribly wrong!

My California tax dollars hard at work . . .

Welcome back to our “Bad Signage” Wordless Wednesday, offering you yet another gem of a spelling error. This one’s not exactly a sign, but I love that it’s so, um, permanent.

Diamante poems are great for stretching your kids’ vocabularies. Don’t forget that WriteShop’s diamante poetry contest ends September 17 at midnight PDT.

For contest rules, prizes, and directions for writing a diamante, go to Writing a Diamante Poem.

In Part 1, I suggested four steps to writing a book review. Today, let’s zero in just a bit more on the neutral review. This type of product review presents facts and summarizes key aspects of the product or book, and should include very little to no personal opinion.

Sometimes it’s just best to give some examples. Below are some book reviews written by professional reviewers who did NOT use the WriteShop program. You’ll notice that the tone is, for the most part, neutral. Neither review gushes over WriteShop, yet both authors clearly favor it.

This kind of review is meant to give facts and to hold back on personal opinion as much as possible, but you’ll probably spot a few “bias” words such as “great resource” or “I like the flexibility of this option.” Still, all four reviews manage to keep their focus on the features of the programs without editorializing.

Reviews by Cathy Duffy

for Cathy Duffy Reviews

• WriteShop is a great resource for homeschoolers because it’s written for the teacher who knows nothing about teaching writing. It features detailed, daily lesson plans along with student worksheets that cover not only the lessons, but also evaluation and grading…. (Read complete review here.)
• WriteShop Primary, designed for grades K-3, was written by a different author than the original WriteShop. It has many of the same elements that make both programs good choices for homeschoolers…. (Read complete review here – you’ll have to scroll down.)

This next writer begins her first article with a bit of personal commentary before launching into the neutral product description and review.

Reviews by Virginia Jones

for Eclectic Homeschooling Online

• One of the gripes I hear from other homeschoolers and professional educators is that a lot of homeschool students don’t know how to write. I also hear the opposite—that homeschoolers have excellent writing ability. I think it depends on the family; if there’s an emphasis on writing, competent, perhaps even superior writers will result. However, writing often seems to be the last thing we get to in our day…. (Read complete review here.) 
• WriteShop Primary A Activity Set Worksheet Pack is a set of worksheets used in the WriteShop Primary writing course. The set for Book A contains 20 activity pages plus two Primary Writing Skills Evaluation Charts geared to track your young student’s progress as you move through the program together…. (Read complete review here.)

Next week, we’ll take a look at some reviews that offer a more personal bias, even though the writers have not actually used the product themselves.

It’s been seven years since 9/11. Can you believe it? Ask your kids to write a short essay, journal entry, or even a list about the events of September 11, 2001. Here are a few ideas.

Writing Prompts and Exercises

• September 11th is a Day of Remembrance. As we honor those who lost their lives on this day 2001, make a list of everything in your life that you are thankful for.
• Did the events of that day change your thoughts about your life? In what ways, if any, did you change?
• Write about your reaction to the September 11th attack.
• There were many heroes during the September 11th tragedy. Write about a hero or a heroic event that made an impression on you.
• TipLine - Gates’ Computer Tips writes, “Today’s [high school] seniors were in 6th grade when the attacks of 911 occurred. Wouldn’t it be a great writing prompt to ask, ‘How have your feelings and understandings about the attacks of 911 changed?’”

Additional 9/11 Ideas and Resources

BuddyProject.org offers suggested activities that your children can do as they research the events of September 11, 2001. Explore the various sites with your children and discuss with them the information that you find. Encourage older children to write about their findings and feelings.

Diamante: A seven-line poem that takes the shape of a diamond.

Lion
Majestic, proud
Roaring, snarling, prowling
Mane, muscle . . . Fleece, fluff
Bleating, leaping, grazing
Meek, gentle
Lamb

A Poem of Opposites

Remember that the first and last words of a cinquain are synonyms—the last word of the poem renames the first.

Diamantes, however, are poems about opposites: the first and last words have opposite meanings (or convey opposite ideas).

A diamante has seven lines that follow this sequence:

Line A: Topic A (must be a noun)
Line B: Two vivid adjectives that describe Topic A
Line C: Three interesting “-ing” action verbs that describe Topic A
Line D: Two concrete nouns about Topic A and two about Topic G
Line E: Three interesting “-ing” action verbs that describe Topic G
Line F: Two vivid adjectives that describe Topic G
Line G: Topic G (must be a noun)

Here’s another example:

Light
Clear, brilliant
Glowing, shining, revealing
Mirror, candle . . . Whisper, shadow
Deepening, sleeping, shrouding
Black, quiet
Darkness

Brainstorming 

Use the tips below to brainstorm on blank paper for different ideas. Then follow the directions to write your own descriptive diamante. Because the poem has a limited number of words, choose each word carefully, avoiding vague, blah words.

Opposite Word Pair Ideas

Correct: age/youth (nouns)
Incorrect: old/young (adjectives)

• cat/dog
• boy/girl
• hamburger/Coke
• pencil/paper
• sandals/sneakers
• king/queen
• fire/ice
• thunder/lightning
• earth/sea
• rose/thorn
• love/hate
• victory/defeat
• peace/turmoil

Line A: Name a topic (see the suggestions above for some ideas).
Line G: Name an opposite topic. (This will be the LAST line of your diamante.) Remember—topics must be nouns.
Line B: Brainstorm 5-6 vivid, concrete adjectives to describe Topic A. Do not choose words that end in “-ing.”
Line C: Brainstorm 5-6 highly descriptive participles (verbs ending in “-ing”) that fit Topic A.
Line D: Brainstorm several nouns that tell something about Topic A and Topic G. Be careful—make sure you choose NOUNS, not ADJECTIVES!
Line E: Brainstorm 5-6 highly descriptive participles (verbs ending in “-ing”) that fit Topic G.
Line F: Brainstorm 5-6 vivid, concrete adjectives to describe Topic G. Do not choose words that end in “-ing.”

Writing Your Diamante

1. Pick out your most descriptive words from your brainstorming and put your diamante together. Diamantes do not need titles.
2. When you are satisfied, recopy the poem onto clean notebook paper.
3. Center your diamante on the paper.
4. Begin each line with a capital letter, and remember your commas. Do not use ending punctuation.
5. Include three spaced periods in the middle of Line D.
6. When finished, double-check for concreteness!

Line A. _______
Line B. _______ , _______
Line C. _______ , _______ , _______
Line D. _______ , _______ . . . _______ , _______
Line E. _______ , _______ , _______
Line F. _______ , _______
Line G. _______

Diamante Poetry Contest! 

Here’s a contest for kids age 8-17! Post your children’s diamante poems in the comment section by September 17. A student may enter up to three diamante poems, but each must be submitted as a separate comment. Include the student’s first name and age with each submission. (You won’t be able to center the poem, but that’s OK.)

Eligibility and Details

• Submissions will be accepted between September 10 and 17, 2008.
• Winning diamante poems must adhere strictly to the format rules above. For example, if the student places an adjective where a noun should be, the poem will become ineligible.
• On September 18, four winners will be drawn randomly from eligible submissions. Our favorite of the four will receive the Grand Prize. The other three will win a free poster.
• Winning poems will appear here at the In Our Write Minds blog September 18.

(Edited: As students have begun submitting poems, I’ve noticed that many diamantes have contained errors in which students use adjectives when the instructions call for nouns. Up till now, I have emailed these students with the opportunity to edit their poems, but I may not always have time to do this. Please review your child’s poem first to make sure he or she is using the correct part of speech. I’d love for each and every poem to qualify! —Kim)

Grand Prize

• $10 Barnes & Noble gift card for the student
• $10 WriteShop gift certificate for the parent

Other Winners

• The remaining three students will receive an 8.5″ x 11″ poster.

. . . . .

Copyright © 2008 Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

Have you ever wanted to sing the praises of a book or other homeschool product you absolutely love? You may have found that it’s easy to fill your friends’ ears when you gather at park day, but if someone asks you to write up a review for your support group newsletter, you may have no clue how to go about it.

Or suppose you want to post a review in your blog.

Or maybe you want to assign a book review to one of your teens as a writing project.

No matter who’s writing it, you’ll need a different approach to review curriculum than if you were to review, say, a novel. But it’s easy—and fun—when you have a little formula to follow!

I’ve seen three different kinds of curriculum or book reviews. You’ll choose the one that best fits your experience with the product:

• Neutral review. Having never used the materials, will you simply explain the method and approach?
• Positive review. Based on what you’ve learned, will you also give your opinion?
• Personal review. Have you actually used the material? Can you review it based on your own experience?

Regardless of the type of review you write, make sure you include some basic information to familiarize readers with the product’s key features.

Describe the Book or Product

Start off with the basics. First, what is this product? What does this product cover? What’s included? Is it complete on its own, or will the parent need to purchase additional components to complete it?

Second, is it a book? Workbook? Is it hardback, soft cover, or spiral bound? E-book/download? Computer program? CD/Video? Game or manipulative?

Explain How the Product Works

Describe its purpose. Tell how the instructions say to use it. Or, if you’re reviewing a product you’ve actually worked with, describe how you’ve used it with your own child.

Next, tell who the product targets. What age or grade? What educational method(s) will it appeal to? What type of learner might benefit from this product? Is it created for homeschool use? If not, is it easily adaptable to the homeschooling environment?

Express Your Opinion

If you’re reviewing a product you have not used personally and plan to give an opinion, what appeals to you about it? What makes you excited? What do you think your children would enjoy?

And if you’ve actually used the product, how did it work in your homeschool? What did you enjoy or appreciate? Did your kids like it? Be honest but try not to gush.

Make a Recommendation

Again, if you want to give a personal opinion, use your closing sentences to let your readers know if you would recommend this product. Would you buy it were it not already in your hands? Offer a professional review, one that is honest but not overly enthusiastic. After all, this isn’t meant to be a sales pitch.

Finally, close by providing contact information, including company name, website, email address, and phone number.

This is a simple way to get started writing a review. As you can imagine, it’s always easier to evaluate a book or product you’ve personally used. But eventually, you can begin having fun reviewing products you’ve never seen before! And if you’re giving an assignment to a teen, perhaps requiring both kinds of reviews will help strengthen some of her writing skills as well.

Next week I’ll give more details about writing a neutral product review, along with some examples to follow.

Enter a Book Review Contest!

Successful-Homeschooling.com is sponsoring a contest with an opportunity to win FREE books! For every qualified product review that you submit by September 21, 2008, you’ll have various opportunities to win up to $100 in Usborne books!

So now that you have some tools in your belt for writing a great product review, what are you waiting for? Click here for contest information.

When I was little, I loved Benjamin Elkin’s story of The Big Jump, in which a young boy finds a stray dog he hopes to keep.

The boy and the pup become fast friends, but unfortunately, in this land only kings are allowed to own dogs. The king, who can spring from the ground to the top of his castle in one leap, promises the boy he may keep the pup if he too can jump to the top of the castle.

Well, the motivated lad goes home to practice but, try as he might, he can only scale two boxes. And then . . . an idea strikes!

Returning to the palace, he finally does succeed in jumping to the top. How on earth does he accomplish this? Well, the king has never told him he must do it in a single bound! So the clever boy takes it one…step…at…a…time!

Delighted by the boy’s “out of the box” approach, the king awards him the coveted dog.

Writing is a lot like this. Our kids want to make The Big Jump, leaping from blank paper to final draft in one stride. But when they realize that their target is more reachable by taking smaller steps, they begin to believe they can do it. And in the end, they achieve a worthy goal: a polished composition they’re proud to share with others.

. . . . . 

Do you struggle with teaching, editing, and grading your teen’s writing? Are you looking for ways to integrate the steps of the writing process into your lesson plans? Perhaps WriteShop is the answer. Visit www.writeshop.com and poke around. About WriteShop and Parent Testimonials may be good places to begin.

Care for some “cheedear”? It’s from “Austraulia.”

Thanks for stopping by on this Wordless Wednesday to enjoy another dose of bad signage!