Best way to use Jump In?

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  • Misty
    Participant

    So I just received the Jump In: workbook for reluctant and eager writers.  I know many of you have used this very successfully.  Could you explain to me what you did, how you used it and what you would have done differently?  I will be using with a 7th gr. boy who does not like to write.  Anything would be appreciated thanks.  Misty

    Rachel White
    Participant

    Here’s what Bookworm said on another post on two differnt posts awhile back (hope she doesn’t mind my plagiarizing her!Laughing):

    • The one skill I think necessary is the essay form, and the research paper which is really just a big hairy essay with footnotes.  🙂  I don’t teach that until junior high age, and I like Jump In by Apologia for this.  We run through that once, and then apply the form to what they do in all their other studies.
    • Jumping In is the single best resource I’ve ever seen for teaching the sorts of writing students will need to be doing.  It doesn’t teach “formulaic” writing like some programs–everyone using Jumping In isn’t going to sound exactly alike.  But it is good, solid instruction in bite-sized pieces.  Then I’d follow up later with a program for research papers, like the one the AG people have.  I teach Jumping In in the eighth grade to prepare for high school level essays. 
    • Before using Jumping In, when written narrations have become somewhat comfortable, then just begin teaching one simple rule per week.  Perhaps one week it’ll need to be not using sentence fragments.  Then another you’ll teach how to divide into paragraphs.  Then another week, teach that you can’t begin every sentence with “and”.  Then work on eradicating “I think” or whatever your student needs. You don’t need to be an expert at this.  Just pick one written narration a week and fix one problem you notice.  Keep it simple and positive.  Easy as pie

    I’m sorry I couldn’t find anything else for you. Hopefully someone will chime in here. If you haunt the classical forums (WTM), you could probably find your answer doing a search without joining up.

    HTH a little, Rachel

    Bookworm
    Participant

    Sorry, Misty, I “misplaced” this post and forgot about it.  Out of sight, out of mind when you are my age apparently.  LOL

    And Rachel, it’s not plagiarizing if you put my name there, so it’s fine!

    Misty, generally I just scheduled one “skill” a day.  There are some skills that are meant to be broken down into several days–especially later on in a unit when you are putting together a bigger project.  So we just divided those up–write the intro one day, spend two or three days on body paragraphs, then add a conclusion, then check it over.  Be sure and get the teacher guide–it has a cutesy name, toolbox or locker or something.   LOL  You only need to buy that ONCE though.  There are really helpful checklists and rubrics in it for you and your child to evaluate  his work.

    I do ALL the assignments, until getting to the narration section and the poetry section.  I do SOME of those skills, but I really don’t care if my kids can write a short story or a poem.  It’d be nice, sure, and I’ve tried to encourage it, but they hate it and the important thing to me is that they can write a cogent essay.  So the skills that are actually writing a story or poem, we would often skip.  If I could get any enthusiasm, we’d do it, but if they groaned, I decided it wasn’t worth a fight.

    Does this help?  Many days it will only take a short time to do a skill.  Some days are a little longer. 

     

     

    Rachel White
    Participant

    Oh yeah, that’s right…it’s not plagiarizing when the credit is given. See, I haven’t gotten to the grades with mine yet which uses the materials that cover this topic and high school was a while back!

    Well good, then!

    Rachel

    blessedmom
    Member

    just begin teaching one simple rule per week.  Perhaps one week it’ll need to be not using sentence fragments.  Then another you’ll teach how to divide into paragraphs.  Then another week, teach that you can’t begin every sentence with “and”.  Then work on eradicating “I think”

    I have been using Igniting Your Writing to do this Wink  My VERY reluctant older student actually writes beautiful, interesting sentences with these exercises…which makes me very happy because he actually likes this and he’s doing the work without complaining!

    (ps.  Currclick has the ebooks for about half of the regular price)

     

    Misty
    Participant

    thanks everyone!  u said 8th grade, di du (bookworm) use OMT before that or after? I have decided I do not want 2 continue with LL from queens right now, though i may go back to it.  thanks typing & bouncing baby sorry

    Bookworm
    Participant

    Hi, Misty, wish I could bounce baby for you!  Smile

    I used OMT at about the same time.  It took me a little over a year to finish both of them, actually.  I do OMT about twice a week and Jump In every day when I do it.  That still left me enough time to do some studied dictation too.  So when they seemed ready in late 7th or early 8th grade, we just stopped doing everything else except a dictation or two, and did OMT and Jump In until they finished both books.  Oddly, we twice got done with both about the same time.  Almost like they were meant to go together!

    Misty
    Participant

    Bookworm do you mean like Spelling Wisdom type dictation?  Or something else?  Thanks

    Anonymous
    Inactive

    What does OMT stand for? 🙂

    Rachel White
    Participant
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thanks Rachel. I was thinking it might stand for “Our Mother Tongue” but I wasn’t for sure. 🙂

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