Classical Academic Press Writing And Rhetoric

Product Description:

Includes 14 lessons, each utilizing one of Aesop's Fables. Skills covered include summary, amplification, main idea, following an outline, and point of view and include the student's writing his own fable. Both books are about 150 pgs.

Publisher Description:

A Creative Approach to the Classical Progymnasmata—Think of the progymnasmata as a step-by-step apprenticeship in the art of writing and rhetoric. What is an apprentice? It is a young person who is learning a skill from a master teacher. Our students will serve as apprentices to the great writers and great stories of history.

Students are often expected to write with no clear model before them. Modern composition scolds traditional writing instruction as rote and unimaginative. It takes imitation to task for a lack of freedom and personal expression. And yet, effective communication from writer to reader always requires some sort of form and structure. Many of history's greatest writers learned by imitation. In other words, writing takes the same kind of determined study as ballet or diving. Creativity uses conventional form as a stage or a springboard from which to launch grand jetés and somersaults. Too often students are expected to tackle complex writing assignments without learning the necessary intermediate steps. The assumption is that because most everyone can speak English well enough to be understood, and form letters with a pencil, that everyone should be able to write well. Yet how many of us would expect a child to sit at a piano, without piano lessons, and play a concerto? Writing is never automatic.

The Writing & Rhetoric series method employs fluent reading, careful listening, models for imitation, and progressive steps. It assumes that students learn best by reading excellent, whole-story examples of literature and by growing their skills through imitation. Each exercise is intended to impart a skill (or tool) that can be employed in all kinds of writing and speaking. The exercises are arranged from simple to more complex. What's more, the exercises are cumulative, meaning that later exercises incorporate the skills acquired in preceding exercises. This series is a step-by-step apprenticeship in the art of writing and rhetoric.

Fable, the first book in the Writing & Rhetoric series, teaches students the practice of close reading and comprehension, summarizing a story aloud and in writing, and amplification of a story through description and dialogue. Students learn how to identify different kinds of stories; determine the beginning, middle, and end of stories; recognize point of view; and see analogous situations, among other essential tools. The Writing & Rhetoric series recovers a proven method of teaching writing, using fables to teach beginning writers the craft of writing well. This is the first in a series of 12 books that will train students over 6 years, starting in grades 3 or 4 and up.

Lessons include:

Narration/telling it back (creating a natural sense of outline/sequence)
Analogy—learning how this story is like/different from other stories
Comprehension
Sentence play/word play
Rewriting (gaining a sense of internal structure of a piece of writing)
Summary
Amplification
Rewriting given stories
Speak It—experiencing the story from your own mouth (orally) with an audience for a different point of contact, often with some sort of change than the first time you heard it.

Writing & Rhetoric Book 1: Fable Teacher's Edition includes the complete student text, as well as answer keys, teacher's notes, and explanations. For every writing assignment, this edition also supplies descriptions and examples of what excellent student writing should look like, providing the teacher with meaningful and concrete guidance.

Includes 14 lessons, each utilizing one of Aesop's Fables. Skills covered include summary, amplification, main idea, followingan outline, and point of view and include the student's writing his own fable. Both books are about 150 pgs.

What! Another writing program? It's easy to imagine such a question popping up since we do have a number of excellent writing programs already available. This one is a worthy addition. First of all, it follows the classical model for teaching writing (and rhetoric) skills. What exactly does that mean? It means a program that is, in essence, a step-by-step apprenticeship in the art of writing and rhetoric. It's a program that believes that imitation is the foundation for learning writing and at the same time provides an easy to use framework for starting with models of good writing, building a "conversation in the head" (in other words, content through discussion and writing exercises), and for following the persuasive writing system developed by the ancient Romans. This system - the progymnasmata (progym, for short) - takes the student from simple retelling skills through the more and more complex skills of reporting, narrating, praising, comparison, persuasion, and defense. Modern writing borrows heavily from these skills, but the underlying methodology is distinctly different. Modern writing courses emphasize mastering the writing process and gaining experience with the different forms of writing. Accordingly, they often start with a blank sheet of paper and a brainstorming session. The progym, on the other hand, starts with well-known and excellent writing models (also known as classic literature).

Secondly, this program is user-friendly with virtually no teacher prep needed and the possibility of a minimum of teacher-student interaction (although interaction is always a plus). The publisher is the same one who has given us Latin for Children and Latin Alive! They know how to do user-friendly (and appealing). Even if you had no inkling of the meaning of a classical writing program, this would be an excellent choice. The Student Books provide instruction and examples with plenty of space to write. The Teacher Books have identical pages to the student books but add grey boxes which provide additional info, writing samples, answers and talking points. The two books are designed to be used together, and I think it would be unwise and difficult to try to use one without the other.

The lessons follow a pattern. The teacher reads through the text followed by a subsequent reading by the student (in upper levels, the student reads through the text examples). Narration (Tell It Back), discussion (Talk About It), and comprehension (Go Deeper) are all part of this initial look at the source material. Then starts the writing exercises (Write & Discuss). To give you an example of these, from one lesson in Book 2, copywork, dictation, sentence play, copiousness (using synonyms), and amplification (rewriting). Later in the lesson there is a time for reading/presenting the lesson's written work and separate Speak It exercises. It's suggested that this writing series would alternate with a grammar program (although no recommendations are made).

Each book is a semester's worth of writing instruction, with a total of twelve books planned. In a perfect world, a student would start in 3rd grade and complete the series in 8th grade. If your world isn't quite perfect, this series could be started anytime up to 5th or even 6th grade (in my opinion). Students beginning this program should know how to identify and create a complete sentence. It is possible to enter the program at upper levels but requires careful evaluation of the student's writing experience and the scope of the level. Some familiarity with the Progym series would also be helpful. You may wonder how this series interfaces with Common Core. The publishers note that their program "covers a host of these standards." But they further note that "while these goals are worthwhile, the Progym derive their strength from the incremental and thorough development of each form of writing. The Writing & Rhetoric series does not skip from form to form and leave the others behind, but rather builds a solid foundation of mastery by blending the forms."

Optional audio CDs are also available for each volume, which feature Dr. Christopher Perrin, his wife, Christine Perrin and/or others, reading the fables, myths, historical narratives and other source material used in the books aloud, to either add an auditory dynamic to your lesson or help auditory learners enhance their understanding of the material. Packages are available for most levels. ~ Janice

These materials offer complete coverage of both writing and grammar.

Primary Subject

English/Writing

Brand Name

Classical Academic Press

Dimensions

11.0" x 8.5" x 0.5"

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Writing & Rhetoric Book 1: Fable Teacher's Edition

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Is the teacher's manual necessary?

A shopper on Jul 26, 2019

BEST ANSWER: You could get by without it, especially if you are able to spend time preparing ahead of time and/or if writing is a strength for you and/or your student(s). I found it very helpful for making the curriculum more open and go as it provides answers and examples. When we had more time, I thought through some of the questions with my daughter, but sometimes when we were more pressed for time or my brain was a little more fried, I was glad to have the teacher's manual.

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User on Jul 26, 2019
Purchased on Sep 12, 2018

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User on Jul 26, 2019
Purchased on Sep 12, 2018

I did find the teacher's manual necessary as it provides answers not only to the multiple choice questions (easy enough to decipher on one's own, for the most part), but it also provides sample answers to the writing exercises the student is assigned, sentences for dictation exercises and a lot of other additional information and help for the teacher that the student workbook doesn't include.

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Beth G on Jul 27, 2019
Purchased on Jul 21, 2018

Both the teacher manual and student book have the same info except the teacher manual gives you sample answers which can be very helpful when the kids get stuck. So no it isn't necessary if you really want to save money but so like having it because the kids would ask for examples.

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Navine on Jul 26, 2019
Purchased on Sep 20, 2018

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Really enjoyable

I'm currently doing this with two of my children. We are only into the third lesson but really enjoying it. It's lots of fun and really engaging for the children. I'm learning lots too!

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February 5, 2019

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