Wordsmith Apprentice (3rd Ed.)

This is the junior version of the Wordsmith program. Grades 4-6 are an ideal time to teach your kids the "tools" of writing. Of course, at that age, if it isn't fun, kids don't want to learn. Wordsmith does a great job of introducing vital writing skills in a fun and enthusiastic way. Throughout this workbook, students pretend to be writers for the local newspaper. Fun comics are interspersed throughout the book to "instruct" your child on the concept they are learning. The lessons will cover sentence review, paragraph writing, reporting, creative writing, and expressing opinions. These skills are covered in three different sections of the book. Part one introduces nouns, verbs, and basic sentence structure to your children. Some of the projects in this section have your child write an invitation, a thank you note, haiku poetry, and four-sentence captions - just to name a few. Part two focuses on modifiers and more complex sentences. Here your child will create some advertising, work on editing, and write a book review. Part three moves on to organizing sentences in a logical fashion and reporting skills. Some of the projects your child will do include writing sports stories, giving household hints, composing a news article, and creating a comics column. Detailed instructions are given at the beginning of every project to help them complete it independently. Answers are printed in the back to help you correct their work. This spiral-bound workbook has black-and-white text and illustrations. 85 pgs, pb.