DonnaYoung.org

Jensen's Format Writing, Revised
The link goes to CBD where you can see a few pages from the book

Contents
Review
Table of Contents
My Thoughts
Planning (not ready)
Grading (not ready)
Forms (not ready)
Syllabus for 1-4

Useful Link:
Free Reference Resource:
Guide to Grammar and Writing

 

 I have been recommending Jensen's Format Writing for several years, but I have never really said anything about the book at this website.

Jensen's Format Writing teaches expository writing. If you visit the wikipedia, you will see that expository writing is a type of writing that exposes information. According to the wikipedia, colleges and universities commonly require expository writing.

Jensen's Format Writing first teaches paragraphs, then essays, and finally the major report. The material is to the point, very direct. Examples of paragraphs and essays are included along with clear, list-like instructions. The author directs the student to think in order.

The included teacher helps are grading check sheets and assessment forms and a sample schedule. I found the checklists very helpful and I made a schedule to suit us. In the beginning part of the book, in "To the Teacher" you will find scheduling suggestions. When you plan the book, you will need to decide how many paragraphs and essays to assign a week and due dates. Be certain to allow yourself time to grade the work and get back to your student.
Comments that I made several years ago when I used Jensen's Format Writing.

Donna, Aug 9 2004, 11:21 AM

Last Thursday, my son turned in his first essay of the new school year. After grading it, I see that he needs to review comma usage. He made 7 comma errors (8 really, but one is debatable.) He made errors in style -- he overused "most" and actually started his first sentence with the weak phrase: "One of the most." Several of his sentences used the passive voice and he used contractions. He also made two errors on the usage of "it's."

I will add to his schedule grammar/usage/style assignments as follows: review commas, if passive voice should be used, review it's and its, if contractions should be used, review weak expressions such as "One of the most." He will use a grammar handbook and The Elements of Style to review. We will have some discussions as well.

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Donna, Aug 26 2004, 10:49 PM

Grading the essays is difficult. Jensen's Format Writing includes check sheets for all of the different kinds of writing assignments and that helps me a great deal. I am currently grading 2 essays. He improves with each essay, but he still has some problems with sentence construction in terms of presenting the material using strong sentences. I have to communicate to my son why I do not like a sentence, telling him it is lame does not work. He writes in the passive voice too often, he does not always use strong verbs. It sometimes makes for wimpy writing. He is trying though, but I have to find the weak areas and point them out and explain....

Simple example:
Wimpy/lame version.. "I think HrDVD's were introduced last year by Sony"
Strong version "Sony introduced HrDVD's last year."

He's learning plenty this year.