IEW Voyages in Writing Student Book

This theme-based study, Voyages in Writing, provides a year’s worth of curriculum for any student desiring to practice the IEW® Structure and Style© method. Writing assignments follow the patterns developed by author Andrew Pudewa. Students will read selections written by professional authors. Vocabulary studies are also pulled from these. Students will write from notes and form outlines. Following these skills, they’ll practice retelling narratives and summarize writings about the Harlem Renaissance, mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, and D-Day. Then they’ll write from pictures of a pyramid tomb and from the Great Depression.

When it’s time for formal essays, the course provides “essay structures” (outlines), planning charts, methods to integrate questions and quotations into writing, and more. A large focus of this theme-based level is learning how to engage with primary sources and to summarize key documents in research. Therefore, in the latter half of the year, students practice summarizing multiple references (including the “Cold War”). Next, students practice the five-paragraph model (including an intro and conclusion), creating inventive writing, a formal essay, and a critique of literature.

If you wish to add literature studies to make a more complete language arts course, you’ll find Appendix I provides a list of suggested fiction and poetry organized by month. If you choose to include these, each of the novels is scheduled for 2 months. Start the year with To Kill a Mockingbird; then Lord of the Flies; Robinson Crusoe; and Much Ado about Nothing. You can select the version you desire and add discussion questions or literature guides to promote more analysis. For each month, the curriculum also recommends students study and memorize a famous poem. During March, students will read 6 short stories from such authors as Chekhov and Tolstoy. The last month is solely dedicated to studying a list of 10 suggested poems. Poems include, “Do Not go Gentle into That Good Night,” by Dylan Thomas; “God Sees the Truth, But Waits,” and “An Honest Thief,” by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

The nonreproducible Teacher’s Manual includes a scope and sequence for 30 weeks of lessons, listing the topic of the composition style practiced, the style focus (alliteration, openers, etc.), and the weekly vocabulary words (typically 4 with each lesson). A quick list of the year’s vocabulary is found in the appendices. The teacher manual provides reduced student pages with teacher guidance and helps in the margin. You’ll find appendices for adding literature, handling grammar, mechanics, review games, vocabulary from each lesson with definitions, and chapter quizzes for each chapter. Purchase of this manual includes access to PDF downloads of Vocabulary Cards, reproducible assignment checklists, and Writing Exemplars.

The consumable Student Book provides all your student needs for each lesson, along with digital access to Vocabulary Cards, reproducible checklists, and exemplars. This text includes a scope and sequence and appendices on adding literature, mechanics review, and vocabulary by lesson. Both the student consumable book and the Teacher’s Manual are required for this composition course and can be purchased as a combo. Student and Teacher texts are ©2026. See individual descriptions for specific details.  ~ Ruth