This colorful workbook series is a nice balance between studying the grammar, usage and mechanics of writing; looking at the different forms of writing through models; and putting all those skills into practice by writing your own selections. Part I of each workbook has 30 lessons which focus on the foundations of writing. In the foundations section of each workbook your children will primarily learn how to use words in writing; how to give form, voice, and structure to their writing; how to revise and edit; and how to prepare for a test. The skills learned vary somewhat by grade level; however, they do progress in difficulty as your children work their way through the series. Each of these lessons is covered on a two page spread with four different sections. The "Think About" section teaches the concept with clear language and examples. The "Study a Model" section below provides a short paragraph or story in which the words pertinent to the lesson are highlighted in blue or red. The "Practice" section gives the student the opportunity to apply what they have learned through three short activities. Lastly, in the "Write" section students are given a small writing assignment to incorporate the lesson and tips into their own writing. The foundations unit wraps up with three multiple choice tests which focus on fixing the grammar in a given selection sentence by sentence.

The second part of the workbook focuses on models of different forms of writing. Each workbook covers several different types, but the main writing models studied include descriptions, personal narratives, fictional narratives, opinions, research reports, summaries, instructions, persuasion, and expository essays. Each ten page lesson covers one style of writing and begins by clearly describing its purpose and providing a sample selection. Writing tips provide direction on the different components of a form of writing and helpful advice for writing successfully. Different graphic organizers are introduced for each type of writing to help students organize their thoughts and plan their writing. On the last few pages of the lesson children learn about using scoring rubrics. First they study four selections, already scored 1-4, and analyze the writing by reading the teacher comments on the selection and fixing the errors. Then they are provided with the rubric used to grade those selections, which clearly outlines the guidelines for awarding grades. Children then use this rubric to grade four selections on their own, assigning a score and writing their reasons for this score on the space provided. This work with rubrics serves to emphasize the expectations for a piece of writing and helps children identify the crucial elements of writing. Finally, students are given a prompt and guidelines for writing their own draft. The teacher's guide contains a checklist for each type of writing so the student can review their writing for the important elements. The Models unit also wraps up with several writing tests that are similar to what a child might see on an exam. Each test has a different writing prompt and gives children tips to keep in mind as they begin writing.

Each workbook has a corresponding teacher's guide that contains tips on using the workbooks, a suggested schedule, additional graphic organizers and writing prompts, answers to the student exercises, student checklists for the different types of writing, wordlists, and a summary of the research upon which this program is based.

These workbooks are not reproducible. However, there are student response books where your children can write their answers to the various activities, edit the different writing selections, and write the answers to the tests. There is a separate student response book for both the foundations and models unit in workbooks C through H. These student response books are handy as they keep your child from having to write directly in the workbooks so you can use them for all your children! The workbooks are designed for book A to be started in grade 1 and book H to be used in grade 8. However, the workbooks progress in such a fashion that your children may work ahead at a faster pace. ~ Steph