Posts Tagged writing essays
Integrating Multiple Sources is Tough Work
Posted by Diane in Post-Trivium Homeschool | High School on November 9th, 2009
In How to Guarantee Independent Reading, I discussed four ways to motivate young home school readers to seek opportunities to read on their own. Let’s say that you faithfully follow my advice and begin to see the fruit. In a few short years, your child will substantially master the three skills of the classical trivium and be ready for post-trivium independent studies. On the brink of the homeschool high school years, you sit back and relax, knowing that your teen knows how to read well. You’ve done all you can do to help her succeed in high school, right? Well, I hate to burst your well-earned bubble, but there’s more work to do. What other skills are needed besides independent reading?
Integration of Several Sources
Reading skills are essential to perfecting writing skills, but knowing how to read is not enough. To justifiably qualify as a true scholar, the homeschool high school student needs to know how to read several sources for meaning so that she can integrate or synthesize the main ideas in writing her essays and research papers. Reading for the purpose of integration is not an easy task; many high school students get bogged down in the details and lose the big picture when distracted by multiple sources (you may have been one of these unfortunate souls who dreaded sifting through all the sources for your research paper). To effectively tackle the challenges of essay writing and the even greater challenges of developing a debatable thesis statement for the lengthy research paper, your high school homeschool student needs specific strategies for success. You can give your student tremendous writing help with these three simple secrets.
Secret 1: Manage your time wisely.
When you assign a writing task like an essay or research paper, give your high school homeschooler hard deadlines with enough time to successfully accomplish the task. Establish a deadline for the final paper, one or two rough drafts, and the preliminary outline. Teach your teen how to count backwards from the final due date and how to subdivide his time into smaller units. For instance, if you assign a three point essay over three weeks, he might want to spend the first week skimming resources for 3 related points, the second week reading and integrating the ideas, and the third week drafting the outline, first draft, second draft and final essay. If your son keeps a calendar, have him write down his own goals for accomplishing the tasks; this act of writing down commitments will teach him to be accountable to himself. You could also teach him how to create a ‘to-do’ list.
Secret 2: Research broadly on the first pass.
Not all information is equally important. Teach your high school homeschooler the 80/20 rule: 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. (Here are two examples of the “Pareto rule” from real life that illustrate this concept. In business, it is generally proven that 20% of a company’s customers provide 80% of the company’s sales. In economics, 20% of the world population controls 80% of the world’s wealth.) In other words, your home school high school student would NOT be using his time efficiently if he read each word in the selected research texts because, out of 100 words, most of the important content would be included in only 20 words.
How do you apply this time management principle? First when you begin your search at the library, pull 20-25 books for the first pass. Preview each book then skim each text and jot down any ideas that might work well in your proposed essay or research paper. Next eliminate half of the original resources by picking those that are most pertinent to your topic. That means that your research pool now includes 10-12 books instead of 20-25 books. Of these culled books, continue skimming until you have six potential topics for your three topic essay. In skimming the text, look for key words that are repeated. Prioritize all six potential topics according to amount of available content. Decide on your top three topics.
Secret 3: Narrow the topic and integrate your sources.
Now it is time for in-depth reading. Read only those passages that deal with your three topics. By reading passages, rather than entire sources, less time elapses between the various readings. This concentrated use of time to focus on the meaty content will help your home school high school student retain the main ideas. Remember the 80/20 rule even in your in-depth reading. Look for the topic sentences in each paragraph of the related passage. Jot down the main ideas from the topic sentences to highlight the issues. Reflect on these ideas. Teach your teen to take his time during this phase of the work so that he can absorb, evaluate, and integrate the ideas that he is discovering.
When my kids were learning how to integrate multiple sources for a mini-research paper, I showed them how to create a multi-column, multi-line chart. Here’s how I structured the chart:
Put each book or internet source on a horizontal line under the first column, then fill in the key ideas about each topic. Once you have the chart filled out, the task is easier. With the chart in front of you, ask your son to point out or highlight elements from each source that are related, similar, or can be combined into a whole idea. At this point, your son or daughter should be able to take multiple sources and hopefully produce a more fully developed idea on the topic than any one of the stand-alone sources. He may even think of new ways to approach the topic.
Now you understand why knowing how to read independently is not enough. Synthesis of meaning for essay writing and research papers is tough work, but if you do your part and teach your homeschool high school teen the secrets of successful integration, you’ll definitely see the benefits, and your rising classical scholar will create thoughtful, meaningful content in every essay and research paper.
Voice and Gestures Personalize Speech Delivery
Posted by Diane in How to Teach Homeschool Skill 3: SPEAKING on May 21st, 2008
The five principles of classical rhetoric provide a template for the homeschooled student to write speeches and essays. In canon one, invention, the homeschooled orator or writer determines the debatable idea, discovers the logical arguments, and develops the thesis for his speech or essay.
Canon two, arrangement, divides the speech or essay into an introduction, a statement of facts, an outline, the proof, the refutation, and a conclusion.
Style canon three, involves determining purpose (instruction, persuasion, or entertainment) and selecting words for greatest effect.
With canon four, memory, the homeschooled orator practices memory techniques, particularly placement of ideas within a room, so that he can enhance his ability to recall the elements of the speech.
Delivery, canon five, is like style in that it determines how something is said. The Greek word for delivery, hypokrisis, translates in English as “acting,” so it’s not surprising that canon five focuses on vocal training and the use of gestures. Writers must make up for the lack of physical delivery in brilliant style.
Effective Use of Voice
You’ve probably heard the legend of the Athenian orator, Demosthenes, who, in order to overcome a severe stutter, purportedly ran along the Greek seashore reciting poetry with pebbles in his mouth. His efforts paid off in the long run as he became an eloquent public speaker. These days the only people who seriously study vocal techniques are singers, actors, and some elite politicians. Singers and actors know that the proper use of the diaphragm results in more oxygen which leads to more volume and pitch control. Likewise, an open larynx and dropped jaw allow the sound to resonate creating a clearer tone as the notes vibrate against the bones of the head. The deliberate homeschool speaker articulates vowels, consonants, and diphthongs for accurate, crisp pronunciation.
An experienced orator often plays with vocal techniques before settling on the final spoken piece. When still preparing the presentation, he experiments with the following elements:
- pitch (the musical tone on a standard scale like the note “middle C”)
- volume (the loudness or softness of sounds)
- pause (the temporary suspension of sound)
- emphasis (the stress placed on certain sounds, words, or phrases)
- rhythm (the ordered alternation between strong and weak elements of sound)
- pace (the speed at which the words are spoken)
- tone (the mood or intensity of the spoken words)
Consider that a homeschool speech is somewhat like a personalized work of art. Each orator will bring unique vocal attributes to the very same text. Use your voice to decorate the content.
Effective Use of Gestures
Now it’s time to involve the entire body as an instrument of communication. The homeschooled speaker should plan physical movement from your head down to your toes. Will you nod your head up and down at key points? Perhaps you will tilt it in a certain manner. Generally, your arms should relax comfortably at your side with fists unclenched unless you are using your arms and hands for specific illustrations. Don’t point your fingers unless you want to threaten your audience.
Decisions need to be made about your legs as well. Will you walk to certain points during the speech to accentuate specific points in the content? Will you adopt a stable stance of good posture for most of the speech?
How will you manage your eyes and face? Eye contact is critical, but don’t flit from person to person. Engage certain members of the audience with a direct gaze.
Consider the overall theme or message that you want to communicate and make sure that your physical delivery is consistent with that message. A ceremonial speech might use a greater variety of casual gestures where a deliberative speech might use less gestures of a more formal nature.
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One of the best ways for the homeschooled speaker to investigate vocal and physical delivery options is to observe other excellent public speakers! Pay attention to the techniques used by political candidates, actors, and soloists, and imitate their best ideas in your next speech. Above all, practice makes perfect, as the old saying goes! Pretty soon you’ll be an excellent homeschooled public speaker or writer!
Do You Want Your Homeschooler To Write More Frequently?
Posted by Diane in How to Teach Homeschool Skill 3: SPEAKING on December 12th, 2007
If you want your homeschooler to write more frequently, give them prompts and restrict the writing time. Topical, thematic, and quote prompts can spark ideas for writing essays and speeches in your home school. In addition to getting those creative juices flowing, timed prompts can increase the frequency of writing and public speaking. The more practice your homeschooling kids gather in writing and speaking…the more effective they will be at communicating.
Prompts Encourage More Frequent Writing and Speaking
If you like an efficient home schooling schedule, prompts will allow your kids to squeeze the most out of their writing time. When given the topic of the essay or speech, time is maximized. Valuable brainstorming time is spent examining one topic instead of sifting through multiple topic possibilities.
In our home school, we have also limited the amount of time spent developing the essay or speech. For instance, I find that the kids really enjoy using prompts because I set a time limit. They like racing against the clock, and they also like knowing that when the timer buzzer goes off, writing or speech is done for the day. Consider that first piece of writing a “draft” then have them edit and print the final copy the following day.
How much time to allocate to writing an essay or speech from a prompt really depends on the ages and abilities of your kids. My kids are both teens, and they will eventually be taking the SAT which has a 25 minute essay, so that is our time limit for a written essay. Here is how I do it:
- Select a unique topical, thematic, or quote prompt for each child (or give them 3 to choose from)
- Get the timer ready (I use a swimmers or runners stopwatch, but you could use a kitchen timer or the microwave timer)
- Tell the kids to pull out some clean paper
- Give them the prompt or let them choose their favorite of 3
- Say “ready, set, go!”
- When the buzzer goes off after 25 minutes, I say “time.”
Since they are preparing for the real SAT exam, they follow the same restrictions which include outlining the essay during the 25 minute time limit, but if your kids are younger, you could help them brainstorm and create a key word outline before you start the timer. You don’t want to create frustration because they don’t have enough time to write, so use your judgment for what is best for your family.
I follow the same format for impromptu speeches except the time limit is different. Meredith and Connor both compete in National Christian Forensics Communication Association (NCFCA) Speech and Debate Tournaments, so we follow the NCFCA rules which state that a student has 2 minutes of prep time once they get the topic to give a 5 minute impromptu speech. Expository speeches cannot be longer than 10 minutes, so I give them 4 minutes to get ready.
The great thing about selecting the topic (through prompts) and restricting the time on writing the essay and giving the speech is that you can do more of them! When you only have to commit less than 30 minutes a day, you can give them a prompt more than once a week. Frequent writing and public speaking improve technical skills as well as reduce anxiety and fear.
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Do you need a resource for topical, thematic, and famous quote prompts? Easily locate quotes for free Scripture or BrainyQuote or purchase an inexpensive resource for homeschool quotes at Amazon.
Do you have a child ages 9-12 who likes to write? Check out the “novels” section of my preteen book store, best homeschool books for preteens, and you’ll find some great writing resources including how to write essays about literature.
