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I am doing Bigger this year (starting Monday actually!) and my oldest dd (10) will be using the Extension Pack. She has had some practice with writing (used R&S grammar and CQLA last year which had intense writing) but she has not done written narrations before. I know the Ext. pack calls for a written narration twice a week. I know my dd can write a paragraph, but I was hoping Carrie (or anyone else who knows) could give me some guidelines on starting her out on written narrations, such as how long the paragraph should be, how to pick one topic to focus on from the reading, etc. I just got the Preparing Guide (and love it!) and I love how it walks the kids through learning to do written narrations step by step, but since my oldest won't get the benefit of that step by step instruction since she will be doing the written narrations with Bigger this year, I am hoping for some guidance. Thanks in advance for any help y'all can give me!

I haven't done written narrations yet, we aren't there yet. But my thought is if you have the Preparing manual then just use it to give your older dd the steps to doing written narration. That won't change the program for her next year and will give you the guidance needed for doing narration this year.

Karen

Tiffini,

If you have the Preparing manual, in the Appendix is a Written Narration Editing Skills list, you can use for editing the written narration. As far as writing the written narration goes, when we began written narrations with my oldest son, he just jumped in and wrote. I required a minimum of a paragraph. Since he was already a strong oral narrator, his written narrations just flowed from there. Be prepared that the written narration may be MUCH shorter than an oral narration on the same topic would be.

It is good if the kiddos "borrow" wording from the author to give the tone and feel for the writing. This is what makes a written narration different from a written summary. A written narration will borrow the tone and feel of the author to use in the retelling of the piece. This borrowing of an author's style, later helps the student find his/her own style of writing.

Sometimes my son wrote several paragraphs (or pages) and other times, only one paragraph. This variety is fine. Be careful not to over-critique, or you will notice the written narrations getting shorter and more succinct.

Always have the child read their narration out loud to you as you go over it, so he/she can catch as many of his/her own mistakes as possible. Then, compliment on a few points and edit according to the list in Preparing (date it and file the narration away - or leave it in the composition notebook, if your child is using one). That's it!

If your child hasn't had much practice doing oral narrations, then the written narrations will be harder. You may want to do fewer written narrations (or none) until you've first practiced oral narration for awhile to get the skills down. Written narration flows well after kiddos understand oral narration.

Blessings,
Carrie

Thanks, Karen, I am planning on doing that after you mentioned it.

Carrie, thanks for the detailed response. I printed it out to refer to. It was just what I needed.