Writing Skills (printable checklist)
- To grandma
- To a pen pal
- To the President or a Senator / Representative
- A letter of complaint (or thanks) to a company
- Work on proper punctuation when editing writing projects
4. References
- Cite references when doing copywork
5. Dictionary Use
- Oxford Learner’s Dictionary
- A fun dictionary with British and American pronunciations
- Word Tree
- Choose a word root; use a dictionary to find words that use that root
- Contribute to the Merriam Webster Open Dictionary
- Create your own dictionary of new words learned
- Practice writing your own definition and examples
- Make up fun words for your own dictionary
- This exercise can easily be dictated to mom for a younger student
- Online dictionary games
- Dictionary Dash – roll dice to determine page number and entry number; find the word. Extra: make a list of all the words and write a story using them.
- More games to play with dictionaries
6. Thesaurus Use
- Start working crossword puzzles; make liberal use of a crossword puzzle dictionary
- Use a thesaurus when editing writing projects
- WORDSTORM. Love this. An open-ended thesaurus of sorts that also maps word associations.
7. Parts of a Book
- Wikipedia on Book Design
- Visit the library and ask a librarian to give you a tour.
- Library Scavenger Hunt
- Choose one Part and mention it to your child a few times when reading books
- Author
- Illustrator
- Call number
- Front
- Back
- Title page
- Text
- Pictures
- Table of contents
- Index
- Chapters
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Sidebars
- Charts
- Preface
- Introduction
- Dedication
- Foreword
- Prologue
- Epilogue
- Captions
- Footnotes
- Prequels
- Sequels
8. Elements of a Story
- The Elements of Good Storytelling (These articles are appropriate for middle-school aged students and older. Please note that other parts of this website discuss storytelling as it relates to roleplaying games.)
- Short Story Elements
- Classic short stories (middle school and up)
- Wikipedia on Elements of Fiction
- Plot
- Characters
- Conflict
- Theme
- Allusion
- Setting
- Events
- Resolution
- Conclusion
- Main idea
- Paragraphs
- Dialog
- Purpose
- Point of view
- Fact or opinion
- Cause and effect
9. Literary Devices
- Teaching ideas at Instructional Strategies Online
- Explained by Disney movies.
- Antonyms
- Synonyms
- Synonyms Game
- Synonyms Circle (make a partially blank one and challenge kids to fill it in)
- Simile
- A Dictionary of Similes is an amazing resource; use some of these for copywork
- Metaphor
- Extended Metaphor
- Character is the diamond that scratches every other stone. -Bartol
- Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke. – Beaconsfield
- Happiness is always the inaccessible castle which sinks in ruin when we set foot on it. -Houssaye
- Imagery
- Personification
- Hyperbole
- Idioms
- Allegory
- Analogy
- Foreshadowing
- Oxymoron
- Pun
- Onomatopoeia
- Alliteration
- Assonance
- Consonance
- “The Raven” to illustrate the difference between alliteration, assonance, and consonance
- Consonance in poetry and music
10. Writing: Fiction
- Read, do copywork from, and compose:
- Picture books
- Story books
- Chapter books
- Fairy tales
- Folk tales
- Mystery
- Legends
- Novels
- Fantasy
- Fables
- Historical fiction
- Tall tales
- Myth
- The Writer’s Jungle from Brave Writer
- Writing Prompts.
- Writing Form and Analysis
- Implied Narrative with examples from The Wire, Star Wars, and Doctor Who.
- Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Rules for Short Stories. This whole blog is good reading for a teen who likes to write.
- 5 Types of Anti-Heroes
- Mythic Structure in movies (ex: The Four Feathers). Reference: The Writer’s Journey
- Submit to Magazines
11. Writing: Non-Fiction
- Read, do copywork from, and compose:
- Signs
- Labels
- Lists
- Logs
- Telephone books
- Instructions
- Informational books
- Autobiography
- Biography
- Newspaper
- Magazines
- Schedules
- Historical documents
- Atlas
- Letters
- Journals
- Summaries / paraphrase
- Rules
- Research
- Persuasion
- Comparison
12. Writing: Poetry
Years 1-3
- Go to Librivox and search for “children’s short works.” Download one or more collections for listening.
- Children’s Short Works Volume 1. I usually burn a playlist of poems (or subscribe to the podcast) in iTunes and download them to my phone.
- Nursery Rhymes
- Short Poems
- Narrative Poems
Years 4+
- Go to Librivox and browse for works that interest your child.
- Make listening to poetry part of the family routine.
- While working on art projects
- While lying on a blanket in the woods
- During poetry tea-time once a week
- Learn how to analyze poetry.
- Roar on the Other Side (Years 7+)
- Learn to write different forms of poetry, if so inclined. Shadow Poetry has an exhaustive listing of types of poems with examples.
- acrostic
- ballad
- cinquain
- etc
Eclectic Ed 
I just found your web site in a search of right- brain kids and homeschooling. I am so excited to use some of your ideas!! My kids will love them. Please keep posting more:)
Stacey – I am so glad it can be of use! I’ve had all this stuff floating in various folders and bookmarks for years, but I finally found some time to put it in one place. Right now I’m beefing up the main pages and posting a little; after that I’ll post more regularly.
Awesomeness!!!!