We have updated our 14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student series for the first time since we originally published it. We added a couple of new resources and updated a handful of links, but honestly, not much has changed — writing is, after all, writing.
In this series we use the ideas from Dr. Ruth Beechick and speak to the natural ways of learning writing and grammar.
In addition, we advocate keeping a writing notebook. The writing notebook grows with the student. We have found this to be an excellent motivator!
If you haven’t been using notebooking as a mentoring tool you’re missing one of the most effective tools for student learning!
Notebooking gives our children an opportunity:
- To create — instead of consume.
- To think — instead of recall facts.
- To produce a reference work or keepsake — instead of filling out a workbook to store or toss.
(You can read our notebooking series to learn more about how to incorporate this effective tool.)
Our writing series covers the following forms:
- Outlines.
- Short story.
- How-to essay.
- Autobiography.
- Biography.
- Limericks.
- The character sketch.
- Book review.
- News story.
- Descriptive narrative.
- Persuasive essay.
- Poetry.
- Note-taking.
- Writing a research paper.
As you may have noticed, the series is generally progressive, beginning with the simpler concepts and building on through the more involved. It is our hope that all students can benefit by working through this free series.
If you have younger students you can check out our 8 Writing Activities for the Younger Student. Or if you have little ones just starting, enjoy our 16 Prewriting Activities.
Meanwhile, you can read more about Ruth Beechick and her work, or move on to apply the concept we grabbed from her:
Write Something Every Day: 366 Pencil Sharpeners for Students of Writing
Our own book includes free writing, copying, narration, dictation, compare/contrast, cause/effect, and the other forms of writing.