Wonders of Science Writing Lessons

The curriculum facilitates direct instruction with clear teacher guidance and structured lesson presentations.

Review states 'A parent or teacher presents the lessons and works with students as needed' and the teacher's manual includes 'suggested answers overprinted when there are predictable answers'

The curriculum includes explicit vocabulary instruction with students practicing new vocabulary words each week.

Review notes that 'Students also practice using new vocabulary words each week' and mentions 'vocabulary cards' in the supplemental PDF resources

The curriculum provides highly structured, systematic writing instruction that breaks the writing process into manageable steps with explicit skill progression.

Lessons progress through 'Note Making and Outlines,' 'Writing from Notes,' 'Retelling Narrative Stories,' and other structured units, with 'lessons break the writing process down into very manageable and structured steps'

The curriculum uses relatively simple, one-page source texts that may not provide sufficient complexity for building advanced reading skills.

Source texts are described as 'about one page in length' and include simplified materials like 'Jack and the Beanstalk' alongside factual science content

The curriculum uses short source texts of about one page in length rather than whole books or complete works.

Review states that each lesson works with 'a different source text (each about one page in length)' covering topics like honeybees, inventions, and scientists

The curriculum incorporates science content systematically across diverse topics, though the primary goal is writing skill development rather than deep domain knowledge building.

Science topics 'range widely to include creatures, such as honeybees and monarch butterflies; inventions, such as the steam engine and the Model T; scientists, such as Nikola Tesla and George Washington Carver'

The curriculum requires teachers to be familiar with IEW's Structure and Style methodology but provides detailed teacher guidance within the lessons.

Review states 'Parents and teachers must be familiar with the Structure and Style methodology—or be learning it a step ahead of students' and mentions teacher's manual with guided instruction

The curriculum includes some elements of practice and review through checklists and skill application, but limited evidence of systematic retrieval practice.

Students use 'checklist forms' to check structural elements and required style elements, and work through drafting and polishing processes

This curriculum does not address phonics instruction as it focuses on composition skills for grades 3-5.

The curriculum is described as focusing on 'developing writing skills' and 'composition skills' with no mention of phonics or decoding instruction