Learning to Write and Writing to Learn
With key word outlines
My ten-year-old daughter recently started a homeschool program that uses a method for developing writing skills that makes a lot of sense to me.
The method is centered around the use of “key word outlines.” Here’s how it works:
You start by reading a text (your “source text”)
Then for each sentence of the source text, you write three words that will later remind you of the meaning of the sentence. Once you do this for every sentence in the passage, you have your key word outline.
Finally, you set the source text aside, and referring only to the key word outline, you write your own text that conveys the meaning of every sentence of the source text, but in your own words.
This method makes it much easier for students to get a lot of practice developing their composition skills. That is because it frees them for the time being of having to come up with their own ideas and do their own research. Those are essential parts of writing too, of course. But it can be less overwhelming and more effective to focus on one writing sub-skill at a time. By providing them with “what to write about,” the source text and key word outline allow students to focus on learning “how to write.”
Key word outlines are not only helpful for learning to write, but also for writing to learn.
This morning, I used them to do just that by integrating them into my daily reading routine.
For today’s Bible study, I read Matthew 9:1-8 KJV, which reads as follows:
“And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.
And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
And he arose, and departed to his house.
But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men."
As I read it, I drafted this key word outline:
ship, own, city
palsy, bed, sins
scribes, within, blasphemeth
knowing, evil, hearts
easier, forgiven, arise
Son of Man, power, bed
arose, departed, house
multitudes, marvelled, power
Then, referring only to that key word outline, I wrote the following retelling:
Jesus traveled by ship to his hometown of Capernaum. There he saw a bedridden, paralyzed man. He told the paralytic to be of good cheer, because his sins are forgiven. Some scribes thought to themselves that Jesus blasphemed against God by presuming to forgive a man of his sins. Knowing their thoughts, Jesus chastised them for nurturing evil in the hearts. He asked them whether it is easier to tell a man his sins are forgiven or to heal him of paralysis. Then, to demonstrate the power on earth of the Son of Man, he told the man to arise, take his bed, and go home. The man did so. The multitudes marveled and glorified God that He should give such power to a man.
This “close reading” exercise really didn’t take very long. But it helped me absorb the meaning of this Bible passage much more fully than reading alone generally does for similar passages.
One key detail I did miss was the faith of the paralyzed man’s friends. But this was my first time, so I’m confident I’ll get more thorough as I get more practiced.
I did the same exercise for a much longer passage from the book on cancer I’m studying, and it was effective for absorbing that information as well.
For more key word outlines, read “Writing without Tears” by Andrew Pudewa, the founder and director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing (and also a family friend!). IEW’s curriculum is what my daughter’s homeschool program (Classical Conversations) uses.