Monday, September 6, 2010

keeping it brief

A technique that I have used in teaching writing to my children is the three word rule. They read a passage and then condense each sentence of the passage to three keywords. The next day they rewrite the passage using only the keywords that they've selected. It's a way to get kids writing without the fear of "what do I write about?" that most of them are prone to.

So here's my take on the three keyword book review:

House Rules by Jodi Picoult - insightful; unsettling; captivating

Corduroy Mansions by Alexander Mccall Smith - amusing; entertaining; perceptive

P.A.C.E. by Al Sears - quick; commonsense; motivating

And that's all she wrote!