Daily Writing is "an innovative writing development and reinforcement program" that is available for grades first through eighth. I received the fourth grade materials to review. It consists of two components-a spiral bound teacher's manual and a Daily Writing Check-ups book for the student. The Daily Writing Check-ups book contains 144 writing activities that can be used as warm-up exercises to begin daily writing lessons. These activities cover topics in seven general areas of writing: the writing process, ideas and content, organization, word choice, voice, sentence fluency, and conventions (mechanics). Every sixth activity is titled "Write On!" These exercises can be used as prompts or plans for longer pieces of work (the teacher's guide contains a blackline reproducible master for use with these "Write On!" exercises).

The teacher's guide contains a daily writing scope and sequence, copies of each student activity, and accompanying teacher's notes for each activity. These notes contain the answers to questions asked on the student activity sheets, as well as additional comments and ideas. They also tell you exactly which area of writing is being focused on in each activity.

I have an advanced reader who just happens to be a very reluctant writer. She thrives on reading, but doesn't seem to have much imagination when it comes to putting thoughts down on paper. My plan is to use these Daily Writing Reinforcers with her each day as part of her language arts program. The assignments are quick and painless, but still teach important writing skills.

This program, however, is geared toward use in a classroom setting. I was only able to find pricing for a set of 30 student books. I am not sure of how to go about purchasing individually, though I think it would be worth looking into if you have a reluctant writer or you need something to help reinforce writing skills with your child(ren).

-Product review by: Heidi Strawser, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, June, 2008