How I Teach Outlining*

The Goobs are first introduced to outlining in the Rod & Staff Building Christian English Series.  Rod & Staff does a fine job of teaching how to outline and how to write a composition from a prepared outline.  The problem is that the outlining exercises themselves are really too simple to do much good.  They are very short and well organized and fit the “perfect outline” format.   You might be wondering, “Well, why would that be a problem?”

It’s a problem because real life isn’t like that.  Few, if any, authors write with the goal of following the perfect outline format presented in Rod & Staff English.  I want my Goobs to be able to outline anything. So, I turned to The Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise-Bauer.  (I know I talk about The Well-Trained Mind a lot.  I’m not trying to start a cult, really.  I just love their methods for English and history.)  This is the basic process:

• Start with one-level outlines.
• When those are mastered, move on to two-level outlines.
• When those are mastered, move on to three-level outlines.
• If the kid can explain his choice of points, don’t nitpick.
• Do 2-3 outlines per week.
• Do not outline fiction.

At the beginning of 5th grade, I sit down with a Goober and pull out the year’s science or history text.  (For this example, I’ll use DK’s History: The Definitive Visual Guide.) The Goober is naturally suspicious; what fresh hell is this?  I read the first paragraph aloud, and I say, “Okay, Goober.  What is the most important idea in that paragraph?” 

The Goober says, “The Celts weren’t a cohesive people.” 

I say, “Okay, that is an important part of the paragraph.  But how many sentences do they use to talk about how the Celts weren’t a cohesive people?”

“Um, one.”

“Right.  What are the rest of the sentences in the paragraph about?”

“Um, their common culture.”

“Okay, so the Celts weren’t a cohesive people, but they did have a common culture.”

“Yeah.”

“And the common culture is what the paragraph devotes the most sentences to.”

“Yeah.”

“So what is the most important idea in this paragraph?”

“The Celts weren’t a cohesive people.”

“Okay.  Why do you think that is the most important idea?”

“Mom, if they were a cohesive people, it wouldn’t be a big deal that they had a common culture.”

“Okay.  I feel you, dawg.”

The Goober relaxes; there’s no “right” answer, I’m not going to argue with him, this is just another one of Mom’s pointless conversations about history.  Then I spring it on him:

“Let’s write that down.”

“Nooooooo!”

“Oh, it’s not so bad.  Look.”

I.  Celts not a cohesive people

The Goober relaxes again; Mom is going to do the writing, and besides, it’s just an outline.  Outlines don’t even require complete sentences!  We move on to the next paragraph, repeat the process, and end up with:

I.  Celts not a cohesive people

II.  Celts spread across Europe by 200 BCE

The Goober is feeling pretty good at this point.  This is the simplest outline ever: the one-level outline.  This is awesome.  We continue reading through the text, and eventually our outline looks like this:

I.  Celts not a cohesive people

II.  Celts spread across Europe by 200 BCE

III.  Celts lived in tribes

IV.  Celtic mythology featured an afterlife

V.  Celts skilled in metalworking

VI.  Celts were warriors

VII.  Celtic culture survives today

Easy, right?  Well, sure, when Mom is there.  As soon as I expect The Goober to complete one on his own, the lowly one-level outline becomes the most tedious, pointless, and difficult piece of writing EVER.  I ignore all the drama, of course, and continue to expect The Goober to produce 2-3 outlines each week until the one-level outline is thoroughly mastered.  How do I know The Goober has mastered the one-level outline?  When he can consistently produce one without bursting into tears over the injustice of it all.

When that happens, we move on to the two-level outline.  I sit down next to a Goober, pull out his history text (he’ll be on a different page by now, of course, but I’m using the same outline for demonstration purposes), and read the first paragraph.

“Goober, what’s the most important idea about this paragraph?”

“The Celts weren’t a cohesive people.”

“Yep.  Now, are there any other important ideas that talk about (support) that main idea?”

“Um, they were united by a common culture?”

“Yes!  Let’s write that down.”

“Nooooooo!”

The Goob relaxes as he sees that I’m the one doing the writing.  And it’s just another outline!  He can handle this.  It’s not bad at all.

We go on to the next paragraph, and the next, and eventually our outline looks like this:

I.  Celts not a cohesive people
     A.  Had a common culture

II.  Celts spread across Europe by 200 BCE
      A.  Sacked Rome in 4th century BCE
      B.  Sacked Delphi in 279 BCE

III.  Celts lived in tribes
        A.  Tribes had heirarchical structure
        B.  Tribes were separate
        C.  Separate tribes connected by common culture

IV.  Celtic mythology featured an Afterlife
       A.  They believed in an “otherworld”
       B.  Stories were told orally

V.  Celts skilled in metalworking
     A.  Used iron for weapons
     B.  Used gold and bronze for art
     C.  Designs borrowed from different cultures 

VI.  Celts were warriors
       A.  Much effort put into weapons
       B.  They had horses

VII.  Celtic culture survives today
        A.  Celtic languages spoken

Now The Goob is expected to come up with two-level outline on his own, 2-3 times per week, until he stops crying about it and is ready to graduate to the three-level outline, which, after a process much like the ones above, might look like this:

I.  Celts not a cohesive people
     A.  Had common culture
          1. Lived in tribes or clans
          2. Were nomads or lived in villages
          3. Were warriors

II.  Celts spread across Europe by 200 BCE
      A.  Sacked Rome in 4th Century BCE
      B.  Sacked Delphi in 279 BCE

III.  Celts lived in tribes
        A.  Tribes had heirarchical structure
             1.  King
             2.  Noble-warriors and priests
             3.  Commoners               
             4.  Druids
        B.  Tribes were separate
              1.  No political unity

IV.  Celtic mythology featured an afterlife
       A.  They believed in an “otherworld”
             1.  “Otherworld” was parallel to natural world
             2.  Filled with spirits and monsters
             3.  close ties to nature
       B.  Stories were told orally
            1.  Celts were illiterate
            2.  Mythology and epic poems recited 

V.  Celts skilled in metalworking
     A.  Used iron for weapons
          1. Shields, swords, and spears
     B.  Used gold and bronze for jewelry
          1.  Gold torcs
          2.  Bracelets
          3.  Brooches
     C.  Designs borrowed from different cultures
          1.  Greeks
          2.  Etruscans
          3.  Scythians

VI.  Celts were warriors
       A.  Much effort put into weaponry
            1.  Ceremonial weapons
            2.  Decorative shields
            3.  Body painting
       B.  They had horses
            1.  Chariots used in battles

VII.  Celtic culture survives today
        A.  Celtic languages still spoken
             1. Brittany, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man

After The Goob has proved capable of writing a three-level outline without crying, hiding, begging, pleading, refusing, or threatening to run away and join the circus, I change things up a little bit.  The Goober will only write one three-level outline per week, but he will then write a summary of the passage using just his outline for reference.  

“Noooooooo!”

Yes.  After he writes the summary, he should check it against the original piece, making sure he included all important points.  The summary should be in his own words, with very few “borrowings” from the original text.  (Sometimes a Goober with a good memory will write the outline in his own words, but when he writes the summary, a nice turn of phrase from the original work will pop into his head.  He’ll use it, not consciously plagiarizing, but plagiarizing all the same.  This is why checking against the original piece is so important.)  The Goober hates me for this at first, and there are more histrionics, but he will thank me later when he starts studying for college exams and doing formal research.  (That’s the answer to the question I know you’re dying to ask: Yeah, but what the hell is all this for?)

Anemone has recently graduated to three-level outlines.  She has been doing very well up to now, but this week she ran across a two page spread in History: The Definitive Visual Guide about the scientific revolution.  About two hundred years of scientific progress are crammed into a very short article; I think it just overwhelmed her.  Here is the outline she wrote.  (You can definitely tell where her interests lie; notice how briefly she treated astronomy, and how much detail she tried to pack into the biology section.)

I.  New way of scientific thinking in the 1500s
    A.  Church reigned supreme in religious affairs and “natural philosophy”
    B.  Arab scholars continued to develop Greek ideas
    C.  In 18th century, failings exposed in many areas
         1.  new method of philosophy established

II.  Knowledge Explosion
     A.  Printing press
          1.  rapid spread of information
     B.  Discovery of Americas
          1.  exotic plants found, cultivated in botanical gardens
          2.  new specimens became important part of explorations
     C.  Growing interest in novelty undermined reliance on ancients
          1.  classical geographers had nothing to say about new lands
          2.  scholars had no choice but to investigate for themselves

III.  Written in Stars
       A.  Galileo Galilei discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter
            1.  showed Earth not center of all motion
       B.  Galileo observed moon-like phases of Venus
            1.  showed Earth must be orbiting the Sun
       C.  Johannes Kepler developed set of laws
            1.  showed planets follow elliptical orbits around Sun

IV.  Advances in Biology
      A.  Discovery of text by Galen in 16th century intrigued Flemish anatomist Andreas Vesalius, who discovered Galen never dissected humans
           1.  Vesalius’ De Humani Corporis Fabrica inspired generation to continue study of anatomy
      B.  Galen thought blood rose and fell in body
           1.  William Harvey announced valves in blood vessels only worked in one direction
                a.  discovery met with fierce resistance
                     i.  with no connection between arteries and veins, it relied on invisible capillaries
                     ii.  recently invented microscope allowed observation of capillaries, confirming supremecy of new method of observation, experiment, and deduction

There are all SORTS of problems with this outline.  For one, it’s much too wordy, and the words used are most definitely not her own.  Her main points are simply the titles of the sections within the article.  She ignored several important details in the astronomy section.  She would never be able to write a summary of the first paragraph with that sketchy outline.  There are capitalization issues.  In short, it’s an epic fail.  I can’t accept this as written, but if I sent her back to fix it on her own, there would be angst and drama and bleeding eyes, and I don’t want that.  So what I’ll do is sit down with her and go over the three-level outlining process again.  I’ll read the original text aloud, and I’ll do all the writing.  We’ll compare her first outline with the outline we’ll do together, and she’ll try again next week.  

Sometimes homeschooling is hard.

*This post was written in response to a question from Deb of Not Inadequate.  Blogging for Deb is turning into a full time job!  Keep the questions coming, Deb.  I could talk about homeschooling all day long.

Puddleduck Reloaded (a Classical Writing assignment) by JellyMan

Years ago, in the English countryside, there lived a duck named Jemima. She was an unremarkable duck, with white feathers and a dull brain, and she had but one desire: to hatch her own eggs. The farmer's wife wouldn't allow Jemima to sit on her own nest because she had a history of leaving her eggs unattended while she preened herself by the lake. Instead the farmer's wife gave them to a brown hen to sit. The hen mocked Jemima and often led the little ducklings past her, clucking snootily. One day, however, Jemima decided to take matters into her own hands, so to speak, and left the farm.

Collie Dog Kep, the farmer's chief watch dog, saw her sneaking through the trees. He summoned his apprentices, the foxhound pups Watson and Zither.

"Watson! Zither!" he barked. "It's time to prove yourselves. Once you complete this test, you will be fully trained."

"What's the objective?" asked Watson.

"In the heart of the forest," replied Kep, "there lives a particularly cunning and bloodthirsty fox called Sir Kay. Defeating him will take all of your skill."

"How do we find him?" inquired Zither excitedly.

"Jemima has gone into the forest to nest. Kay is a sadistic killer and will certainly make an attempt on her life. Find Jemima, and you will find Kay."

Jemima trudged through the undergrowth anxiously searching for a nesting site. The sun had set long ago, giving the forest a most foreboding aura. Every snap of atwig seemed to be a predator stalking ever closer. At last she broke out of the mass of brambles and thorns and stumbled into a clearing. Too exhausted to move on, she gathered enough leaves to fashion a temporary nest and fell asleep.

The next morning, Jemima woke and began work on a permanent nest site among a stand of bright pink foxgloves.  Upon returning from her last trip into the forest to gather nesting materials,she went to work laying her eggs, hardly able to contain her delight. Unfortunately, this made her rather fidgety and distractible. As she turned around for the tenth time in as many minutes, she noticed a rustling in the bushes. The rustling came closer, and Jemima screamed in panic as a sleek figure burst through the undergrowth.

Frightened out of her wits, Jemima tried running but no matter which way she went the figure was too fast for her. Finally, out of desperation, she flew at him, pecking every inch she could reach and screaming with all the fury of the fowl of old. He evaded her attacks with ease, speaking soothingly all the while.

"Why do you attack me?" he asked. "I merely wish to know what a farm duck would be doing in my forest. Now, let us sit down and get to know each other," he added as he gently but firmly held her at arm's length. Truly looking at him for the first time, Jemima was dazzled by his emerald eyes and brilliant red coat, and captivated by the dash of bone-white on the tip of his beautiful tail. Charmed by his diction and good manners, she relaxed. She told him of her troubles, of the thieving farmer's wife and the condescending hen. He listened sympathetically, and offered her a place in his wood-shed.

The shed was a quaint wooden building next to a pleasant sounding brook.  The walls were painted in a strong rust color.  The inside was very cozy.  It was stuffed with feathers and scraps of fur, in which Jemima created a large hollow and sat down to work.

Jemima passed the next few days in great content.  Sir Kay brought her fresh, juicy pondweed and crystal clear water from the brook, and came often to check on her progress.  He was overjoyed when she at last laid her eggs.

"What a fine aerie you have created, Madam," purred Kay.

"A what?" asked Jemima, preening as she stretched her legs and beaming at her eggs.  There were nine, greenish-white and quite beautiful.

"An aerie is a nest," he explained.  "And now that you've laid your eggs we must celebrate.  I will prepare a fire, and you will gather herbs for our feast.  By the time we are finished, I will have prepared the finest meal in the wood."

Jemima, who was rather hungry now that she stopped to think about it, went off at once.  As soon as she had waddled out of the shed, Kay sneered.  Oh, yes, he thought.  It will be a meal to remember.

Jemima wandered through the forest, gathering herbs and humming to herself.  All was well until Kep's protégées burst out of the sage bush she was facing.  Jemima shrieked and fell backwards onto the ground at Kep's feet.

"It's all right, Jemima," said the dog, pulling her to her feet.  "We've been looking for you."

"Y-you h-h-have?" stuttered Jemima.  She shifted her feet nervously, looking for an escape route.  But she was surrounded.  She backed into the sage bush, and the dogs closed in around her.

"Yes.  "I haven't seen you on the farm lately,  and there have been rumors that you were nesting in the forest.  Apparently," he added, eyeing her unwashed feathers, "the rumors are true."

"Yes, it is true," replied Jemima, smoothing her ruffled feathers.  "I've been lodging with a gentleman named Sir Kay.  Maybe you would like to visit?  We are preparing a meal of celebration, and you are welcome to join us.

"Very well," smiled Kep. 

Kep and Watson positioned themselves on either side of Jemima as she guided them through the tall trees.  She thought to make her escape, but Zither was behind her, blocking her path.  She remembered the care and protection Sir Kay had shown her.  Maybe Kay will chase them away, thought Jemima.  She led them through the tall trees toward the shed.

Upon their arrival, Jemima stepped into the woodshed, intending to show Kep her beautiful eggs.  As soon as she was safely over the threshold, he slammed the door and bolted it tight, trapping her inside.  A moment later the frightened duck heard horrible barks and snarls from outside.  A trickle of blood oozed oozed under the door, and Jemima threw herself back into the feathers.  "Help me, help me!  Kep!  Kay!  Help!"

The din seemed to go on forever, but finally a strangled shriek ended it as quickly as it had started.  Kep opened the door of the woodshed.  He was battle worn, bleeding heavily from a bite on his right foreleg.  Kay's lifeless body lay behind him in a spreading pool of blood.  Watson and Zither, unable to control their excitement, ran in and trampled the eggs before Kep could stop them. 

Kep led a weeping Jemima back to the farm, explaining their mission as they went.  Jemima was furious with herself for trusting Kay, and despite the dog's many attempts to console her, she knew she would never forgive herself.  Finally Kep turned to news of the farm.  In her absence, the farmer's wife had cooked the mocking brown hen for Sunday dinner.  Jemima cheered up immediately.

Thanks to Kep's intervention, Jemima was permitted to keep her next clutch of eggs.  Jemima was so delighted with her new nest that she forgave the puppies for their clumsiness, and they became fast friends.  Only four eggs hatched.  Jemima claimed it was because of nerves, but Kep knew the truth: she had always been a bad sitter.

*** Epilogue ***

From the shade of the old oak tree, a sleek dog-like animal watched Jemima as she played with her ducklings.  "You'll pay, duck," hissed Kay's son.  "You'll all pay."

Like Father, Like Son

When I met The Man, he was a poet.  Seriously.  The Man Boy wrote poetry, and he wasn’t the least bit ashamed of himself.  He flaunted it openly, even going so far as to write a poem about his poetry, which to this day ranks high on my list of the most irritating things ever written.  He kept a little book of his poems, and every five years or so I read through it, laughing, reminiscing, melting, muttering darkly, and marveling at the tumultuous mind of the American adolescent.  Thank the good Lord we tend to wear ourselves out after a few years, right?

Sadly, our JellyMan is right on the verge of that troubled time.  Happily, he inherited his father’s love for the written word and the ability to turn a phrase.  Even more happily, I am benefiting from both - JellyMan gave me an illustrated collection of his poems as a Christmas gift this year.  Most are too personal to share here, but JellyMan has given me permission to post this one, entitled, “St. George.”

          O, sing of drake, both strong and fierce,
          Through whom a savior’s lance did pierce.

          The drake demanded virgin maids,
          A debt, he claimed, that must be paid.

          Not one soul offered, girl or elf,
          Until the princess gave herself.

          The king, he wept, thought all was lost,
          But then he saw a scarlet cross.

          ‘Twas on a shield of hard oak wood,
          The shield of George, knight true and good.

          He swore to help the poor young girl,
          And then went off as storm clouds swirled.

          He fought the creature, speared its head,
          He and the princess left it dead.

          So fought St. George, knight good and true,
          His tale lives on through me and you.

I love my present.  Thanks, JellyMan!  I’m very happy that you found a new hobby.  Just try not to be as irritating as your old man, all right?