This new spring begs attention
And shivers its literal timbers. Cold, wet and pleading, Scarred by winter winds And pasty snows, My small field and patch of woods Is now a monument To aging neglect. Shorn limbs and branches Hang high and tangled in the Sugar maples (Widow makers we called them Back...
The Emperor’s New Clothes
"But he hasn't got anything on!" the whole town cried out at last. The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, "This procession has got to go on." So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn't there at...
There is in an easiness
When I begin to think of myself. My girded shell squeezing Oysters in a jar; My oily viscera Jammed and joggled Into impossible places. My pancreas Is never where it should be; My esophagus cut cleanly Swirls in a diaspora. My tongue is a trapped In a tangle of...
The Crafted Word Summer Reading & Writing Offerings
Practice & Perfect a More Literate Lifestyle
A Simple Philosophy
Years ago, when I first started teaching writing to a class of 8th grade boys, a parent asked me what my expectations were for the year. Afterwards, I realized he wanted to know what my expectations were for his son, but I answered–perhaps naively–for myself and said, “I just hope my students get to the end of year loving reading and writing as much as I do, and I’ll try just about anything if it works.”
At the end of the year, that parent confided in me that he was not happy with my response and that he was looking for specifics, not dreams. But he happily acknowledged that his previously intransigent son now loved to read and write, and how his 8th grade boy lived a remarkably literate lifestyle–considering how much he once hated “English Class.”
Not much has changed in those twenty years. I still feel more like a coach than a teacher. I have remarkably high expectations for my students, and I will try just about anything new that I think might engage, empower and inspire my students to craft words with equal parts diligence and abandon.
The Crafted Word was borne out of a desire by my students to have a place to find all the cool stuff I created for them: my writing rubrics that they were still using in college, or my Fitz’s Top Ten Comma Rules, Top Ten Writing Errors, & Top Ten Great Sentences–and God knows how many how-to videos, blog posts, and essay maps. It has since expanded to include digital portfolios, multi-media production–and even singer.songwriter music recording!
The long and short of it is that The Crafted Word is my way of keeping on and keeping in touch with anyone, anywhere on the globe who sincerely wishes to become a writer who loves to write, a reader who loves to read, and an artist willing to create & share his or her best work with a real and authentic audience.
Let me know if anything we do here at The Crafted Word matches up with what you want or need.
Thanks,
Fitz
Young Writers Community
Join a Crafted Word
Online Writing Community
~get your own password protected blog
~create a really cool digital portfolio
~weekly writing prompts
~prompt & positive feedback
~a receptive & friendly audience of peers
~weekly grammar, skills, & vocabulary tutorials
~includes podcasts and video essays!
This is an opportunity for any young writer in grades 4-6 to develop
a strong and confident writer’s voice in a community of young writers.
Find out more!
The Writer's Toolbox
Enroll in a dynamic & comprehensive,
unit-based writing & reading course
~8-10 hours of work per unit
~sentence & paragraph building units
~roots & SAT vocabulary
~poetry & creative writing prompts
~classic short stories
~learn to write structured analysis
~narrative & expository Essays
~prompt, positive & effective feedback & assessment
This course is great for any student
looking to get a jumpstart on the coming year
Find out more!
The Classic Reader's Club
Here is a chance to be guided through some of the greatest
classic short stories, poems & novels in American Literature
Each selection of literature includes:
~Video introductions and guides
~access to audio readings
~Rubric-based personal reading responses
~an online discussion board
This course is designed to put the fun back in reading & to discover
just what makes a piece of literature be regarded as a “classic!”
Recommended for grades 6-9
Find out more!
Vocabulary, Grammar & Mechanics
This course is designed for writers who are willing to get down & dirty and learn & practice solid writing skills
~learn the Top 100 (or more) Sat Words & Top 100 Roots
~learn to avoid the most common writing mistakes
~learn the most common homophone and spelling errors
~learn the Top Ten Comma Rules
~practice sentence building & rhetorical techniques
~practice effective proofreading & editing techniques
~measure & assess your progress through online quizzes & tutorials
Recommended for grades 7-9
Find out more!
Good writers are created over the long haul. Having Fitz as a mentor & tutor to guide a student through the ongoing academic demands, crunch times, and the constant ebbs and flows of often conflicting teacher expectations will always be a source of confidence & wisdom. More importantly, Fitz can help any student grow and evolve as a disciplined and multi-faceted writer who is able to meet the challenge of any assignment with confidence in his or responses.
SAT & SSAT Prep
SAT & SSAT Prep
No matter how you slice it, prepping for SAT testing is a source of stress for parents and students alike. Fitz can give you a thorough grounding in essential vocabulary, roots & suffixes, grammatical constructions, punctuation, and common writing errors–as well as a foolproof formula for responding to writing and literary responses in clear, concise, and articulate ways!
There is no shortcut to success, but it is essential that any student knows what to expect and how to respond in an experienced and confident manner.
Try a session for free! It is that good.
Essay Writing
Essay Writing
An essay starts as a caterpillar and emerges as a butterfly
The bottom line in every writer’s repertoire is–and always has been–to effectively develop and convey a unified theme or thesis in a clear and concise way that engages, elucidates, and expresses a thought fully and passionately explored that is a joy (and never a chore) for a reader to understand and enjoy as simply a good piece of writing. Fitz’s body of essays is impressive and expansive by any measure.
The ability to respond articulately to a writing prompt or expectation is an essential skill for life; moreover, being able to embrace the essay forms–whether it be personal narratives, literary analysis, reflective explorations, argumentative or expository statements–is a “skill” that must be practiced, perfected, and mastered from the ground up. It is not something that anyone can “just do.”
At the The Crafted Word we believe that impressive essays evolve out of a painstaking attention to relatively simple adherence to detail, foundation building and effective approaches to thesis development, a unified theme, paragraphing and punctuation, tried and true rhetorical techniques, and narrative fluency.
We can help your essay writing become a source of joy and pride in your accomplishments as a writer!
And that is a promise.
Grammar, Mechanics & Rhetorical Devices
Grammar, Mechanics & Rhetorical Devices
Even just the word “grammar” sends chills up the spine of any aspiring or struggling student. The often arcane expectations surrounding the study of grammar is often bewildering to well-intentioned students of writing. At The Crafted Word we do not have a solution, but we do have a reliable, consistent, and simple approach–and that is to learn the most common writing errors and to develop lasting habits that have served the best writers since words were first put to papyrus; moreover, we take a huge step forward by learning, practicing, and mastering the rhetorical techniques that help bring common and enduring thoughts to a sublime and lasting level.
Reading & Vocabulary Skills
Reading & Vocabulary Skills
All of us have a “weak spot” in our arsenal of literary skills. Understanding the essential themes of literary works and developing an effective approach to understanding complex and specific vocabulary is crucial to anyone trying to develop and sustain a literate lifestyle. The Crafted Word helps students develop the skills needed to understand and explicate the meaning and intent of a wide variety of multi-genre literature.
Paragraphing Skills
The Meaning of Paragraphs
So, here is my formula for writing a good narrative paragraph. In narrative writing we write about our own lives and thoughts and feelings, and so we write in the first person (except where noted). Fitz’s Narrative Paragraph Rubric.doc
The ultimate goal and dream for any writer and performing artist is to develop a body of work that can be shared with an audience that respects and appreciates well-crafted words and music. Our goal at The Crafted Word is to help aspiring artists realize that dream by teaching, guiding and mentoring artists to create, collate and curate their best efforts in traditional publications, high quality audio recordings, multi-media digital portfolios, social networks and well-designed websites.
Music: The Journey of an Artist
Music: The Journey of an Artist
Music Lessons, Songwriting, & Recording
Any good educator or coach knows that exceptional focus, drive, and effort is preceded by clear and realizable goals. Good musical and songwriting skills develop over time–but the fortitude to keep at it and bring your songwriting, performing, and recording skills to the highest level is a process that can be guided by experienced artists who have been there, done that and have created some incredible work of their own. We can help you find a path that directs you toward your goal and dream–and we can help you stay on that path.
Digital Portfolios
Create a Digital Portfolio
Create, Collate, & Curate the Best of Who & What You Are
Someone is not just looking for you; they are searching for you, and you are only one one regrettable statement or stupid posting away from your judgement, and hence your character, being questioned by an admissions committee, potential boss, or anyone else casually (or intently) searching your name on the web—and it is going to happen! The irony that the only thing worse than a questionable digital presence is no presence at all. While there is some nobility in being off the grid, there may also be precious little else to set your particular genius and passion apart from the masses that are arrayed beside, before and behind you.
A powerful and compelling digital portfolio puts your proverbial best foot forward. Your digital portfolio collated and curated over the course of years makes a powerful statement of who you are, what you value, and what you have accomplished. A digital portfolio shows that you give a damn, and that you have been giving a damn for a long time. And that is a powerful reflection of your inner character, your persistence, and your values.
The Crafted Word guides students through the process of creating digital portfolios that can grow and evoke over time. An effective digital portfolio reflects not only who a person is, but it also captures the depth and breadth of who he or she has been and aspires to be. A compelling digital portfolio combines the archiving and presentation possibilities of a website with the dynamic and engaging qualities of an active and interesting blog. And it is easier than you think to get it all started. The harder part is to keep it going and to let your portfolio morph and change and grow with the same naturalness as you morph and change and grow.
And that is where we can guide you every step of the way.
Multi-Media Production
Multi-Media Production
Fitz was one of the earliest pioneers of the paperless classroom, and he is well-known for his innovative use of online writing communities, video essays, interactive tests and quizzes, documentaries and podcasts–all of which are based on a focused teaching of traditional writing and rhetorical skills. The stumbling for any teacher or student to get started is often as simple as he or she does not know where or how to start.
It really is more simple than you might imagine and the academic benefits of engaging students in a dynamic and disciplined creative process is well-documented.
The Crafted Word can help you (teacher or student) get started and provide the guidance and resources to keep you going!