Wordsmith Apprentice
Build strong writing skills through imaginative, newsroom-style assignments.
Quantity:
Consumable
In a Curriculum Kit
Multiple Grades
Nonreligious
2026 Sixth-Grade Curriculum Kit
Some children are more willing to write when it feels like they have a job to do. Wordsmith Apprentice leans into that idea by placing young writers inside a busy newspaper office where writing has a purpose from day one.
Designed for ages 9–12, this writing program teaches grammar, sentence structure, and composition through a series of newspaper-themed assignments and activities. One lesson might involve reporting breaking news. Another may focus on writing an advertisement, creating poetry for the lifestyle section, or crafting dialogue for a story. The variety keeps writing practice moving while repeatedly using the same foundational skills.
Created by World Magazine columnist Janie B. Cheaney, the lessons combine short grammar instruction with immediate application, helping children use what they learn instead of simply memorizing rules.
Throughout the program, learners practice writing descriptions, news stories, editorials, dialogue, persuasive pieces, poetry, and more while gradually building stronger writing habits.
Comics, illustrations, and clear instructions keep the program approachable. Still, the goal stays practical: helping young writers organize thoughts, write more clearly, and spend less time wondering how to begin. This program provides a framework for writing while making the work feel like it has somewhere to go.
How to Use Wordsmith Apprentice
- Start by looking through the book together so your child can see what’s ahead. Some pages focus on grammar and short exercises, while others expand into larger writing assignments.
- Aim for about 3–4 pages each week, adjusting as needed. Some assignments move quickly, while others naturally take more time.
- If a page includes multiple activities, spread them across several days. On lighter pages, he may move ahead without much encouragement.
- Use the program consistently—two or three days each week is enough for most families to keep momentum without turning writing into an all-day event.
- Lean into the newspaper theme. As your child becomes a reporter, editor, advertiser, and storyteller, the shifting roles help writing feel like something he is doing rather than simply practicing.
- Keep completed assignments. Looking back through old headlines, advertisements, and stories is often the easiest way to notice progress.
View a sample lesson of Wordsmith Apprentice
Download Lesson Plan for Wordsmith Apprentice
Author: Janie B. Cheaney
Publisher: Common Sense Press, 2016
ISBN: 978-1929683543
Faith-Based: No
Awards and Endorsements:
2012 Cathy Duffy's 101 Top Picks
Wordsmith Apprentice was created with two basic purposes in mind:
- To supplement and apply grammatical principles. Many students learn punctuation, parts of speech, and basic sentence structure as workbook "exercises" but don't necessarily see the relevance to actual writing. Every grammatical principle taught in Wordsmith Apprentice will be applied to several unusual exercises and at least one writing project, reinforcing the idea that there's a reason we learn this stuff!
- To introduce the student to several types and purposes of writing, in an imaginative way that will create enthusiasm for the subject. The newspaper theme provides a practical, relevant format for exploring the many ways we use the written word.
- Nouns
Principles taught: how to recognize nouns by "noun markers" (articles); the difference between proper and common nouns; the importance of specific nouns over general ones.
Projects: "For sale" ads, cinquain and other types of "form" poetry - Verbs
Principles taught: the difference between action, helping and linking verbs; preferring vivid actions verbs
Projects: "Help wanted" ads, action poetry, writing definitions - Sentence structure
Principles taught: the two basic sentence forms; subject and predicate; compounding; the four sentence types
Projects: picture captions; invitations; letters; newspaper headlines
- Adjectives and adverbs
Principles taught: how to recognize adjectives and adverbs and how they are used
Projects: games and word puzzles; diamante poems
- Prepositions
Principles taught: what prepositions are and how they are used
Projects: expanded picture captions, display ads, real-estate ads, travel writing, book reviews
- Paragraphs
Principles taught: recognizing topic sentences and sentences that don't belong; good organization
Projects: recipe writing, household hints, writing synopses for movies and TV shows, organizing a contest
- Reporting
Principles taught: the five "W's" (who, what, when, where, why), plus "how"
Projects: fictional and actual news stories
- Dialogue
Principles taught: what dialogue is and how it is represented on paper Projects: comic strips
- Introductory sentences and paragraphs
Principles taught: what makes an interesting "hook"
Projects: writing original articles from pictures; interviews
- Fact and Opinion
Principles taught: the difference between reporting and opining; steps to writing an opinion piece
Project: editorials
"Jon was able to read through the 'To the Student' portions independently. He was able to complete the assignments without help or clarification questions. One of our goals for writing has been to develop a stronger larger written vocabulary bank for both boys. I am very glad that this is also the focus for the Wordsmith products as well. This is a thumbs up for Petra School!!"
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"I knew right away after receiving this book that Funny Bunny would LOVE it...and she does!! She is enjoying this writing curriculum so much that we plan to continue it throughout the year."
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"Each lesson is presented by a cartoon (and what boy doesn't love that?), with lots of tips and suggestions peppered throughout. Wordsmith Apprentice has inspired Ben to write by making it fun and interesting. He highly recommends it. And so does his mom!"
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"When she started into the book, she would hardly put it down. That was encouraging, especially from the daughter, who does not, and I mean does NOT, like writing. Well I should say, who didn't like writing, because now she has a new found confidence in her writing."
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