How We Use the Writing Revolution Resources in Our Social Studies Homeschool Curriculum

One of my favorite things about learning is how naturally different subjects weave together when we allow them to. In our home, writing isn’t a standalone subject. It starts with oral narrations — inspired by Charlotte Mason — and continues with sentence-level activities based on Judith C. Hochman’s The Writing Revolution method. These two approaches form the foundation of our writing instruction.

Rather than completing isolated writing tasks, we incorporate writing into the topics we’re already learning about: geography, literature, folktales, science, and culture. That’s why we’ve included some of the Writing Revolution resources into our social studies homeschool curriculum.

These sentence-level writing exercises, based on Judith C. Hochman’s The Writing Revolution method, offer a simple and practical way to help children grow as writers, and they integrate seamlessly into the stories, discussions, and hands-on activities we’re already doing each week.

Sentences are the building blocks of all writing.

Judith C. Hochman, The Writing Revolution 2.0: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades

We include sentence strategy resources in all of our country unit studies, and they’ve been a wonderful and gentle addition to our homeschooling routine. Some are based on Circle Round folk tales (which we adore!), while others are tied to country facts, science topics, cultural activities, or book studies.

How We Use the Writing Revolution Resources in Our Family-Style Curriculum

What I love most about the Writing Revolution is how flexible its strategies are. You can use them during your regular lessons, as part of your morning basket, or even as a warm-up to start the day.

Here’s how we adapt them for different ages:

For Younger Kids (Grades K–3)

For this age group, I encourage you to being with oral responses to support confidence and clear thinking. Ask the question or prompt aloud, and children can respond verbally. You can jot down their sentence, and encourage them to choose a favorite to copy into their journal for handwriting or copywork practice.

This removes the pressure of spelling or penmanship and lets them focus instead on building strong ideas and strong sentences. Ultimately, we want children to feel confident and fall in love with expressing their thoughts through words, without getting bogged down by the mechanics of writing before they’re ready.

For Older Kids (Grades 4–7)

Older students may complete these activities more independently. My oldest uses the worksheet as a rough draft, then chooses a few of her strongest sentences to rewrite neatly in her journal. Over time, she’s started linking these sentences into full paragraphs or expanding them into entire essays or written narrations — all on her own.

For the Writing-Resistant

If you have a student who pushes back on writing, I can’t recommend starting orally enough. Giving them the space to think and speak without the added task of writing can make all the difference. Confidence comes first; the pencil can come later.

The fact that writing is both a form of transfer and retrieval practice helps explain why it can provide such a powerful boost to learning. But it can only provide that boost if a learner’s working memory isn’t overwhelmed by the act or writing itself.

Judith C. Hochman, The Writing Revolution 2.0: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades

Another strategy you can try is using talk-to-text on a computer. This allows students to get their thoughts out verbally while still seeing them take shape on the page. It’s a gentle way to bridge the gap between oral expression and written work, which is especially helpful for reluctant writers or students who struggle with handwriting.

The Writing Revolution Resources You’ll Find in Our Unit Studies

Because / But / So Sentences

These writing activities start with a simple sentence from a story or lesson — something like “Haru chased the Oni.” Students are asked to expand the sentence using because, but, and so to explore reasons, contrasts, and outcomes:

• Because: Haru chased the Oni because it stole his rice cake.
• But: Haru chased the Oni, but his mother warned him not to get too close.
• So: Haru chased the Oni, so Mayumi followed close behind to make sure he stayed safe.

This specific type of sentence strategy is great for reading comprehension.

Scrambled Sentences

This sentence-level activity feels a bit like solving a puzzle. Students are given a scrambled version of a sentence (like “wise judge the was”) and asked to rearrange the words into a correct sentence.

It’s a simple activity that helps students work with grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and word order. Some students will love the puzzle-like nature of this activity, while others might need a bit of support. You can break the sentence into smaller chunks, work through it together, or encourage them to write numbers above each word to help organize their thinking.

Once the sentence is unscrambled, students can take it a step further by labeling the parts of speech and identifying the subject and predicate.

Sentence Expansion & Sentence Combining

This activity also starts with a short sentence, something like “Kim worked hard.” Students are then asked to add details using prompts like When?, Where?, or Why? For example, “Kim worked hard because she wanted to build a cozy home.”

This activity encourages students to write more detailed, interesting sentences without being overwhelmed.

Sentence Types

This sentence activity explores the different types of sentences we use in writing: statements, questions, exclamations, and commands.

For instance:

• Statement: Kim lived simply and shared with others.
• Question: Why did Kim decide to share her fruit with the raven?
• Exclamation: What a kind thing Kim did for the raven!
• Command: Fill your sack with gold, Kim.

This is a great way to reinforce grammar in context.

Other times, students may be asked to rewrite a statement as a question or turn a question into a statement.

Appositive Sentences

Appositive sentences help kids write more descriptively by combining two ideas into one stronger sentence.

We might start with two simple sentences, like:

• Tet is the Vietnamese New Year. It is the biggest celebration of the year.

And combine it into:

• Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, is the biggest celebration of the year.

Appositives are a simple strategy that gives writing a more polished feel and teaches students how to add extra information naturally.

Why Writing Should Be Integrated Into Your Social Studies Homeschool Curriculum

Writing doesn’t have to be a separate subject, and it definitely shouldn’t feel like a daily struggle. When it’s tied to what your students are already learning, it becomes more natural, more purposeful, and a lot less intimidating. Instead of asking kids to write “just because,” we give them something meaningful to write or talk about.

As Judith C. Hochman writes in The Writing Revolution, “Writing isn’t merely a skill; it’s also a powerful teaching tool.” When we ask students to write about what they’re already learning in different subjects, we’re actually helping them process that knowledge, identify gaps in understanding, and strengthen their ideas along the way.

If you’re looking for a way to integrate writing that feels natural, flexible, and age-appropriate, these Writing Revolution-inspired activities might be just what your homeschool needs.

You’ll find them included in every one of our Global Explorers country unit studies.