Choosing a Clear Water Press program for a group is a great idea! Our Language Arts programs have been used with great success by many co-ops and schools.

Taking a writing program in a group setting has a great advantage: it’s a ready-made opportunity for peer feedback! Every young writer needs support along their creative journey. And sometimes it’s especially meaningful to receive that support from more than mom and dad.

So how does running a co-op class (or other group!) work? What do you need? Besides the basic curriculum set for the program you want to run, you’ll need . . .

Our Special Products Just for Groups

A Group License fee and per-student Cloud video access are built into the cost of our special “Group Student Kit” products.

This is why the “Group Student Kit” products appear to be more expensive than their counterparts designed for students working through a program individually (“Household” License).

You need a Group License when you use our programs for students in more than one household. (Unless every household involved has their own Household License).

Instead of charging a separate license fee every time you run a co-op class, we now factor the Group License cost into the purchase of student materials. It is a simple $10 per student and it’s rolled into the price.

The price also includes Cloud video access for the student. Most co-ops want students to be able to watch lessons at home, so we now build this cost directly into the “Group Student Set” products.

Using Clear Water Press programs in a co-op review

Benefits of per-student Cloud access:

You can assign video lessons as homework instead of having to do all the watching during class time!
If a student misses class, you can direct them to catch up on the video lessons they missed.
Students can review any lesson at home as often as they need to, helping them understand the course material.
Cloud access includes automated quizzes. These quizzes are available directly on our website (under each program’s Student Resource Hub), but the ones in the Cloud account will track course progress.
The Cloud account will generate a course completion certificate for the student when their progress reaches 100 percent.

Please note that you can’t send your teacher copies of the DVD discs home with students, duplicate the discs, or share your teacher Cloud account credentials with your students. So even if you want your students to watch all the lessons together with you in class, the benefits above are still really helpful!

Choose Between Two Ways to Order:

Parents Order for their Participating Students

The teacher orders the basic set; parents order a Group Student Kit for their student(s). Simple. Makes it easy to add students last minute.

Shop Group Student Kits

The Teacher Orders Everything for Everybody

Saves on shipping, but more hassle for the teacher, who collects the funds and Cloud account details. Last-minute additions may require another order.

Request Your Custom Invoice

Click to Jump to Guidance for Each Program:

Cover Story

One Year Novel

Byline

Other Worlds

Guidance: Cover Story

What You Need to Know

You DON’T need to purchase or renew a Group License to run a Cover Story co-op or class! Why? Because the Group License cost is now distributed between the students when the Group Student Kits are purchased. (This is true even if you used to run a group under the old pricing model.)
The Group License is valid for the duration of the class.
You may not run a co-op or group (no matter how small) unless these special Group Student Kits are purchased. The purchase of these kits is how the Group License is paid for. In other words, participating families may not buy the standard Student Kit instead of the Group Student Kit. (Unless the family already owns their own complete set under the Household License; in which case they may still need to renew their Cloud account access before their student can join your class.)

Materials You Need

TEACHER
You need a complete Cover Story set.

If you already own one, you don’t have to buy it again, and it does not matter whether the license was originally for Household or for Group. If you have a Cloud set, you will need to renew your access to the video lessons for $35.

For reference, this is what is in a complete set:

The Student Book (workbook + textbook combo)
The Remarkable Journal of Professor Gunther von Steuben
The Teacher’s Guide
Cloud video account or 72 video lessons + 12 grammar lessons on DVD

STUDENTS
Each student needs a Group Student Kit, which includes:

The Student Book (workbook + textbook combo)
The Remarkable Journal of Professor Gunther von Steuben
12 months of access to the Cloud video lessons
The Group License per-student fee

You’re welcome to save on shipping by requesting one invoice for everything for everyone in the class. To do this, please complete the Group & Co-op Order Form. We will use the information you provide to create your specialized invoice and will email it to you within 2 business days.

Schedule & Pacing

Syllabus and Lesson Table »
Video Run Times »

There are 72 lessons, plus 12 optional Grammar lessons, each beginning with a video. Most video lessons are between 7 and 15 minutes (notable exception: a 40-minute interview for Lesson 20). We suggest covering 3 lessons per week.
If your group only meets once a week, we recommend assigning some or all the video lessons as homework so that you can use your group time for discussion, brainstorming, peer feedback, etc.
If you prefer to watch all lessons together as a class, your weekly class time needs to be at least 50 minutes, but preferably 65 minutes, to allow for up to 50 minutes of video viewing and some discussion.

Guidance: One Year Adventure Novel

What You Need to Know

You DON’T need to purchase or renew a Group License to run a One Year Adventure Novel co-op or class! Why? Because the Group License cost is now distributed between the students when the Group Student Kits are purchased. (This is true even if you used to run a group under the old pricing model.)
The Group License is valid for the duration of the class.
You may not run a co-op or group (no matter how small) unless these special Group Student Kits are purchased. The purchase of these kits is how the Group License is paid for. In other words, participating families may not buy the standard Student Kit instead of the Group Student Kit. (Unless the family already owns their own complete set under the Household License; in which case they may still need to renew their Cloud account access before their student can join your class.)

Materials You Need

TEACHER
You need a complete One Year Adventure Novel set.

If you already own one under a valid license (in other words, if you purchased directly from us), you don’t have to buy it again, and it does not matter whether the license was originally for Household or for Group. If you have a Cloud set, you will need to renew your access to the video lessons for $35.

For reference, this is what is in a complete set:

The Map workbook
The Compass textbook
The Prisoner of Zenda, by Anthony Hope
The Teacher’s Guide *
Cloud video account or 78 video lessons on DVD

*Some older sets that were used for a group may have an Extended Teacher’s Guide in place of The Compass and the standard Teacher’s Guide.

STUDENTS
Each student needs a Group Student Kit, which includes:

The Map workbook
The Compass textbook
The Prisoner of Zenda, by Anthony Hope
12 months of access to the Cloud video lessons
The Group License per-student fee

Schedule & Pacing

Syllabus and Lesson Table »
Video Run Times »

There are 78 lessons, each beginning with a video. Most video lessons are between 8 and 22 minutes. We suggest covering 3 lessons per week.
If your group only meets once a week, we recommend assigning some or all the video lessons as homework so that you can use your group time for discussion, brainstorming, peer feedback, etc.
If you prefer to watch all lessons together as a class, your weekly class time needs to be at least 75 minutes, but preferably 90 minutes, to allow for up to an hour of video viewing and some discussion.

Tips

It can be a good idea to enlist parents to give “reader feedback” on their student’s chapter drafts. Grading the coursework and quizzes is easy and quick, but offering reader feedback on many student novel chapter drafts simultaneously can become overwhelming, depending on the number of students in the class.
“Reader feedback” means reading each page and making a one-word comment in the margin indicating your emotional response to the page. For example, you might write “intrigued,” or “confused.” This offers the student valuable insight into how close they got to their target in each section. Reader feedback does not involve correcting, editing, or supplying advice or solutions. It is something any person can offer, whether they like to write and read or not.

Guidance: Byline

What You Need to Know

You DON’T need to purchase or renew a Group License to run a Byline co-op or class! Why? Because the Group License cost is now distributed between the students when the Group Student Kits are purchased. (This is true even if you used to run a group under the old pricing model.)
The Group License is valid for the duration of the class.
You may not run a co-op or group (no matter how small) unless these special Group Student Kits are purchased. The purchase of these kits is how the Group License is paid for. In other words, participating families may not buy the standard Student Kit instead of the Group Student Kit. (Unless the family already owns their own complete set under the Household License; in which case they may still need to renew their Cloud account access before their student can join your class.)

Materials You Need

TEACHER
You need a complete Byline set.

For reference, this is what is in a complete set:

The Training Manual workbook + textbook combo
The Reporter’s Notebook
The Retro Metro and The Metro World printed newspapers *
The Teacher’s Guide
Cloud video account or 78 video lessons on DVD

* If you are in Australia or New Zealand you may have PDF versions of the newspapers instead of printed ones.

STUDENTS
Each student needs a Group Student Kit, which includes:

The Training Manual workbook + textbook combo
The Reporter’s Notebook
The Retro Metro and The Metro World printed newspapers
12 months of access to the Cloud video lessons
The Group License per-student fee

Schedule & Pacing

Syllabus and Lesson Table »
Video Run Times »

There are 72 lessons, each beginning with a video. Most lessons are between 8 and 15 minutes long. We suggest covering 3 lessons per week.
If your group only meets once a week, we recommend assigning some or all the video lessons as homework so that you can use your group time for discussion, brainstorming, peer feedback, etc.
If you prefer to watch all lessons together as a class, your weekly class time needs to be at least 45 minutes, but preferably 60 minutes, to allow for up to 45 minutes of video viewing and some discussion.

Guidance: Other Worlds (NEW)

Now available for preorder!

Prerequisite: The One Year Adventure Novel

What You Need to Know

You DON’T need to purchase or renew a Group License to run an Other Worlds co-op or class! Why? Because the Group License cost is now distributed between the students when the Group Student Kits are purchased. (This is true even if you used to run a group under the old pricing model.)
The Group License is valid for the duration of the class.
You may not run a co-op or group (no matter how small) unless these special Group Student Kits are purchased. The purchase of these kits is how the Group License is paid for. In other words, participating families may not buy the standard Student Kit instead of the Group Student Kit. (Unless the family already owns their own complete set under the Household License; in which case they may still need to renew their Cloud account access before their student can join your class.)

Materials You Need

TEACHER
You need a complete Other Worlds: Writing Fantasy and Sci-fi set.

For reference, this is what is in a complete set:

The Other Map workbook
The Portal textbook
Double Star anthology
The Teacher’s Guide *
Cloud video account

STUDENTS
Each student needs a Group Student Kit, which includes:

The Other Map workbook
The Portal textbook
Double Star anthology
12 months of access to the Cloud video lessons
The Group License per-student fee

Schedule & Pacing

The Syllabus and Lesson Table and Video Run Times will be available soon.

There are 72 lessons, each beginning with a video. We suggest covering 3 lessons per week.
If your group only meets once a week, we recommend assigning some or all the video lessons as homework so that you can use your group time for discussion, brainstorming, peer feedback, etc.
If you prefer to watch all lessons together as a class, your weekly class time needs to be at least 75 minutes, but preferably 90 minutes, to allow for up to an hour of video viewing and some discussion.

Tips

It can be a good idea to enlist parents to give “reader feedback” on their student’s chapter drafts. Grading the coursework and quizzes is easy and quick, but offering reader feedback on many student novel chapter drafts simultaneously can become overwhelming, depending on the number of students in the class.
“Reader feedback” means reading each page and making a one-word comment in the margin indicating your emotional response to the page. For example, you might write “intrigued,” or “confused.” This offers the student valuable insight into how close they got to their target in each section. Reader feedback does not involve correcting, editing, or supplying advice or solutions. It is something any person can offer, whether they like to write and read or not.