by Sharon Watson | Sep 7, 2015 | Middle School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
I recently visited The Headlands, an International Dark Sky Park west of Mackinaw City, Michigan, on the shore of Lake Michigan.
A dark sky park is an area set aside for night-sky viewing and is away from man-made lighting so that the night sky is clear. You can see so many more stars and night-sky features without artificial lighting nearby.
Although there are beautiful hiking trails in the woods for use in the daytime in The Headlands, its main feature is the large, open space created for night-time viewing. (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Aug 30, 2015 | High School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS
Do you know someone who does not or cannot speak?
Many reasons exist for someone not speaking. For instance, someone may be afraid to speak and be an elective mute. Some may have been born with physical problems that make it difficult or impossible to speak. Others may have lost the ability to speak due to an illness, which is what happened to Don. You can watch his story here. (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Aug 30, 2015 | Middle School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
McDonald’s Big Mac. Burger King’s Whopper. Hardee’s Thickburger. Rally’s and Checker’s Big Buford.
Is your mouth watering yet?
Let’s celebrate hamburgers and cheeseburgers with a menu of writing prompt choices. (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Aug 23, 2015 | High School Prompts, Opinion, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS
I find writing prompts in the most unusual places, and this week’s prompt is no exception.
Have you ever eaten at a Fazoli’s restaurant? Their slogan is “Real Italian. Real Fast.” They may have the best breadsticks on the planet.
Their cups and breadstick papers are covered with sayings. I found this one on a cup with about ten one-liners like “Mom is not synonymous with waitress”: (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Aug 23, 2015 | Sharon's Blog, teaching aids
SHARON’S BLOG
I understand at the outset of this article that the word “them” in my title is ambiguous. Does it stand for the writers or for the ideas?
As you can see, writing is hard. At least, that’s what students tell me.
It makes their hands hurt. They don’t know where to begin. They don’t know how to construct paragraphs. If they’re not interested in the topic, they can’t think of anything to write anyway.
The list goes on and on and is pretty much the same in all the classes I teach.
A number of moms confess to me that they’ve given up teaching writing. Some say that whenever they give their students writing assignments, crying is involved. (I assume it’s the students doing the crying, but I could possibly be wrong about that.)
Even in the weekly writing class I teach for high school homeschoolers, at least two students have (more…)
