by Sharon Watson | Sep 7, 2014 | Middle School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
National Make Your Bed Day is September 11. Why it is on the same day as National Patriot Day, I’ll never know, and if you’d rather do that prompt, here it is.
Being able to explain how to do something is an important skill. Have you ever explained to an adult how to do something on their computer or smart phone? Or taught a younger kid how to tie shoes or ride a bike? (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Sep 7, 2014 | High School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS
“Saying you are a patriot does not make you one; wearing a flag pin does not in itself mean anything at all.” -Viggo Mortensen
“Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.” -Calvin Coolidge
“True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.” -Clarence Darrow
Why all the quotes about patriots and patriotism? (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Sep 1, 2014 | High School Tutorial, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial
SHARON’S BLOG
Welcome to yet another of biting, incisive grammar question like this one: “Mom, is this sentence supposed to have one question mark or two at the end?”
Other grammar tutorials
If you’re dying to know what the other grammar tutorials are about, click here for one on punctuation in dialog. (Tarzan and Jane help out on that one.)
Click here if you yearn to know how to handle commas in compound sentences with coordinating conjunctions.
And click here for the hard-hitting exposé on where to put the comma, period, colon, or semicolon when using quotation marks.
End Punctuation
I’m fully aware that the heading “End Punctuation” could be the heart’s cry of your struggling students.
However, this week, your students will wrestle with the thorny problem of what to do if a sentence is a question (interrogative) but there’s already a question mark to the left of the end quotation mark.
Take a look at the infographic, which is the lesson. (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Aug 31, 2014 | Middle School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
Would you like to be a gurgitator?
Miki Sudo is a speed eater or a gurgitator, someone who eats competitively. According to the August 2014 issue of mental_floss magazine, this petite woman “entered her first food challenge less than three years ago on a whim.”
It took her 33 minutes and 12 seconds to eat (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Aug 31, 2014 | High School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS
Libby Nicholas kept a list of seventy-seven qualities she wanted in her future husband: has a strong handshake, is musically talented, volunteers at a homeless shelter, and, oh yeah, doesn’t eat at McDonald’s.
When she realized her list was full of (more…)