by Sharon Watson | Aug 12, 2014 | High School Tutorial, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial
SHARON’S BLOG
Okay, so the title of today’s article isn’t the most exciting. In fact, you might find it downright boring—or intimidating.
I’ve been known to zone out when my husband tries to explain football lingo and rules to me. My eyes glaze over. My ears stop working. The same might be true for your students and the subject of commas.
Commas, Compound Sentences, and Coordinating Conjunctions
You can use the infographic below to teach students when to use commas in a compound sentence that is joined by a coordinating conjunction.
In this tutorial, you’ll find the following goodies:
- An infographic to teach the material
- A free, downloadable exercise
- The answers (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Aug 10, 2014 | High School Prompts, HS Narration, HS Persuasion
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS
When is a commercial not a commercial?
When it’s written to look like a movie trailer, complete with spies, secret missions, and a plot line.
The Ford Motor Company’s latest commercials for their cars and trucks resemble movie trailers, which you can see on YouTube here and here . Other elements that aid in the “movie” look are the colors (blues and grays), lighting, and the spy-movie music.
View at least one of the commercials and then come back here for more thrills and excitement. (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Aug 5, 2014 | Encouragement, Sharon's Blog
SHARON’S BLOG
School is moving right along.
You are thinking about next year. Perhaps books have been ordered.
And then the second-guessing commences. And the self-doubt kicks in.
Are you going to ruin your children by homeschooling them?
According to the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), you are. You are ruining their chances for (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Aug 3, 2014 | High School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS
This real-life news report is just too good to pass up. I had to share it with you.
What would you do if most of the people in your town moved away, disappeared, or died?
According to Chuck Sheppard’s News of the Weird—and this qualifies—an older woman moved back to her hometown in Japan to find that it was no longer thriving. In fact, it was down to about 37 people.
What did this intrepid woman do? (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Aug 3, 2014 | Middle School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
There’s an advantage to being very, very young. I’m talking about younger than you are now.
When you’re really little, you discover new things all the time, things that seem old or boring to you now. Everything is amazing; everything is new.
The following is a passage from The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. It’s about a woman remembering back to her youth, thinking about the first time she had discovered . . . well, I’ll let you read it: (more…)
