3 Election-themed Prompts

3 Election-themed Prompts


SHARON’S BLOG

Election-themed Prompts

Elections are fraught with anxiety, tension, and maybe even crying, but election-themed writing prompts do not have to be.

Your 5th – 12th graders will cast their vote for any of these interest-grabbing ideas.

No matter your political party, these prompts are winners, and you will be, too, when you share them with your students.

Stepping into the booth . . . (more…)

Compare and Contrast: 2 Solid Methods

Compare and Contrast: 2 Solid Methods


SHARON’S BLOG

Compare and Contrast: 2 Solid Methods

Have your students ever been asked to write a compare-and-contrast paragraph or essay but don’t know where to begin? Do they have trouble organizing their thoughts and information before comparing and contrasting?

Your 5th – 12th graders will learn two solid methods for compare-and-contrast writing with this free tutorial. It’s packed with two separate exercises, one for each method,  and contains complete instructions and colorful worksheets. Your students will learn how to organize their thoughts before writing with either method, and then they’ll write two paragraphs using each method.

Students already know how to compare and contrast in real life: They do it every time they want to buy something and are torn between two choices. They go through the process mentally, and it’s likely automatic and subconscious. (more…)

Proofreading Tutorials Bundle

Proofreading Tutorials Bundle


SHARON’S BLOG

Would you like your students to understand how to use proofreading marks? Do they know that they do not have to proofread for everything at once?

And did you know that it is easier for students to proofread if they practice on someone else’s mistakes?

Explore the posts below, appropriate for 7th – 12th graders. Click on any post’s image or link below to get started. FREE tutorials and printables included.

What will your students learn today? (more…)

Grammar Tutorials Bundle

Grammar Tutorials Bundle


SHARON’S BLOG

Looking for a fun way to teach grammar concepts to your 7th – 12th grade students?

This bundle of tutorials is geared to hold your students’ interest with colorful infographics and quirky sentences to work on. Each tutorial contains a lesson, an exercise, and the answers, all free for you to download and print at your leisure.

Commas with compound sentences, dialog punctuation, singular indefinite pronouns, and much more!

Use them now or bookmark them for future use.

Some of the tutorials below are featured in our eBook Let’s Eat Fifi. Read more about that 23-lesson grammar book here.

Click on the individual images or the links below for each tutorial. (more…)

Word Choices Bundle: Attention to Detail

Word Choices Bundle: Attention to Detail


SHARON’S BLOG

Do you “have a plan” or have you “hatched a scheme”? Are your students writing about the “circulation” of the blood or about how the blood “circulates”?

Do they understand how to use specific adjectives? Do they know the power of connotations? Do they turn sluggish nouns into working verbs? Do they define their terms?

Enjoy these nine tutorials that teach all of these things and much more. They will instruct your students in the finer art of using the elegant English language. Now students are not just writing; they are communicating.

Appropriate for 7th-12th graders. Use the lessons now or bookmark them for future use.

It’s time to dive into the splashy end of the pool . . . (more…)

Tutorials for Specific Types of Essays

Tutorials for Specific Types of Essays


SHARON’S BLOG

Persuasion. How-to. Compare and contrast. Enumerative. Are your students baffled by these types of essays?

Take heart! Use the 13 links you’ll find below that show how to format and write 6 types of paragraphs and essays.

As an added bonus, the last link leads to a very handy writing schedule you can use all year. Never say, “Write an essay,” again! (You’ve got to be kidding!)

These tutorials are appropriate for students in 7th – 12th grade. Use them now or bookmark them for future use.

{Writing Tip: If your student is not quite ready to write a whole essay, give him or her practice in writing the types of paragraphs you’ll find in this post. For instance, instead of writing a whole compare-and-contrast essay, how about a compare-and-contrast paragraph from one of the links in #5?}

Ready? Let’s go . . . (more…)