Do you know how much we owe to William Tyndale?
He knew he could be killed for what he was doing, but he did it anyway.
Tyndale translated the Bible in the 1500s from Latin into the people’s English so they could understand it, and it cost him his life. (more…)
Looking for a way for your teens to think deeply about some of today’s issues?
This week’s prompts will give your teens a chance to look at current events, express their opinions, and practice persuading readers. Each one of these prompts has a link so your teens can read more about the issue.
Warning: You may want to check the sites out before your teens do. Though I am careful which links to include, inappropriate material may appear on the other sites after I’ve posted the links.
Ready? Let’s go . . . (more…)
Who says you can’t play with your food?
Here is a bundle of five prompts on food-related topics that will get your middle school and high school students writing. Whether they’re telling personal stories, trying to persuade readers, or expressing an opinion, your students will enjoy sinking their teeth into these prompts. (more…)
Holocaust Remembrance Day is when we bring to mind the people—most of them Jews—who were exterminated by the millions in World War II by the Nazis.
Maybe you’ve read The Diary of a Young Girl (or The Diary of Anne Frank), a real diary of a young girl just turned thirteen. In it, she chronicles her days of hiding out with her family and another family in an annex (an unused portion of a building, like an attic) in Amsterdam. Why are they hiding? Because if the Nazi soldiers find them, they’ll be sent to a concentration camp and likely be killed.
(more…)
Our word choices can have a huge impact on our readers. Or the words can muddle them. Let me give you an example.
If I write that a toddler is a good eater, I suddenly have a communication problem. The word “good” is not specific enough. Does “good” mean that the toddler is neat while eating? Does it mean that the child eats a large quantity of food or perhaps a variety of food without complaining? My readers will not have a clear idea of my meaning.
Your middle school students will learn this in the first writing prompt. I’ve written a very boring paragraph about something that seemed exciting to the student, but the words I selected were flat, overused, and not specific enough.
Teens will have fun with the second writing prompt as they practice using specific words and phrases to get a point across or create a focused mood.
Ready? Let’s go . . . (more…)
The Colorado House of Representatives voted to remove the words “illegal alien” from their state laws and substitute them with “undocumented immigrant” or “foreign national.”
Stephen Lebsock, the Democratic Representative behind the bill, says that “aliens are from other planets. We should not be referring to human beings as aliens,” according to the Denver Post. And the radio station K99 in Colorado quotes him as saying that the term “illegal alien” is “outdated and hurtful language.”
Writing tools for all ages!
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