A Strange Way to Get Ideas for Essays
Do you have to write an essay?
Are you stuck for ideas?
Have no fear. Here’s a strange way to get ideas for essays: Use your initials. (more…)
It’s True: “Everyone” Is Singular!
It is hard to believe, but the word “everyone” is singular.
It sounds as though it should include a lot of people; in fact, it should include everyone—and that sounds plural.
But “everyone” is in the list of singular indefinite pronouns, which are listed here: each, every, either, neither, no, one, no one, everyone, someone, anyone, nobody, everybody, somebody, anybody, nothing, everything, something, anything.
I grouped them by their endings: -one, -body, and -thing. You also could list most of them by their beginnings: no-, every-, some-, and any-.
This week’s blog, which is another in a series of grammar tutorials, includes the following:
- An infographic to teach the material
- An exercise for your students
- Answers to the exercise (more…)
National Patriot Day
“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…)
Too Many Question Marks and Exclamation Points?
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.)
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…)
Your Future Spouse
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…)
Punctuation in Dialog
Welcome to the third in a series of grammar tutorials! You can find the first one on commas in compound sentences here.
The second one teaches the position of commas, periods, colons, and semicolons when used with quotation marks. What could be more exciting?!
Dialog punctuation tutorial
Do you have students who love to hide in their bedrooms and write story after story?
Most likely, they are hoping to be published one day, their stories read and loved by millions, their names on the covers of sought-after books.
One thing editors look for in a new writer is proficiency in grammar and punctuation. Granted, it’s not a huge thing; it’s more important to know how to write a great story. But grammar is an indicator of how well the writer knows the language and its conventions, and it is something that editors take into account when determining whom to publish.
Let’s make sure our students have access to the skills they need to get published.
A tiff between Tarzan and Jane in this fun tutorial will guide your students through the punctuation-in-dialog jungle. (more…)
Writing tools for all ages!
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