by Sharon Watson | Jun 22, 2014 | High School Prompts, Middle School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
When was the last time your shoes talked to you?
Anthropomorphism is a word for “in the form of a human.” It’s close to the term personification, and if you mix them up, it’s okay by me.
Anthropomorphism means giving human attributes to something that is not human. For instance, the Toy Story movies use anthropomorphism to give life to the toys, as do all the Transformer movies and any other movies or stories in which animals or objects talk, laugh, plan, and do other things humans do.
An example of someone’s shoes taking on the human characteristic of speech occurs in Alexander McCall Smith’s Blue Shoes and Happiness. This passage comes just after the character believes she has made a terrible mistake with her fiancé and might have lost him: (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Jun 22, 2014 | High School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS
When Cress Delahanty wants to be elected freshman editor of her yearbook, she makes a list of traits needed to win the election.
Her mother asks her, “Traits like honesty, kindness, cheerfulness?”
Cress replies, “Nobody at school I ever heard of was popular for honesty.”
So she develops a plan: become known for something quirky. In “Trademark” by Jessamyn West, from Cress Delahanty, Cress decides to 
develop her trademark by doing strange things like wearing her slippers to the bus and leaving her sneakers in public places to be found.
But her plan backfires. (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Jun 17, 2014 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial, Writing Prompts
SHARON’S BLOG
If your writer is reluctant, writing opinions is a good place to start. Everyone has opinions, and most students like to express theirs.
Opinions are all about the writer: “I love . . . ,” “I think people should . . . ,” “I hate it when . . . .”
Writing to persuade someone else, on the other hand, is all about the reader. Your students make a shift in their thinking: What ideas and points do readers need before they will change their minds? A persuasion essay needs a few important tools. (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Jun 15, 2014 | High School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS
Self-storage units are springing up in the United States like mushrooms in a warm, shady, moist lawn. You see those units around town with the garage doors lined up in row after row and perhaps wonder what could be behind all those doors.
When people have too much furniture or too many belongings in their houses or they move to a new location, they need a space to store that stuff.
Or maybe an entrepreneur sells items on eBay and needs the storage space for them. That’s where storage units come in very handy.
And it’s all a lot of fun until someone can’t pay the monthly rent anymore.
What happens to these storage units full of belongings when the rent is not paid? (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Jun 11, 2014 | High School Tutorial, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial
SHARON’S BLOG
It’s easy for our students to make these common mistakes in persuasive writing. I’ve seen them in any number of newspapers and magazines in letters to the editor, and they abound in student essays. I’m guessing you have seen them as well.
I won’t keep you in suspense. Here’s the list: (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Jun 8, 2014 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial, Writing Prompts
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS
The Florida Everglades’ delicate and balanced ecosystem is being threatened by new species of plants and animals that have no natural predators. For instance, Old World climbing fern, which is not native to Florida, is smothering plants that grow naturally there and that are needed for food and protection to other species.
The Burmese python, which used to be imported to Florida for pet stores, (more…)
