by Sharon Watson | Jan 28, 2020 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial
SHARON’S BLOG
Okay. I’ll admit it. I abhor the nit-picky rules about citing sources and making a works-cited page. The rules are tedious. They’re boring. And they’re nerve wracking.
So, if it is hard for adults (which I like to think I am), what must our children and teens think of it? After all, writing a report is hard enough without all the “extra” stuff about citing sources.
On top of that, the rules change! About a year after The Power in Your Hands was published, with its lessons on citing sources and documenting a report, the Modern Language Association changed their rules.
What is a student to do?
(more…)
by Sharon Watson | Sep 17, 2018 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial
SHARON’S BLOG
Could your students use a little help creating outlines? And what does a bowl of salad have to do with outlines?
My husband tells me he always made his outlines after he’d seen what he had written. I imagine this is fairly common.
But is an outline necessary? Not exactly. You can read about my sticky-note method here.
What is important, though, is organizing the material, and that is where students have trouble. They do not want to take the time to organize their thoughts, ideas, or material before they write.
Personally, I benefit from even a casual outline. That way, I don’t have to start with the introduction and work my way down to the conclusion; I have the pleasure of beginning wherever I like, where I feel the most comfortable. Then I can fill in the rest of my article later by using the organized points in my informal outline.
Whether your students use sticky notes or a more formal outline, they’ll benefit from these familiar outline ideas. (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Apr 22, 2018 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, tutorial, Writing Prompts
SHARON’S BLOG
Let’s use a quote from Confucius and a passage from Proverbs to get your students thinking about wisdom.
In this bundle of writing prompts centered around wisdom, your students will encounter these types of writing: opinion, personification, parallel construction, definition, and more.
These prompts are just right for students in grades 5 – 12.
So, what did Confucius have to say about wisdom? And do your students agree with him? (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Feb 20, 2018 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, tutorial, Writing Prompts
SHARON’S BLOG
Narnia and Middle Earth—what delightfully intriguing places to visit!
Enjoy this compilation of activities involving C. S. Lewis’s Narnia and J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
Suitable for anyone who is old enough to read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, other Narnia tales, The Hobbit, or The Lord of the Rings.
Your students haven’t read those books? No problem. Many of the prompts and tutorials below are freestanding and don’t need the original books.
Ready? Put on your magic rings! (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Oct 30, 2017 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, tutorial, Writing Prompts
SHARON’S BLOG
Would any of your sentences ever sell for $1.56 million? That’s what happened recently with Albert Einstein’s one-sentence “Theory of Happiness.”
The story, according to USA TODAY, is that Einstein was visiting Japan to receive his Nobel Prize in physics in 1922 when he did not have enough money to tip a messenger. What did he do?
He wrote down one sentence and signed it, saying that it would be worth a lot of money someday. Looks like he was right! (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Oct 22, 2017 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial
SHARON’S BLOG
Get a writing assignment. Look at a blank piece of paper for hours. Cry.
Is this what happens with your students?
No need for weeping. In this week’s Intro to Writing, your students will learn what ingredients to put into their introductions and conclusions. In addition, they will grade other students’ work and then write their own effective introduction and conclusion.
If you have been following along with the Intro to Writing tutorials on Writing with Sharon Watson, you likely have noticed something weird. (more…)
