by Sharon Watson | Oct 9, 2016 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial, Writing Prompts
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…)
by Sharon Watson | Sep 25, 2016 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial, Writing Prompts
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…)
by Sharon Watson | Sep 18, 2016 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial, Writing Prompts
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…)
by Sharon Watson | Sep 11, 2016 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial, Writing Prompts
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…)
by Sharon Watson | Aug 21, 2016 | 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 some writing tools?
Your students have to come up with a paragraph or an essay, but they do not know where to begin. They do not know where to get ideas, how to formulate a plan, how to narrow down their topic, how to organize their ideas, how to write a credible paragraph, and so on.
Does this sound familiar?
Then you’ve come to the right place! Use the links below to equip your students with the writing tools they need to be successful this year. Many of these links contain tutorials and free worksheets to download. I hope you like #s 10 and 11. Thousands of moms and teachers have already downloaded them and found happiness.
Ready? Let’s go . . .
(more…)
by Sharon Watson | Apr 24, 2016 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial, Writing Prompts
SHARON’S BLOG
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…)
