by Sharon Watson | Mar 6, 2016 | Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
What are the benefits of owning a pet?
I’m sure you could list a few benefits off the top of your head. Good. Keep those in mind as we learn about an essay’s introduction.
When you write an introduction, you’ll want to include a few key items:
1. An intriguing first sentence to capture your reader’s attention. It’s called a hook.
2. A clear idea of what the article or essay is about (its topic).
3. A sentence that is the main idea (thesis statement) that will guide the rest of the article.
Here’s an example of an introductory paragraph about the TV remote. Although it seems serious, this student is actually poking fun at the idea that the TV remote has affected society: (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Jan 24, 2016 | Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, tutorial, Writing Prompts
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
“Long, long ago, in a lavish lodge near the village of Liverwurst, lived a lovely lass called Linda the Lonely.
Linda was lonely because, ever since she was a little girl, she had been
locked in the lodge by her wicked uncle, Lord Ludwig of Liverwurst.”
So begins “The Legend of Linda the Lonely” in The Sesame Street Book of Fairy Tales.
By now you have noticed something strange about the first paragraph of poor Linda’s story—it’s full of the letter “L.” (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Jan 4, 2016 | Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial, Writing Prompts
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
Advertising is everywhere. TV commercials bombard you 18 minutes out of every hour, but they are not the only places companies try to sell their products. Think of billboards, huge pictures of food products stuck to restaurant windows, and even your lowly cereal box.
Yes, even after you’ve bought the cereal, you still get advertisements about it. Take a look at a cereal box and notice all the adjectives there to describe the cereal and tell you how great it is. Here’s a sentence from my Cinnamon Life® cereal: (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Nov 15, 2015 | Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial, Writing Prompts
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
Are you not sure what to do when your teacher gives you a writing assignment?
Check out this prompt. Let’s make your first steps in the writing process easier with these worksheets on brainstorming and organizing.
(more…)
by Sharon Watson | Sep 27, 2015 | Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
You want to avoid plagiarism in your writing. Yes. Yes, you do.
Plagiarism is using someone else’s quotation, facts, statement, idea, or story without giving them credit.
So, how do you let your readers know that you borrowed the quotation, fact, and so on?
You cite your source by using an in-text citation. This simply means you are giving credit to someone for their information, and you tuck it into your essay.
An in-text citation comes in tremendously handy when you are writing an essay that does not include footnotes, a bibliography, or a works cited page.
This is a tutorial on how to easily create in-text citations. Robin Hood may be involved.
Here we go . . . (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Jun 20, 2015 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, tutorial, Writing Prompts
SHARON’S BLOG
True story: I was eating dinner in a restaurant recently when I heard a woman in the booth behind me state, “This is an abomination!”
My ears perked up. My curiosity was piqued. I rarely hear the word “abomination” any more and wondered what could be so horrific as to need that word. I imagined she and her dining partner were reading a magazine article on human trafficking or perhaps watching a YouTube video about persecution in Indonesia.
I strained my ears to learn what she was referring to. (more…)
