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…)
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…)
Introductions can be boring. Super boring.
Young writers think they have to fight with a blank piece of paper for that first, amazing sentence before they write anything else, and so they get stuck.
Cue the tissues. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
A mom recently asked me to look at her son’s essay. He was entering a state-wide speech contest on the topic of responsibility and had written a solid essay—except for the introduction. He was going to put his listeners to sleep with it.
We were all sitting at his kitchen table. I turned to this teen and asked him, (more…)
King David. Slayer of giants. Hero to many. Kingdom builder. Writer of heartfelt psalms. Follower after God.
Adulterer. Schemer. Murderer.
What gives?
How could someone be so good and so bad?
This writing prompt is about creating believable characters, those that are a realistic mix of positive and negative traits. (more…)
As a writer, it is important to define your terms. In fact, it’s one of your jobs. That way, all readers are on the same page with you and know what you are talking about. Why do you think Paul took up so much space in I Corinthians to define the word “love”?
“Tolerance” is a word that will need a definition when you talk to someone about it. Even the word “insane” (more…)
My great-grandmother marked the day in her journal when she received her first icebox. What was she using for refrigeration before then?
One acquaintance traveled the world with the army during the Vietnam years and isn’t even allowed to tell me what he did, though he likes to tell me about the strange food he ate on those trips.
But I’m not the only one who knows interesting folks.
People in your family, your church, and your neighborhood have led remarkable lives as well. They’ve fought in wars and been in accidents. They’ve experienced disasters, invented things, started their own businesses, overcome debilitating abuse or sickness, beat the odds, seen the world, or eaten raw squid.
These people want to tell their stories to someone who will listen. And your children, in interviewing these people, will come away with a new perspective on history and life. This type of writing activity is well worth the effort. (more…)
Writing tools for all ages!
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