by Sharon Watson | Nov 9, 2014 | Literature, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial, Writing Prompts
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
This is a good time of year to read James Whitcomb Riley’s “When the Frost Is on the Punkin,” which you can read here. It describes the glories of life on the farm during the cool, crisp days of autumn, and the harvest season.
In the poem, you’ll find this phrase: “The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn / And the raspin’ of the tangled leaves as golden as the morn. . .”
Note: Riley misspells “russel” on purpose. The correct spelling is “rustle.” Same with “tossels,” which is supposed to be “tassels.” And, of course “punkin,” which is, you guessed it, “pumpkin.” He’s using a country dialect in his writing.
Riley uses the three wonderful words “husky, rusty russel” to describe the sound of the dried leaves of the corn plant as they rub together in the wind. If you have ever heard those dry leaves or blades rubbing together, you can almost hear the “s” sound in the wind, as though they are whispering to each other.
What are Riley’s secrets to writing so well? (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Nov 9, 2014 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Literature, Sharon's Blog, tutorial, Writing Prompts
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS
Robert Louis Stevenson is the author of Treasure Island, The Black Arrow, Kidnapped, A Child’s Garden of Verses, the deliciously creepy The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and My. Hyde based on a real person, and much more. You can learn more about him here.
Pirate in disguise
In Treasure Island, young Jim Hawkins is warned to be on the lookout for and avoid “the seafaring man with one leg.” Yet when he meets a sailor with one leg named Long John Silver, Hawkins is not troubled. Why?
First, he’s had a letter from his friend the squire claiming that Long John Silver is a war veteran who lost his leg “in his country’s service.” Next, when he meets Silver for himself, Silver seems “clean and pleasant-tempered.” Here is the paragraph where Jim Hawkins meets the truly nasty Long John Silver who, at the moment, doesn’t seem so nasty: (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Nov 2, 2014 | High School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS
Are you ready for NaNoWriMo?
Would you like to be?
Write a Novel
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month in which people sign up to write a novel in the month of November. (They obviously are not the ones cooking the turkey. Just saying.)
You can read more about NaNoWriMo here and here. Both sites will show you how to organize your writing days and give you tips on how to begin and complete that novel.
Write a Picture Book
Or maybe you are more interested in writing a picture book. Do you remember a favorite picture book from your youth? Would you like to have some fun at creating fun titles for one? Storystorm encourages writers to “create 30 story ideas in 30 days.”
(more…)
by Sharon Watson | Nov 2, 2014 | Middle School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS
“It’s just like playing in the world’s biggest sandbox.”
“It is a bond that links the generations together.”
“You get to be a part of history and the future.”
What are these people talking about?
They’ve written one sentence to explain why they do something. Can you guess what it is? (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Oct 28, 2014 | High School Prompts, High School Tutorial, Middle School Prompts, Middle School Tutorial, Sharon's Blog, teaching aids, tutorial, Writing Prompts
SHARON’S BLOG
You may be very good at expressing your opinions, especially when you want to change someone’s mind.
What you may not know is that if you truly want to change someone’s mind, you have to stop thinking about your opinion and start thinking about your audience.
This tutorial, with a free infographic to download, will show you very clearly the difference between writing an opinion and writing to persuade an audience.
Opinion versus Persuasion
Writing or expressing an opinion is all about what you like; convincing another person to do something is all about what they need to hear to be persuaded.
Here’s an infographic that shows the difference between writing an opinion and writing to persuade. After the infographic, I’ve included a short writing exercise you can do quickly. My writing class just did it, and they had fun sharing their ideas about alligators, snow leopards, snakes, and so forth. (more…)
by Sharon Watson | Oct 26, 2014 | High School Prompts, Sharon's Blog, Writing Prompts
The Bad News
A drone being flown by remote control by an amateur crashed into a skyscraper in Manhattan, reeled to the sidewalk below, and struck a man.
Worried tourists atop the Seattle Space Needle called police when a drone buzzed the Needle and then returned to a nearby hotel.
This article reports that a groom was hit with a flying UAV at his wedding, and one crashed into spectators at a sporting event.
Motherboard.com reports that the DJI Phantom, the most popular commercially available drone, is a (more…)
