Word Choices Bundle: Attention to Detail

Word Choices Bundle: Attention to Detail


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…)

Happy Birthday, National Park Service!

Happy Birthday, National Park Service!


SHARON’S BLOG

The U. S. National Park Service is over 100 years old! This bundle of prompts for 5th – 12th graders contains over a dozen creative writing prompts on parks: city, national, and international.

For more information on the National Park Service, including a cool page on nature’s sounds, follow this link. >>

Ready to explore? Let’s go . . . (more…)

What Skill Do You Want to Learn from a Pro?

What Skill Do You Want to Learn from a Pro?


SHARON’S BLOG

What could Serena Williams teach you about smashing serves in the tennis court? Or maybe you’d like to learn from actor Dustin Hoffman about acting and “how to create memorable characters, rehearse a script and develop [a] comic instinct,” according to Parade.

Serena and Dustin are part of an online school called MasterClass in which masters of their craft teach online lessons on how to be successful in the areas of their expertise. For instance, best-selling author James Patterson teaches how to write, and Usher has online classes on how to perform on stage. (more…)

7 Prompts about God

7 Prompts about God


SHARON’S BLOG

Can your children and teens clearly express their ideas about God?

Students in my classes always have the hardest time when asked to write about God. They simply cannot share their thoughts, experiences, definitions of religious terms, or what God means to them. These are difficult concepts to grasp and communicate, and they are very personal.

These prompts about God are for 5th – 12th graders and are designed to give them a chance to explore concepts about God and express their ideas on this most important topic.

Ready? Let’s go . . .

*****

1. Describe

Describe God as completely as possible in exactly 50 words.

(more…)

A 100-mile Accomplishment

A 100-mile Accomplishment


HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Have you ever swum (swum?  That’s a word?) a mile?

How about two or three miles?

diana nyad

Diana Nyad

Diana Nyad, 64, made the more-than-100-mile trip from Cuba to Florida—by swimming the whole way!

Hallucinating from exhaustion and hypothermia, stung by a jellyfish, her throat closing up from the sea’s salt water, she kept on swimming for 53 hours. This was not her first try.  It was her fifth, and you can watch an inspiring interview with her on npr.org.  [Parents, you may want to check out the 15-minute video.]

But wait, there’s more!