Love and the Weather
Have you ever noticed how many songs use weather in their titles or in their lyrics? Often, this is a metaphor for a relationship or circumstance. Write your own song using the weather.
What Do You Do for Fun?
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS Some people like to put puzzles together. Others like to build forts, take hikes, or go camping. Some kids like to read or play a sport. Derek Jeter, a now-retired New York Yankee, played baseball to have fun: "You gotta have fun. Regardless of...
Story: This Tool Is Powerful!
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS Do you want to influence your readers? Do you want to grab their hearts? Use the power of story. There are two kinds of stories: the true ones and the fictional ones. People have been using both kinds forever, and so can you. How to Use Nonfiction...
Planned Parenthood and an Organic Teaching Moment
SHARON'S BLOG I am sickened and saddened by the news that Planned Parenthood is dealing in baby parts. I imagine you are troubled as well. Whether they are truly selling them or, as they say, making them available, there is no defense for these actions. This exposé is...
You, a Huge Pile of Legos ®, and a Creation
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS I recently visited Downtown Disney in Orlando, Florida, and enjoyed the huge Legos ® creations there. Really, they are tremendously interesting. I kept trying to figure out how someone built them and where they put their first blocks to begin...
Put Your Message on a T-Shirt
MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS You've seen your fair share of messages on t-shirts, and you've probably worn a few t-shirts with writing on them. Sports teams, music groups, camps, and even hospitals put their messages or advertisements on t-shirts. They are like wearable...
How Will You Get Your Message Out?
HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS You learn important skills in essay writing that you can apply to other forms of writing, but are essays always the best way to communicate ideas to others? When Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. wanted to save a piece of American history in 1830, what did...
Chasing Happiness
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson writes that our “inalienable rights” are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” What does “the pursuit of happiness” mean? What does it mean to you? What did the original writers mean by it?
What Are You Waiting For?
Former US presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson corresponded almost daily, and they were waiting for something important to happen. They wanted to live to see the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. What are you waiting for in your life?












