Sharon Watson, Author at Writing with Sharon Watson-Easy-to-use Homeschool Writing and Literature Curriculum

Connotations: Illegal Aliens

The Colorado House of Representatives voted to remove the words “illegal alien” from their state laws and substitute them with “undocumented immigrant” or “foreign national.”

Stephen Lebsock, the Democratic Representative behind the bill, says that “aliens are from other planets. We should not be referring to human beings as aliens,” according to the Denver Post. And the radio station K99 in Colorado quotes him as saying that the term “illegal alien” is “outdated and hurtful language.”

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit a particular site in Scotland each year, hoping to see a monster. What are they looking for?

It turns out that tourists are not the only ones looking for something. Operation Groundtruth has begun a search for the Loch Ness Monster (“Nessie”), a monster some claim they have seen. They are using a marine robot equipped with sonar to search the depths of the loch.

Nessie, if she exists, is thought to be a marine reptile, perhaps a plesiosaur, left over from the age of dinosaurs.

What has Operation Groundtruth found so far? The steep sides of the loch, the deep trench of the loch, and even a World War II airplane lying on the bottom of the loch. No Nessie. Yet.

SHARON’S BLOG

Burros, tall tales, and fears: You can find them all in the Grand Canyon.

In 1893, the Grand Canyon was made a Forest Reserve and then later a National Monument. It became a national park in 1919, just three years after the National Park Service was formed.

Which prompt about this amazing formation will your students enjoy?

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

There are many gut-wrenching parts to the death of Jesus and his resurrection.

One is how Judas, a “friend” for three years, hands Jesus over to his enemies—with a sign of affection.

Another is when Jesus willingly steps into a rigged trial, one He knows He will lose.

Another troubling part of this account is when Peter, Jesus’ right-hand man, denies knowing Jesus even after he’s been warned that he will deny him. You can read about this in Mark 14:27-31 and Mark 14:66-72.

Jesus knows what Peter is doing. In fact, the Bible says that while Jesus is being mistreated in the house of the high priest, he turns and looks “straight at Peter” (Luke 22:61 NIV). At that point, Peter remembers the warning Jesus gave him, and he runs out of the courtyard and weeps “bitterly.”

The amazing part of Peter’s betrayal is that

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

We celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, the day the patron saint of Ireland died.

Many like to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, but where did the tradition of wearing green come from?

Some say that leprechauns cannot see the color green; therefore, you are invisible to them and cannot be pinched.

Others say it is because green is worn in Ireland by Catholics and orange by Protestants. Or could it be that Ireland is called the Emerald Isle? Or that green is one of the three colors in the Irish flag?

Whatever the reason, we’re going to have some fun with the color green.

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Invisibility—is it a blessing or a curse?

According to Irish legend, wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns and their pinches and tricks.

But wearing green is not the only way to become invisible. The scientist Griffin, in H. G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, makes himself invisible by experimenting with formulas and light. At the beginning of his experiments, he thinks invisibility will be a great gift to mankind. However, as he uses it more and then has a series of misfortunes, he plans to begin a Reign of Terror on the countryside. His invisibility has become a selfish means to revenge.

Those who put on the ring in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien become invisible. This comes in handy when

Write an Introduction: The Benefits of Owning a Pet

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:

Sibling Rivalry: Give Advice to a Friend

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

The comedy team The Smothers Brothers struck a chord when they capitalized on sibling rivalry in their routine “Mom Always Liked You Best.” People laughed because they understood the family tensions in Tom and Dick Smothers’ silliness.

When children, even adult children, feel as if one parent loves a brother or sister over them, it can cause trouble and incite fights between the siblings. Children become competitive, always vying for parental approval, constantly wanting to be better in some way than their brothers or sisters.

Children judge themselves on their

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Could you write a story from your life in 91 words?

In honor of an elderly student who died just days before her 91^st birthday, the online writing site Gotham Writer’s Workshop conducted a contest. The rules were to write a memoir, a story from your life, in 91 words.

How Point of View Changes the Feel of a Story

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

A story’s point of view (POV) can affect how the story feels.

For instance, The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis is written in the third-person omniscient POV: The narrator knows everything, even things that some of the characters do not. The invisible narrator in omniscient POV can tell readers what one character is feeling or thinking and then turn right around and ramble around in another character’s heart and mind and report that to us.

The omniscient point of view is out of fashion today. It followed all the major characters and reported on their happenings. We today want to journey through a story with only one or two main characters because it feels more personal that way.

Here’s a portion of the second paragraph of “The Wood Between the Worlds” in The Magician’s Nephew. The protagonist Digory has just arrived in that forest by means of a magic ring: