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

Full Steam Ahead: Steam Power in Ancient Roman Days?

SHARON’S BLOG
We like to think we’re fairly intelligent today, but did you know that the ancient Greeks and Romans harnessed the power of steam and wind 2,000 years ago?

Your students will enjoy these three prompts based on history and technology as they contemplate Hero of Alexandria, an ancient Thomas Edison, and how his inventions might have changed the world.

Random fact: Did you know that Hero invented the first vending machine? Patrons put in a coin and received holy water from his machine!

This week we’ve included plenty of links so your students can dig more deeply into these topics, if they wish.

Geared for middle – high school students.

Have you downloaded your free samples yet?

SHARON’S BLOG
Do you ever wish you could look at a course before you buy it? Would you like to try out a lesson or two with your students to see if the course is a keeper?

We have many free samples of our courses that you can download today. Get a feel for how we teach and what your students will learn. Pour over the table of contents to check out the full content of the course.

Simply click on the book cover to go to that page for your free samples and lessons. Enjoy!

10 Personal Writing Prompts Students Will Actually Enjoy

SHARON’S BLOG
Why should students write about themselves?

Reluctant writers are more apt to write about themselves and their experiences. Intrapersonal learners have their finger on the pulse of their hearts and thoughts, and they delight in journaling. And all writers enjoy a break from essays to splash around in personal writing from time to time.

Designed especially for 5th – 12th graders.

Dipping toes into water now . . .

6 Literature-Based Writing Prompts

SHARON’S BLOG
Literature holds an Aladdin’s cave of treasures that students can plunge their pens into.

Whether it’s imitating good writing, pondering a topic in the story, or using the story to write another, your students will gain a healthy curiosity for great works of literature as they write.

To enjoy these fun prompts, knowledge of the following stories is not necessary.

Terms covered: epiphany, spatial description, and paraphrase.

These literature-based prompts are suitable for your 5th – 12th graders.

Ready to go treasure hunting?

5 New Prompts for a New Year

SHARON’S BLOG
The beginning of a new year is a special time when your students can look back on their past year and cherish their hopes and dreams for the future. But do they know how to express those?

Here are five prompts geared to help them express their ideas through opinion, personal narrative, personification, and so on, as they think about and evaluate their lives.

Suitable for students in grades 5 – 12.

Let’s do this . . .

Do You Have Story Writers? They Will LOVE These Fiction Prompts!

SHARON’S BLOG

You know you have them—those story writers who won’t come out of their bedrooms, the ones who faint at writing essays but love writing stories.

They spend hours creating fictional worlds and populating them with characters in trouble who are looking for a happy ending.

Fiction is a powerful tool to influence readers’ hearts. Let’s equip our fiction writers with practices and insights that will give them success. You can read more about how authors grab readers’ hearts here.

As an added bonus, students who learn how to write more effectively in the world of fiction are absorbing communication skills they will use in their essay and research papers as well.

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein before she was 19 years old. Christopher Paolini was only 15 when he wrote the first words to his best-selling Eragon. And Jane Austen wrote her first novel at age 14. When will your student be signing autographs?

These prompts are geared for students in 7th-12th grade. Use them now or bookmark them for later.

High-anxiety days need this remedy

SHARON’S BLOG

So much anxiety about the future. Emotions running hot. Fearful thoughts about what lies ahead.

As I pondered these for our nation, the world, and my own life, I was troubled.

I recently heard a radio pastor mention that the Lord says one thing to us more than anything else:

3 Powerful Persuasion Strategies that Advertisers and Politicians Use

SHARON’S BLOG

Do you ever wonder why some ads and political campaigns are so powerful? There’s a reason for that: They use certain strategies to move their viewers.

It’s important to learn these strategies so you can see when they are being used on you!

In this tutorial, you’ll learn three powerful tactics, read examples, and then write your own ad for a product or a politician.

This tutorial is geared for students in 7th – 12th grade.

Ready? Let’s do this . . .

5 Prompts on the Reformation

SHARON’S BLOG

To say that the Protestant Reformation had a great effect on the world is a vast understatement. Kings, kingdoms, and even everyday people felt the sting—and the freedom—this new movement brought.

Your students will be writing opinions, stories, and more while exploring some of the issues and topics associated with the Reformation, no matter your religious persuasion.

If you’d like your students to learn more about Martin Luther in an interesting biography, check out When Lightning Struck by Danika Cooley of Thinking Kids Press.