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

Word Choices Bundle: Attention to Detail

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 . . .

Tutorials for Specific Types of Essays

SHARON’S BLOG

Persuasion. How-to. Compare and contrast. Enumerative. Are your students baffled by these types of essays?

Take heart! Use the 13 links you’ll find below that show how to format and write 6 types of paragraphs and essays.

As an added bonus, the last link leads to a very handy writing schedule you can use all year. Never say, “Write an essay,” again! (You’ve got to be kidding!)

These tutorials are appropriate for students in 7th – 12th grade. Use them now or bookmark them for future use.

{Writing Tip: If your student is not quite ready to write a whole essay, give him or her practice in writing the types of paragraphs you’ll find in this post. For instance, instead of writing a whole compare-and-contrast essay, how about a compare-and-contrast paragraph from one of the links in #5?}

Ready? Let’s go . . .

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 . . .

Equip Your Students with These 11 Essential Writing Tools

SHARON’S BLOG

Could your students use some writing tools?

Your students have to come up with a paragraph or an essay, but they do not know where to begin. They do not know where to get ideas, how to formulate a plan, how to narrow down their topic, how to organize their ideas, how to write a credible paragraph, and so on.

Does this sound familiar?

Then you’ve come to the right place! Use the links below to equip your students with the writing tools they need to be successful this year. Many of these links contain tutorials and free worksheets to download. I hope you like #s 10 and 11. Thousands of moms and teachers have already downloaded them and found happiness.

Ready? Let’s go . . .

My Battle with the Homeschool Mom Comparison Trap

SHARON’S BLOG

I was drowning. I needed help. My joy over homeschooling was robbed because I kept comparing myself to other homeschool moms.

My comparison battle

As a homeschool mom, I compared myself with other homeschool families. You know what I mean: reading levels and SAT scores of other children,

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.

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.

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, 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.]

5 Prompts for Independence Day

SHARON’S BLOG

Picnics. Parades. Fireworks.

Looking for ways to help your middle school and high school students focus on America’s Independence Day? Look no further! Enjoy this variety of prompts {and your Independence Day celebrations}.