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

A 100-mile Accomplishment

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}.

Let There Be Light: The Power of One-Syllable Words

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Do you know how much we owe to William Tyndale?

He knew he could be killed for what he was doing, but he did it anyway.

Tyndale translated the Bible in the 1500s from Latin into the people’s English so they could understand it, and it cost him his life.

How to Fall Asleep. No, Really.

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

You might think this writing prompt is super boring, but hold on. It’s about to get really gross.

You can’t get to sleep, so you drink some warm milk. Or maybe you count sheep. No? What about read a boring book or listen to music until you fall into unconsciousness?

According to mental_floss magazine (August 2014), some people at the end of the 1800s believed so strongly in

Family Writing Prompt: My Prayer for You

SHARON’S BLOG

“My prayer for you is . . .”

Have you ever had the blessing of someone praying over you? Really pray for you, not at you, bringing you to the Father from a heart of love and compassion?

What is your prayer for your spouse? For your teen daughter who believes the lies the mirror whispers to her? For your clever son with dyslexia who thinks he’s stupid or for that child who seems so distant?

We encourage others when we pray. We uplift them. And we bring them before the God who created them, who can do far more than we can to touch their hearts.

Let’s intervene on behalf of the people we love most, and let’s give our children the experience of thinking of others through prayer. A prayer written especially for them will be a treasure they can read over again during troubling times in their lives!

5 Prompts on Quotations

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

Enjoy this variety of writing prompts drawn from quotations by famous characters and people!

*****

1. Star Wars

“Your eyes can deceive you. Don’t trust them.”

That quote is from the Star Wars character Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Have you ever looked at something and been confused or tricked by what you saw? When have your eyes deceived you? Write your story.

5 Prompts on Current Events

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Looking for a way for your teens to think deeply about some of today’s issues?

This week’s prompts will give your teens a chance to look at current events, express their opinions, and practice persuading readers. Each one of these prompts has a link so your teens can read more about the issue.

Warning: You may want to check the sites out before your teens do. Though I am careful which links to include, inappropriate material may appear on the other sites after I’ve posted the links.

Ready? Let’s go . . .

5 Prompts about Food

SHARON’S BLOG

Who says you can’t play with your food?

Here is a bundle of five prompts on food-related topics that will get your middle school and high school students writing. Whether they’re telling personal stories, trying to persuade readers, or expressing an opinion, your students will enjoy sinking their teeth into these prompts.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Holocaust Remembrance Day is when we bring to mind the people—most of them Jews—who were exterminated by the millions in World War II by the Nazis.

Maybe you’ve read The Diary of a Young Girl (or The Diary of Anne Frank), a real diary of a young girl just turned thirteen. In it, she chronicles her days of hiding out with her family and another family in an annex (an unused portion of a building, like an attic) in Amsterdam. Why are they hiding? Because if the Nazi soldiers find them, they’ll be sent to a concentration camp and likely be killed.

Word Choices: From Boring to Glowing

SHARON’S BLOG

Our word choices can have a huge impact on our readers. Or the words can muddle them. Let me give you an example.

If I write that a toddler is a good eater, I suddenly have a communication problem. The word “good” is not specific enough. Does “good” mean that the toddler is neat while eating? Does it mean that the child eats a large quantity of food or perhaps a variety of food without complaining? My readers will not have a clear idea of my meaning.

Your middle school students will learn this in the first writing prompt. I’ve written a very boring paragraph about something that seemed exciting to the student, but the words I selected were flat, overused, and not specific enough.

Teens will have fun with the second writing prompt as they practice using specific words and phrases to get a point across or create a focused mood.

Ready? Let’s go . . .

1. Star Wars

Looking for something?

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