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

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Set Another Place at the Table

Set Another Place at the Table

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

Dinner with the Smileys, book coverWhat’s the second thing that happens to Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit?

He’s visited by twelve dwarves and one wizard. They come for tea (late afternoon) and stay for supper, eating the provisions in his pantry, taking up room in his tidy hobbit hole, and making noise. Bilbo is not happy.

What happened when Sarah Smiley’s husband was deployed overseas for one year?

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Too Late! It’s Gone!

Too Late! It’s Gone!

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Ever wonder what your life would be like without some of your favorite people or things?

In P. D. James’ futuristic novel Children of Men, she wants people to consider what the world would be like without any new babies. So her novel is all about how no babies have been born on Earth for 25 years. She highlights the blessings of children and how they affect the world by writing about their absence. 

In this unusual prompt, let’s ponder what we have.

Now it’s your turn: Think back over the last few months and

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Flee the Boring Description!

Flee the Boring Description!


MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

You know that boring description in the last book you read for school?

No, wait. You didn’t read it. You skipped the description because it was so dull.

It’s time to fix that. Here’s a paragraph from H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Notice the specific and powerful verbs he uses to keep this description of refugees moving along:

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You Live in a Shipping Container?


MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

Yes, folks, some people live in old, repurposed shipping containers—those huge, metal, rectangular boxes used for receiving goods from overseas.

You can read more about repurposing shipping containers and see some cool pictures here.

They are also being used for restaurants, art galleries, and more.

Other people choose to live in micro-units (tiny, tiny apartments) as small as 250 square feet. That’s 25′ x 10′. Measure that out in your house and see how much space that takes up.

If you were to live in a recycled shipping container or in a space as small as these micro-units, how would you arrange your living space?

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The Secret to a Happy Family

The Secret to a Happy Family

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

What does it take to have a happy family?

“Families that eat together, stay together.  It’s that simple,” writes Denise Mann in “15 Secrets of Happy Families” on WebMD.com.  Do you agree? Is it really that simple?

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach in the same article suggests this: “Have one or two unifying activities that the family does together on a nightly basis.” This could be reading a story or playing a game together.

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So . . . You Want to Go to Mars?


MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

Mars, planetfacts.orgThe Mars One project isn’t a science-fiction story by Edgar Rice Burroughs or Ray Bradbury.

Mars One is a project that is making plans for taking scientists and colonists to Mars, scheduled for some time in 2024. You can read more about it here.

Are you in? In the United States, you could apply to Mars One for only $38 dollars. Applications are now closed. Out of the thousands who have applied so far, only 40 will be on the trip to put a human colony on Mars. But what’s the hitch?

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I Didn’t Finish My Homework Because . . .

I Didn’t Finish My Homework Because . . .

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

 . . . I didn’t want to add to my teacher’s already heavy workload.

. . . I put it in my pocket and my mom washed it.

. . . I visited my aunt who has this ancient fan, and my hair caught in it. I had to perform an emergency haircut with her fingernail clippers.

This prompt isn’t about homework, but it is about why things happened.

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