How to Avoid Plagiarism

Today’s article comes to you from my friend Lily Iatridis of Fortuigence.com. Her article is a tutorial on plagiarism and how to avoid it. You’ll even find helpful links your students can use to create those pesky citations.

In addition, Lily shares a solid method for taking notes and for keeping track of all the sources. And check out her handy anti-plagiarism checklist at the end!

This is well worth the read. I won’t be surprised if you use this article often as a reference for you and your children throughout the school year.

You can find Lily’s online writing course Essay Rock Star here.

Create a Character from a Photo

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

You want to create a character for your story, but you’re stuck. You can’t think of one.

Keep reading to find out one trick that will give you oodles of ideas.

As readers, we find out about characters by what they do and say, what others say about them, what they look like, and what they wear. For instance, if a character

Proofreading: Three Methods to Make it Easier

SHARON’S BLOG

Proofreading is never easy. Anyone who says it’s easy is trying to sell you something or has never actually tried it.

If we can’t make it easy, at least we can make it easier for our troubled, weeping students. In fact, with these three tips, you can change it from a job that requires the strength of a backhoe to one that uses a garden trowel.

Many professional writers use the first two methods in their own writing, and so can your students. The third one is exclusively for students.

3 Powerful Tools for Writing Persuasively

SHARON’S BLOG

If your writer is reluctant, writing opinions is a good place to start. Everyone has opinions, and most students like to express theirs.

Opinions are all about the writer: “I love . . . ,” “I think people should . . . ,” “I hate it when . . . .”

Writing to persuade someone else, on the other hand, is all about the reader. Your students make a shift in their thinking: What ideas and points do readers need before they will change their minds? A persuasion essay needs a few important tools.

Help Your Students Avoid These Three Mistakes in Persuasive Writing

SHARON’S BLOG

It’s easy for our students to make these common mistakes in persuasive writing. I’ve seen them in any number of newspapers and magazines in letters to the editor, and they abound in student essays. I’m guessing you have seen them as well.

I won’t keep you in suspense. Here’s the list:

Problem to Solution: Invasive Species

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

The Florida Everglades’ delicate and balanced ecosystem is being threatened by new species of plants and animals that have no natural predators. For instance, Old World climbing fern, which is not native to Florida, is smothering plants that grow naturally there and that are needed for food and protection to other species.

The Burmese python, which used to be imported to Florida for pet stores,

The Introduction’s Super Power

SHARON’S BLOG

Introductions can be boring. Super boring.

Young writers think they have to fight with a blank piece of paper for that first, amazing sentence before they write anything else, and so they get stuck.

Cue the tissues. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

A mom recently asked me to look at her son’s essay. He was entering a state-wide speech contest on the topic of responsibility and had written a solid essay—except for the introduction. He was going to put his listeners to sleep with it.

We were all sitting at his kitchen table. I turned to this teen and asked him,

Characterization: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

King David. Slayer of giants. Hero to many. Kingdom builder. Writer of heartfelt psalms. Follower after God.

Adulterer. Schemer. Murderer.

What gives?

How could someone be so good and so bad?

This writing prompt is about creating believable characters, those that are a realistic mix of positive and negative traits.

Define Your Terms

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

As a writer, it is important to define your terms. In fact, it’s one of your jobs. That way, all readers are on the same page with you and know what you are talking about. Why do you think Paul took up so much space in I Corinthians to define the word “love”?

Examples

“Tolerance” is a word that will need a definition when you talk to someone about it. Even the word “insane”

Tell Me about Your Life as a Trapeze Artist: Interview into Narrative Essay

SHARON’S BLOG

My great-grandmother marked the day in her journal when she received her first icebox. What was she using for refrigeration before then?

One acquaintance traveled the world with the army during the Vietnam years and isn’t even allowed to tell me what he did, though he likes to tell me about the strange food he ate on those trips.

But I’m not the only one who knows interesting folks.

People in your family, your church, and your neighborhood have led remarkable lives as well. They’ve fought in wars and been in accidents. They’ve experienced disasters, invented things, started their own businesses, overcome debilitating abuse or sickness, beat the odds, seen the world, or eaten raw squid.

These people want to tell their stories to someone who will listen. And your children, in interviewing these people, will come away with a new perspective on history and life. This type of writing activity is well worth the effort.

Examples

Looking for something?

.