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

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The Melding of Humans and Technology

The Melding of Humans and Technology

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

“Within 30 years, we will have the means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.” -Vernor Vinge, in “The Coming Technological Singularity”

Raymond Kurzweil, a futurist, inventor, and author of books on artificial intelligence, believes that “we’re approaching a moment when computers will become intelligent, and not just intelligent but more intelligent than humans. When that happens, humanity—our bodies, our minds, our civilization—will be completely and irreversibly transformed…. Maybe we’ll merge with [the superintelligent computers] to become superintelligent cyborgs, using computers to extend our intellectual abilities the same way that cars and planes extend our physical abilities.” *

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Two Secrets to Writing an Exciting Description

Two Secrets to Writing an Exciting Description

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

Reading descriptions can be super boring; you probably skip them when you read older books, especially if they go on and on.

Today’s writers know how to capture your attention and keep the descriptions interesting. What are their secrets? We’ll explore two today.

Senses

First, they use their senses. Here’s a fascinating verse about Jesus that the apostle John writes in the beginning of his first letter:

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (I John 1:1 NIV)

How many senses from the list below does he depend on to tell us that Jesus is real? 

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Story Writing: The Resurrection

Story Writing: The Resurrection

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

This week is Holy Week for Christians. We remember and celebrate Jesus’ Triumphal Entry, Last Supper, trial, death, and resurrection.

All the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) have accounts of the resurrection, but none of the accounts are written in first person.

Point of View

First-person point of view is when the narrator is telling the story, like this: “I saw the angels,” “I walked up to the tomb,” or “When we saw that it was empty, he went in and I backed away.”

The disciple John, when mentioning himself, writes of himself in third person as “the other disciple,” like this: “So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first” (John 20: 3-4). What would his story be like if he had written it in first person?

Many people are mentioned in the accounts of the resurrection: Mary Magdalene and other women, guards, angels, disciples such as Peter and John, chief priests, Cleopas and the other man walking to Emmaus, and Doubting Thomas. What story could they tell?

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5 Powerful Persuasion Strategies for Your Writers

5 Powerful Persuasion Strategies for Your Writers

SHARON’S BLOG

I love to bring you examples of effective writing so your students can use them, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint meeting of the U. S. Congress is an excellent example of persuasive writing. He used many powerful strategies in his speech, five of which we’ll delve into today.

Your students will better understand the intricacies of writing when they have the chance to learn from professional examples of published authors and speechmakers, so, to that end, let’s explore the persuasion tactics Netanyahu used.

Below are five powerful persuasion techniques. After the list, you’ll find a family writing prompt that involves one of them.

To read the complete transcript of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, click here. .

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A Topic Sentence at the End?

A Topic Sentence at the End?

You are familiar with topic sentences, how they come at the beginning of paragraphs and tell readers what the paragraph is all about.

But what if the topic sentence came at the end of the paragraph? And what if that paragraph described something from a story?

Topic sentence at the end

Here’s part of a paragraph from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Notice the topic sentence at the end of the description:

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Create a Visual Aid Like Saint Patrick Did

Create a Visual Aid Like Saint Patrick Did

HIGH SCHOOL PROMPTS

Are you wearing green?

Saint Patrick, whom we celebrate March 17, is famous for teaching the ancient Irish about Christianity in the fifth century.

Legend has it that in order to teach people about the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), Patrick used a three-leaf shamrock to show how each leaf is separate but also part of the same plant.

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What Are You Afraid Of?

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROMPTS

What are you afraid ofEveryone has stuff they don’t like doing or stuff that creeps them out.

That’s true for Howie Mandel, comedian and former host of the TV show Deal or No Deal. He hates shaking hands with people because of all the germs he can get from one handshake. Now he uses a fist bump.

“I do it because it just uses the outside of my hand. I can do it and still hold a sandwich. But when I get home,

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