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

Fun with Outlines. No, Really.

Could your students use a little help creating outlines? And what does a bowl of salad have to do with outlines?

My husband tells me he always made his outlines after he’d seen what he had written. I imagine this is fairly common.

But is an outline necessary? Not exactly. You can read about my sticky-note method here.

What is important, though, is organizing the material, and that is where students have trouble. They do not want to take the time to organize their thoughts, ideas, or material before they write.

Personally, I benefit from even a casual outline. That way, I don’t have to start with the introduction and work my way down to the conclusion; I have the pleasure of beginning wherever I like, where I feel the most comfortable. Then I can fill in the rest of my article later by using the organized points in my informal outline.

Whether your students use sticky notes or a more formal outline, they’ll benefit from these familiar outline ideas.

SHARON’S BLOG
“I can’t think of anything to write about.”

“This writing assignment is boring.”

Sound familiar? It did around my house as well. My three children and I hit the wall and almost gave up on writing because it became so tough on all of us.

But I saw value in my children learning how to write, so I worked hard to figure out how we could have a successful writing class. Here are the solutions I came up with—and they really worked!

SHARON’S BLOG
Do your students ever have a hard time knowing what to say to people? Is small talk difficult? Is it easier for them to turn to an electronic device than to a real person?

Join us this week as we explore conversation starters, small talk, and communication.

Great for students in grades 5-12.

To print these prompts, click the Print icon at the bottom of this page.