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Grading Essays Made Easy |Homeschool Life | Literature | Miscellaneous
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Want homeschool writing tips? Encouragement? Help grading those essays? Practical advice for your homeschool writing class? Insights into literature? Free writing prompts and tutorials?
Whether your student is reluctant or brimming with excitement, you’ll find solid, proven ideas here that will make your teaching life easier. And take advantage of the many writing prompts and tutorials posted here.
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Stained-glass Butterflies and How to Write a How-to
Students will follow along as I guide them through my experience with making stained-glass butterflies. As they read, they’ll be learning how to write a how-to and then insert transitions into the essay to move their readers easily through the process.
Suitable for students in 5th – 12th grade.
My stained-glass how-to essay
Last week I attended a class on how to make stained-glass butterflies. You know, the kind you hang up on a window with little suction cups.
My stained-glass butterfly and my mom’s. Hers turned out better than mine!
The teacher was very clear on how to do each step. We practiced cutting glass first, listening for the “hiss” that showed we were scoring the glass correctly with our cutters. After we had cut a line and a circle (both of which I messed up), he moved us to the next step.
I chose what I thought would be a simple butterfly design and found out how wrong I was. (more…)
Why Not Drop Out?
Across the country, nearly 1 out of every 4 high school students is dropping out, according to boostup.org.
Here are some statistics about dropouts. I was the most surprised by #11. That post mentions a “dropout factory.” You’ll find the definition of that term here, along with other facts about dropping out of school.
Why do you think students drop out of high school? Here are some interesting reasons, according to the students who are dropping out.
Do you think they should stay in school and graduate? After all, David Karp, founder of Tumblr, dropped out of high school But wait, there’s more!
Create a New Park
I recently visited The Headlands, an International Dark Sky Park west of Mackinaw City, Michigan, on the shore of Lake Michigan.
A dark sky park is an area set aside for night-sky viewing and is away from man-made lighting so that the night sky is clear. You can see so many more stars and night-sky features without artificial lighting nearby.
Although there are beautiful hiking trails in the woods for use in the daytime in The Headlands, its main feature is the large, open space created for night-time viewing. (more…)
If You Could Not Speak for 15 Years, What Would Your First Words Be?
Do you know someone who does not or cannot speak?
Many reasons exist for someone not speaking. For instance, someone may be afraid to speak and be an elective mute. Some may have been born with physical problems that make it difficult or impossible to speak. Others may have lost the ability to speak due to an illness, which is what happened to Don. You can watch his story here. (more…)
