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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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Your Future Spouse
Libby Nicholas kept a list of seventy-seven qualities she wanted in her future husband: has a strong handshake, is musically talented, volunteers at a homeless shelter, and, oh yeah, doesn’t eat at McDonald’s.
When she realized her list was full of (more…)
Punctuation in Dialog
Welcome to the third in a series of grammar tutorials! You can find the first one on commas in compound sentences here.
The second one teaches the position of commas, periods, colons, and semicolons when used with quotation marks. What could be more exciting?!
Dialog punctuation tutorial
Do you have students who love to hide in their bedrooms and write story after story?
Most likely, they are hoping to be published one day, their stories read and loved by millions, their names on the covers of sought-after books.
One thing editors look for in a new writer is proficiency in grammar and punctuation. Granted, it’s not a huge thing; it’s more important to know how to write a great story. But grammar is an indicator of how well the writer knows the language and its conventions, and it is something that editors take into account when determining whom to publish.
Let’s make sure our students have access to the skills they need to get published.
A tiff between Tarzan and Jane in this fun tutorial will guide your students through the punctuation-in-dialog jungle. (more…)
What Would You Walk Across Your Country For?
Eric Peters was a 23-year-old U.S. Army veteran when he spent seven months walking across America. He began in Clark, New Jersey, and ended in California. Along his trek, he talked to reporters, DJs, other veterans, and anyone willing to listen.
Why?
Peters, recently back from a tour in Afghanistan, suffers from (more…)
Where to Put the Comma, Period, Colon, and Semicolon When Using Quotation Marks
This compelling grammar lesson answers such thorny questions as this one: “Mom, does a period go before or after the last quotation mark?”
You can find the first in the series of grammar tutorials here; it’s all about compound sentences, coordinating conjunctions, and commas. And if that doesn’t create some excitement in the classroom, I don’t know what will.
Punctuation and quotation marks tutorial
This week’s tutorial includes the following:
- An infographic to teach the material
- A set of sentences your students can correct to reinforce the material
- The answers to the sentences
There are only two rules (can you believe it?), and they are easy (again, is it to be believed?).
This lesson does not cover quotation marks in dialog. Tarzan is in charge of that here.
As you’ll notice by the infographic, (more…)
