Do your students get stuck when they have to write a paragraph or an essay? I have a secret I’d like to share with you. Your students do not have to write a paragraph or a whole essay every time they put pencil to paper. One of the best ways to unplug the fear of writing…
SHARON’S BLOG Could your students use a little help organizing their ideas? And what does a bowl of salad have to do with outlines? Many students make their outlines after they have written their essay. This is fairly common. But is a formal outline necessary? Not exactly. You can read about my sticky-note method here….
SHARON’S BLOG Thesis Statements A guy walks in to your living room and blurts out, “Pizza.” You look at him and wonder what he means. Well, you know the subject matter—pizza—but you don’t know where he’s going with this. He could take it in any of these directions: “I want pizza.”“Pizza is bad for you…
SHARON’S BLOG Problems with Point Orders? One of my students handed in an interesting essay on volcanic activity. She included lots of facts, dates, and anecdotes, but there was one big problem. There was no rhyme or reason for the order in which she put her facts. Each major or historic volcanic eruption was in…
SHARON’S BLOG Can a chart rescue poorly written paragraphs? Do your students have trouble coming up with ideas to put in their paragraphs? Are their paragraphs only one or two sentences long? Are they a jumbled mess of ideas? A paragraph is all about one idea. In it, your student will teach something about that…
How do you narrow down a topic that is too large? Find out how in this prompt as you narrow down the topic of fire for Fire Prevention Day.
