I was talking with a parent of a fifth grader who is attending our local “gifted zone center” program. Her daughter was assigned a paper that needed to be two pages, double spaced. Her daughter does not type well, so this assignment was taking a while. At one juncture, the parent noticed that her daughter [...]

Does your child have a ‘seed’ journal? This is a simple concept, but can grow into wonderful pieces of writing! Simply have your child keep a journal of interesting events, people, descriptions, ideas, etc. – any “seed” that he or she may one day use in a piece of writing. The seed journal can be [...]

This excerpt from the Memphis based commercialappeal.com: “Kristina White, 11, took a persuasive writing assignment so seriously this spring that today more than $72,000 worth of computers and technology will begin arriving at Sherwood Elementary. In her two-page letter to Todd Bradley, executive vice president of Hewlett-Packard’s $42 billion personal systems division, Kristina introduced herself, [...]

Parents, we hope you take a moment to check out our free summer mini e-course, and send us some feedback! We’d love to hear your opinions! Happy Fourth of July everyone! – Heather

“In this lesson, students explore the differences between e-mail and letter writing by contrasting and identifying different forms, and experimenting with their own e-mail and letter compositions.” Check it out at ReadWriteThink*. * ReadWriteThink is a website from the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English. It’s purpose is to provide educators [...]

We all know about the proverbial ‘summer reading list’ – whether it is our guilty pleasure beach reading, or a list from the library or your child’s school – and we usually get through at least a portion of that list between June and September. I just read a blog posting by the NCTE (National [...]

I just stumbled across a set of videos to support Language Arts Education from Discovery Education. Downside: they are not interactive. Upside: they are free, short, and interesting. – Heather

1. Drafting all about IDEAS – it is a beginning, not an end! 2. Remember, the writing process is cyclical – you can always go back to the brainstorming phase if you need to! 3. While writing a draft, leave wide margins, whether you are writing by hand or typing! 4. It is alright to [...]

When I took Latin in high school, I just loved it (ok, I’m a Latin geek) because it was like a wonderful puzzle that allowed me to chip away at the English language. With each new piece of vocabulary, I was gaining a key to the kingdom, so to speak, for my own language. Each [...]

The exercise helps students develop key skills: listening, information-gathering, multitasking and succinct writing. This sounds like a wonderful strategy for taking great notes during lectures or class. What is it? “Live-tweeting” using Twitter. More and more, professors and teachers are experimenting by using this tool with their students. I love being connected to others’ ideas – [...]