Writeacher Helps

End of a magnificent blog

2009-09-06T09:46:00.005-04:00

On August 31st, eNotes brought an end to one of the absolutely best teacher-blogs ever, in my opinion! English Teacher Blog on enotes.com This was a treasure trove, not just for teachers, but also for parents (and sometimes for students!).

Fortunately, Carla has her own quite superior website for all things relating to the teaching of English - including great ideas and websites for all grade levels and subject areas within language arts instruction: WebEnglishTeacher.com.

Parents, grandparents, teachers, even students - all should bookmark this site and come back to it over and over. Who knows? She may even decide to start blogging here, too!

Happy new school year, everyone!

Practice, practice, practice

2009-07-27T08:32:00.003-04:00

Did you think that all the practicing in the world is mainly done by athletes and musicians? Have you ever wondered why they do this ... the good ones, that is?

In 1994, Daniel Goleman published an excellent article called "Peak Performance: Why Records Fall," and it's amazing. I discovered the article when I was teaching freshman comp classes at a community college in California; the article was included in the text I used, The Riverside Reader. Over the eight years I taught that course, I learned that this one article was remembered by my students better than almost any other in that text. I don't think it's difficult to figure out why! The article not only makes sense, but the concepts are easily applied to many other areas of anybody's life.

Here are a couple of paragraphs from the article:

"Perhaps the most surprising data show that extensive practice can break through barriers in mental capacities, particularly short-term memory. In short-term memory, information is stored for the few seconds that it is used and then fades, as in hearing a phone number which one forgets as soon as it is dialed.

"The standard view, repeated in almost every psychology textbook, is that the ordinary limit on short-term memory is for seven or so bits of information -- the length of a phone number. More than that typically cannot be retained in short-term memory with reliability unless the separate units are "chunked," as when the numbers in a telephone prefix are remembered as a single unit."

If you think in terms of reading and writing (in addition to music, sports, chess, etc.), it's quite understandable why people rarely misspell their own names once they're past first or second grade, why the students who actually memorize the multiplication tables (rather than depending on tricks, tables, or fingers!) usually are the better math students, why students who read and read and read are usually better writers than their peers since they have been "soaking up" all those words and sentence patterns for a long time.

If you have a child who is out for a sport or marching band, the practice will be enforced! It's that kind of constant practice that is needed for students not only to learn their academic and other subject areas, but also to excel in an area of study.

I hope you'll read the article and think about how Goleman's ideas can help your own children or students. If the child is old enough, have him or her read the article, too, and then help with setting up areas in the house for reading, study, music practice, artistic pursuits, or other areas of concentration.

Pink Monkey has a marvelous collection of study skill ideas - called Study Smart. If you look into this, be sure to read the introductory articles first and then follow the lessons in order. You and your student will build better habits if you do this! There are lots of other study guide and test-taking guide websites online. If you want to know more of them, just drop me an email: writeacher@hotmail.com.

For Shakespeare assignments

2009-04-14T08:28:00.001-04:00

Here's the best website I've found to help students read Shakespeare's plays:
http://nfs.sparknotes.com/ Click on the title of the play you're reading, then on the act and scene you want. You'll find original Shakespearean language on the left and a modern-day "translation" on the right.

Here are several other really good websites about Shakespeare, his works, and his times:

http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/

http://www.bardweb.net/

http://www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/

Kids and state testing

2009-03-26T12:29:00.002-04:00

Spring has sprung! And so have state tests across the country.

In Texas, they're referred to as TAKS tests ... standing for Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. The Texas Education Association posts released tests that can be used to show parents and others what questions are asked and how, plus answer keys, as well as the obvious -- having kids use these to prepare!

This spring, I have grandkids in grades 3, 7, and 10, so we've downloaded and printed some of the released tests to use with them. It was very instructive to me, as well as to them, I'm sure. We discovered how incompletely the 3rd grader was reading; she was missing so many details that she ended up guessing on answers -- and most of the time guessed incorrectly. By working with her on the released reading tests and making sure she was catching all the details, her score was amazing. She missed only one question on the entire reading test earlier this month! Now to see the other two grandkids' results. In 7th grade, they took writing and editing tests; in 10th grade, they took reading, writing, and editing tests. Math and other subjects will be given in April -- about 2 weeks from now.

Some of these released tests are online interactive versions. These work really well with kids, too, because they get immediate feedback from the computer -- and we all know kids trust computer information more than the same information from humans, especially their parents or grandparents!!

In other states, all you have to do is to search online for your state's department of education. Here are a few:

California: http://www.cde.ca.gov/
California's released tests: http://www2.cde.ca.gov/scripts/texis.exe/webinator/search?query=released%20tests&submit=GO

Missouri: http://dese.mo.gov/
Assessments (fancy word for tests): http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/assess/

You get the idea. Find what you need and read, read, read ... and have your kids practice, practice, practice. And remember, if the curriculum is good and if the tests measure what kids have learned from that curriculum, it's not a bad thing to have them practice a lot. The more reading and writing and math and thinking they do, the better!

Questions? Email me at writeacher@hotmail.com

The SAT essay

2008-08-19T10:09:00.005-04:00

Students who will be taking the SAT this year (and on into the future) will need to write an essay in addition to the objective questions (you know, multiple ~~guess~~ choice?). Before writing such an essay, it's quite helpful to know how such a thing is graded. A friend of mine found a good explanation online:

How the SAT Essay is Scored

And here's a link to the SAT scoring guide (rubric).

So ... what should you learn from this?

1. Read the directions carefully and make sure you understand exactly what you're being asked to write about.

2. Plan well and quickly. Make a quick outline that will produce a 4 or 5 paragraph paper. Don't skip this step! Lack of planning will result in a rambling essay ... and a low score.

3. Write a careful rough draft, staying with the outline. Don't go off topic now!

4. When the rough draft is done, read over it and make any corrections needed -- not major revisions, but mechanical errors, such as spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc. If you need to change a word or three, draw one horizontal line through it/them and write the correction just above it.

5. Stay on topic. Off-topic papers are given zeroes! That's right, zeroes, no matter how well written the paper is. Off-topic = 0.

Here is another site that will help with preparation -- for all the sections, including writing:
SAT Preparation at CollegeBoard.com

Take advantage! And let me know if you have questions or want me to read over any practice essays. writeacher@hotmail.com

Confusing contractions!

2008-02-13T14:41:00.005-05:00

... and in addition to the problem of writing/recognizing/fixing fragments, plenty of students are forgetting what their teachers taught them in second grade - the spelling and usage rules regarding contractions and related homonyms. Here are a few of the most misused, with correct words indicated:

it's = it is or it has
its = possessive form of it (The bird built its nest in our tree.)
(There is no such word as its' - for any reason!)

they're = they are
their = possessive form of they (The children piled their jackets in the corner.)
theirs = another possessive form of they (The red car is theirs.)
Notice that possessive pronouns have no apostrophes at all.
(The word there indicates a place or sometimes serves as an introductory word in a sentence.)

you're = you are
your = possessive form of you (Where are your gloves?)
yours = another possessive form of you (Is that notebook yours?)
Again, notice that there are no apostrophes at all in possessive pronouns.

So - what would you say about these?
he's
she'll
his
hers
What other possibly confusing contractions can you think of? There are certainly plenty of them out there!

And, finally, how do you make y'all possessive?! (LOL!)

Finding and fixing fragments

2008-02-13T12:35:00.004-05:00

Once a student is pretty good at identifying the subjects and verbs in clauses and sentences, he or she should be quite well on the way to writing only in complete sentences. Should be! But we can't count on it! Students these days are surrounded by sentence fragments - in casual speech, on television (just listen to those news- and weather-forecasters - yikes!), everywhere!

If you notice that your child's writing grades have been slipping, this might be one thing to look for - and help him or her learn to find and fix any fragments before turning in written work.

Fragments are in bold:

Maria wasn't watching her plate of barbecue very carefully. Santana, the family beagle, snatched a chicken leg hanging over the edge. As baked beans and potato salad slid onto Maria's new sandals.

James opened the door of his cluttered refrigerator. Which caused a pint of blueberries to fall to the floor. The fruit bounced and rolled everywhere in an explosion of indigo.

Chewing the dry, tough, whole-grain bread bought from the health food store. Lorena tried to enjoy her lunch. Fantasizing about a juicy cheeseburger on a soft white bun didn't improve the taste of the soy product sandwiched between leaves of organic lettuce.

(from Grammar Bytes - Exercises)

If your child has been well trained to find the verbs and subjects in clauses and sentences (especially in his or her own writing assignments), then identifying each of those fragments should be easy. Each of those fragments above is missing at least one of the main elements of a complete sentence and/or has an introductory word indicating that the fragment can be fixed easily by simply attaching it to the sentence before or after it.

Questions? Write to me at writeacher@hotmail.com or post in the comments here.

Subjects and verbs

2008-01-30T12:53:00.001-05:00

Often, students are given lessons in sentence structure, and if those lessons are to succeed, students need to understand the basics -- the subject and the verb. They need to be able to identify each and be able to recognize that the idea is a complete one; that is, students need to recognize whether the clause (all clauses have subject and verb) is independent (can be a sentence) or dependent (subordinate, not a complete sentence).

What I learned a long time ago is that it's easier for a student to identify the VERB first and then the subject. It's easier to identify the action (what's going on) in the sentence first, and then ask, "Who or what is doing this?"

Here are some sentences from a student's grammar exercise I saw recently:

Edgar Allan Poe lived a double life in many ways.
VERB = lived ~~>This is the active verb in the sentence; no other word indicates what someone can do.
SUBJECT = Edgar Allan Poe ~~>This is obviously who "lived..." in the sentence. Also, since this is his full name, all three words are being treated as one noun; therefore, his full name is the subject.

Poe was adopted by John Allan, a Richmond merchant, after the death of his itinerant actor parents.
VERB = was adopted ~~>This is a passive verb that is the sole action in the sentence.
SUBJECT = Poe ~~>This is the answer to the question, "Who 'was adopted'?"

Easy, huh?

The difficulty comes when students are dealing with linking verbs or even active or passive verbs which don't seem to have any action to them!

Try this:
Allan was enraged by his talented adopted son's lack of discipline.
VERB = was enraged ~~>It's the verb, including its auxiliary (helping) verb was, but it doesn't seem like an action. It isn't like run or jump or even write. The verbs think and read also seem to be non-action verbs, but they are!
SUBJECT = Allan ~~>Well, at least that's pretty obvious. He's the one who was enraged !

And then there are linking verbs. Most of the time, the linking verbs we use are these: am, are, is, was, were, have been, etc. - all some form of to be. These verbs link the subject to the word(s) after the verb; that is, the word(s) after the linking verb either describe or are the same as the subject.

My brother is a good fisherman.
The child was tall for his age.
Those people are late for the play.

But there are other verbs that can be considered linking verbs, depending on how they are used:

The play seems absurd.
The cast appears confused.

Identifying subjects and verbs can become automatic if students practice it, and if they use the ability in writing their sentences. Making sure every sentence or clause has a subject and verb is the first step toward writing good sentences.

Questions? Be sure to post them in the comments or email me at writeacher@hotmail.com.

Long time, no post!

2008-01-25T10:24:00.000-05:00

Busy times, those holidays! It was hard to keep up with activities, much less find time to blog about anything!

One thing that I've kept up with, though, is The English Teacher Blog on enotes.com. Carla posts lots of interesting items, including this one about the Education Podcast Network and many others. They are all good reads.

Another excellent source of information I discovered is on Power Line today: The Atlantic Monthly has opened its files and archives up to all of us, and there's some great stuff in there. Check it out.

Errors? Non-errors?

2007-10-29T10:50:00.000-04:00

If you haven't found this blog yet, be sure you read through it, enjoy it, and add it to your favorites: The English Teacher Blog at enotes.com. Today's post about non-errors is terrific. Be sure to share this with your kids, especially those in intermediate or high school who may have picky or pedantic grammarians for their English teachers.

So, you're asking, what should my student do -- go with his teacher's marks on his paper or insist on his own voice? Well, while in school, a student needs to follow his teacher's directions. No way around that! The fortunate thing is that, throughout junior high, high school, and college, a student will take English courses (composition, literature, speech, etc.) from many different teachers, and from each one, the student will learn new things. Eventually all this will meld into the student's own writing style, hopefully with élan.

Just, please, don't follow the bad examples of TV news and weather people!

Writing that college application essay

2007-10-17T15:04:00.000-04:00

Just about every college or university application these days requires the student to write an essay. The whole point of these essays is for the student to make himself or herself come alive - be an individual - in the mind of whoever reads it. One thing to avoid is repeating information the admissions committee already has - grades on the transcript, test scores, application information, etc.

The first thing to be careful about is to follow the specific directions on each application. Some schools ask applicants to write a biographical sketch (pretty broad topic!), while others ask specific questions and expect responses that address those questions. Follow those directions explicitly! Anything off-topic indicates to the admissions committee for that school that the student cannot (or will not) follow directions.

There are many places online to get help writing that college app essay. One of the best places, of course, is at The College Board's website: http://www.collegeboard.com/. Just click on For Students (at the left) and then, a little right of center on the next screen, click on College Essays in the Apply to College section. The Dos and Don'ts on their College Essay Writing Tips webpage are excellent.

Other places to get help can be found by going to http://www.google.com/ (or any other search engine) and searching for college application essay or college admission essay. Just be wary of any that promise to write it for you or that want to charge you for entering their site, "mentoring" you, or proofing/editing your essay.

And then there's this from the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101600543.html?hpid=news-col-blog
What an excellent collection of don'ts from this writer!

If anyone out there is writing a college app essay and wants input or feedback, just let me know. Email me at writeacher@hotmail.com.

SAT-prep, etc.

2007-09-22T12:29:00.000-04:00

About now, college-bound high school juniors (and their parents!) are thinking about making sure they're ready for taking the SAT or ACT or whatever other tests are required by the colleges and universities to which the students are thinking of applying. Seniors should be well into this whole process, but late-starters aren't too late. They'll just have to move a little faster!

One of the first websites to meander through is the College Board's site - since that is the company that heads up the SAT (as well as the Advanced Placement tests). Once at www.collegeboard.com/, click on Prepare for the SAT, and choose from several good practice options.

1. Official SAT Practice Questions, from which you can choose Critical Reading, Mathematics, and/or Writing.

2. The Official SAT Question of the Day - You can either go into this each day or you can sign up for the QOTD to be sent to you in email each day. The latter is obviously easier on you! In addition, once you've submitted your answer for each question, you have a choice to go on to further questions.

3. Official SAT Practice Test - You can take one of the released tests from past administrations: Print the test out, answer the questions online while reading your printout, get your score, and get explanations of answers and see sample essays.

All of these are excellent resources for students preparing for the SAT. I think all college-bound students should at least sign up for the Question of the Day AND go through the Practice Test process. Then, if the score isn't as high as is wanted, students and their parents can make decisions about whether to take a course at a local college or buy the online course ($70) or buy one of the prep books online or in a bookstore. (You can also go to a good search engine, search for SAT practice, and find other sources of prep materials. Just be careful of the junk that's out there!)

If a student is considering a college or university that requires the SAT Subject Tests (formerly known as SAT II or The Achievement Tests), then here is a good place for further information, practice, etc. - http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/lc_two.html

Another good resource at the College Board's website is for PSAT, AP, and other tests. Just click on For Students at the home page, and you'll find a link to these tests near the top left of the screen. There are many other uses of the For Students section, including Plan for College, Find a College, Apply to College, and Pay for College.

And finally, from the home page, there's a good section For Parents - excellent information in here and their new Parent Email Service.

If students are thinking about taking the ACT as well, just go to http://www.act.org/ for many of the same kinds of information the SAT website has.

And Texans should be sure to check out this website: http://www.collegefortexans.com/

Please post questions in the comments section or send me an email at Writeacher@hotmail.com.

Prayer in schools?

2007-09-08T12:29:00.000-04:00

Every once in a while, especially at the beginning of a new school year, the following makes the rounds in emails. I just love it, even if it is as old as the Internet!

---------------------

After being interviewed by the school administration, the teaching prospect said, “Let me see if I’ve got this right: You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.

"You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self-esteem and personal pride.

“You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.

“You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the state exams.

“You want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents by letter, telephone, email, newsletter, and report card.

“You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.

“You want me to do all this and then you tell me... I CAN’T PRAY?”

-------------------------

There's another one out there, usually showing up near the end of the school year, that rejects the idea that there isn't prayer in schools. Guess who is usually praying just before each exam!!

How appropriate both of these are! And they're also good satire, in a way.

Interesting patterns - beauty in math!

2007-09-02T16:49:00.000-04:00

Here are some fascinating patterns that should help make your children see beauty in math!

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 11 11 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321

This is one of the few items sent to me in email over the past several years that's worth posting about. The patterns in here are wonderful and should be great fun for your math student's imagination.

Enjoy!

More ideas about homework...

2007-08-27T10:37:00.001-04:00

Here are some more good ideas, offered up by the local CBS station’s website:

Six steps to smarter studying

and

Homework tips for parents

I think all these ideas are really good – in both links – and for parents, the fifth and sixth ones are really important.

Please be sure to post in the comments if you have questions – or send email to Writeacher@hotmail.com.

A month to go!

2007-07-29T21:28:00.001-04:00

School won't start for another month in this area, but if most kids are like my grandkids, they're pretty tired of summer! (That's all right, though; give them about a month in school, and they'll be complaining about the work!)

I thought I'd put together some review links, in case anyone needs them when school begins next month.

When I first started this blog, I wrote some posts to help with sentences - what they are, how to recognize the different kinds, and so forth. One thing that English teachers usually do at the beginning of any school year is have students take a quiz or test that tells what they know (or what they remember after three months of mind-numbing video games, in some cases!) or write a diagnostic essay to see what they remember or start a review of grammar and writing topics. Sentences are one of the basics. So ... get ready.

And here are some websites in which parents and students can find explanations and examples of untold numbers of grammar and writing topics:

Guide to Grammar and Writing: Use the Word & Sentence Level menu to find information about parts of speech, punctuation, etc. Use the Paragraph Level menu to find help with very common writing problems that middle school, high school, and college students usually have. Use the Essay & Research Paper Level menu to find topics relating to the writing of entire papers, no matter what the length; this section also includes links to MLA and APA guidelines for paper formatting, citing sources, etc.

TeachRo's Grammar, Diagramming, and Writing website: This is an English teacher's collection of her own explanations and examples of a large number of grammatical topics, including how to diagram sentences with different characteristics. She is always adding to this, so if you try it out but don't find what you need, be sure to check back in a couple of weeks or so.

English Grammar and How to Write Better: This is an amazing website that is very straightforward. "Stop. Writing. Junk." There are very obvious links (right under the title of the website) to a wide variety of grammar and writing topics, including adjectives, adverbs, nouns, prepositions, verbs, how to write better, and on and on. Lots of good help here.

HyperGrammar: From a university in Ottawa, Canada, this is a very easy website to navigate. Just use the list on the left for whatever topic you need help with - from grammatical items to writing concerns.

Grammar Bytes: This is a terrific website with two sections - one for explanations and one for practice (exercises). Try it. It's wonderful!

LEO: The Write Place Catalogue: Here's another from a university (St. Cloud State in Minnesota) that is magnificent. It includes links to explanations and examples of just about everything - from grammatical topics to thesis statements to introductions and conclusions ... and everything in between.

Try them. You'll like them. And be sure to post in the comments here or send me an email if you have questions. Writeacher@hotmail.com

School's almost out

2007-05-14T15:34:00.000-04:00

Around here, school will be out in eight more days (not counting today, which is almost over anyway!). What to do with kids for a summer that will be about two extra weeks longer than in the past?

Swimming.

Reading.

Day-trips.

Reading.

Swimming.

Reading.

Weekend trips.

Reading.

Swimming.

Math practice:
Elementary
Intermediate/middle school
High school <~~two separate links here!

Swimming.

Science fun.

Trip to northern New Mexico?

History fun and review

I guess those would be enough to keep kids busy. I hope so anyway!

If you have any questions or suggestions, please post in the comments -- or send me an email at writeacher@hotmail.com.

The book!

2007-04-19T11:48:00.000-04:00

Here's a wonderful little video that was sent to me in email, called "Gutenberg does tech support!"

What a kick! This reminds me of a column in the Riverside, California, newspaper a while ago called "The Next Big Thing."

Amazing, amazing!

Really good, helpful website

2007-04-17T10:40:00.000-04:00

This morning, through a fellow tutor at Jiskha, I found this amazing website. Its title is fairly mundane, but the approach is wonderful: straightforward and startling!

Learn about ENGLISH GRAMMAR and HOW TO WRITE BETTER NOW
There are subtitles and attention-grabbers such as these: "Write Better. Right Now." and "Stop. Writing. Junk."

Just use the different links in the section above the red stop sign to navigate the website. For example, this morning there was a question on Jiskha about the use of the article the. I looked in several of my other stand-by grammar websites, but I couldn't find anything that approached the student's particular question.

So now I have a new website to add to my list of grammar websites, and perhaps this one will be at the top.

Questions? Be sure to post them in the comments, or write to me at writeacher@hotmail.com.

How to use [sic]

2007-04-05T12:29:00.000-04:00

Interesting error here - and it seems to be a common one whenever most people give it a try: the misuse of the abbreviation sic within brackets inside a quotation.

"A rousing round of complaints and emails later, Berry posted an apology on his blog. It says in part: 'When I’m wrong, I’m big enough to admit it. (sic) I was simply wrong.' "

Hmmm!

The abbreviation sic is to be italicized and used in brackets [ ] not parentheses ( ), for one thing. For another, it is to be used to indicate that the writer understands that the original speaker or writer (the quoted person) made an error. The bracketed abbreviation - [sic] - is then to be inserted immediately after the error. Is that what's going on here? I don't really know. There is an error there (the vague use of the pronoun it), but is that what she is recognizing? If so, her post should have read like this: A rousing round of complaints and emails later, Berry posted an apology on his blog. It says in part: "When I’m wrong, I’m big enough to admit it [sic]. I was simply wrong."

It would certainly be nice to be able to get inside this writer's head and find out what she thought she was writing! Maybe I'll ask her.

Penmanship -- who cares?

2007-04-05T12:00:00.000-04:00

One recent type of assignment for my grandchild in fifth grade is to write his spelling/vocabulary assignments and quizzes in cursive rather than manuscript (printing). That’s an assignment that just blew him away at first, poor baby. I hadn’t realized that no one had ever taught him how to make the letters correctly, much less how to connect them smoothly. His major problem has been connecting letters that end high (such as the cursive o or v) with letters that begin on the line (such as the cursive s or r). He really struggled. Of course, I wrote words out for him and showed him how to make the letters and the connections, but for a child who has spent the past 4½ years printing, it’s been difficult. I went to the D’Nealian website and printed out a sample page. That helped greatly with the lower-case letters, showing the progression from manuscript to cursive. But the upper-case letters aren’t available on that particular website, so we practiced writing those ourselves. All the upper and lower case letters and printable practice sheets are available here and here.

My grandchild in first grade is being taught D’Nealian manuscript (printing). I don’t know if that’s a conscious choice on the teacher’s part, but I’m very happy about it. She will have a much easier time transitioning to cursive than her brother is.

Who cares what children are taught in school? We all should. Obviously, just about all these children have and will continue to have access to computers, but throughout their school years, the legibility of their handwriting (manuscript or cursive) will matter. What my grandson needs to understand is that, if his teachers cannot read what he’s writing (or printing), they won't know what he really knows. In other words, if they can’t read it, it’ll be marked wrong.

To me, writing (cursive, that is) is much faster than printing. I know that to other people printing is all they’ve done, so it’s become quite fast. Others employ a mix of printing and writing, and for the most part it’s legible and fast. Still others have such poor results – printing or writing! – that about all we can do is hope they have access to computers for everything except signatures!

Pronunciation and Spelling II

2007-03-07T14:03:00.000-05:00

I wrote before about how the spelling lists for first and fifth grades in my grandchildren's school are organized primarily by similar sounds and/or similar patterns. I think we've had good success this year for two reasons -- spelling test scores are rarely under 100% for either child and (more importantly) once they learn something, such as the spelling of a word, they rarely forget it.

There was an exception last week. I thought we had it conquered, but I was surprised when my fifth-grade grandson missed a word on his test the previous Friday. He had misspelled families as famalies. Hmmm! So, of course, I asked him to say the word aloud, and sure enough! He pronounced it with an "a" sound in the middle of the word. So we talked about pronunciation again, and he seemed to have it straight. I know it was only one word, but it's a very common word, and he needs to know it as thoroughly as he knows his basic math facts. I doubt he'll make that mistake again.

All this also depends on what kids hear around them, too, outside their homes and outside the classrooms. In songs, for instance, I often hear the word heaven pronounced hea-vun. And in jest, I've heard (and seen in print!) the word whipped pronounced wupt! Some are funny; others aren't, but they're always fodder for helping kids learn the real pronunciation and therefore clean up their spelling.

Pronunciation is key for most words in English, thank heaven. If parents and teachers are good models for their children, they'll help in this language-acquisition process.

Don't forget: If you have questions about anything regarding your child's/children's English assignments, or just questions in general, don't hesitate to post them. Or you can write an email to me at writeacher@hotmail.com.

Like ... are you tired of it yet?

2007-03-02T12:51:00.000-05:00

I know it isn’t news that the word like is terribly butchered and misused these days. I guess what pushed me over the edge is the latest self-promoting ad on The Weather Channel for their new special show called “Epic Conditions.” (It’s probably just as awful as their “It Could Happen Tomorrow” and “Climate Code” programs are!)

In that self-promoting ad, the word like is misused at least six times in less than six seconds! It just grates against my ears!!

So how should the word be used? The word like has more than one definition and use, just as many words in English do. At present, I think the best place to look up words, terms, and phrases is www.answers.com, so I went there and looked up like – and it tells me that this word can be correctly used as a verb, a preposition, an adjective, an adverb, and a noun. Phew!

As a verb: He really likes his steak and potatoes.
As a preposition: He is very tall, like his uncle.
As an adjective: Those three students have like interests in electronics. (meaning similar)
As an adverb: She drove like crazy to get her injured child to the doctor’s office.
As a noun: In describing a person, you can include her likes and dislikes.

If you go to the answers.com link above, take a look at the fourth definition under adv. You’ll find the word Nonstandard. This is the slang that shows up in our children’s and teenagers’ (and too many adults’) speech these days! If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard kids misuse this word, I’d be rich!!

“He said … and I was all like, ‘Wow!’”

I’m like gonna go into WallyWorld now. Bye!

She has like five shirts that are all the same.

Rich, I tell you!! I'd be like richer than Bill Gates!

Testing

2007-02-05T14:41:00.000-05:00

Many parents across our country are aware of (or even concerned about) that state's test. In Texas, the test is referred to as the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills -- or the TAKS. Whether one agrees with this type of testing or not, the tests are here, and students need to be prepared for them. One thing to keep in mind is this: If teachers are not given a curriculum to teach that is in line with the state's test, something is very wrong. In Texas, as far as I can tell, the tests match the curriculum quite well -- and the curriculum is good, so the tests are measuring what they should be. Parents can judge this, too. Think about what your child or children are being taught (Do you keep up with these things? I hope so!), and then take a look at the tests themselves.

Here is a place where parents can access released TAKS tests -- that is, tests given in the past that are released to the public. What's really helpful about this particular collection is that answer keys and scoring guides (for writing tests) are also provided. (You'll need Adobe's free Acrobat Reader to access these tests, answer keys, and scoring guides. Be sure to uncheck the box for Photoshop Album Starter if you don't want it, too.)

Parents, teachers, students, and anyone else who's interested can really see what level of competency the state is looking for. And needless to say, teachers work hard to have their students performing at the passing levels.

For example, on that webpage, scroll down to the April 2006 tests and click on Grade 7 released tests. You'll be able to read all the tests that students were given last spring. Be sure to read the directions for the writing test on page 4: Write a composition about your favorite memory. (Then below are some reminders, which some students pay attention to and others don't!) That's it! But the big deal is what the student manages to come up with in his or her composition.

Now go back to the TAKS webpage linked above and click on the scoring guide. First the scoring guide lists the objectives for this test (page 2), and the topic given to the students is on page 3. On page 4, the elements are listed for a paper that receives a score of 1 -- the lowest score possible, other than zero for non-participation. Following that, there are several examples of papers that received a score of 1. On page 11, the scoring guide for a "2" paper is given, followed by examples. On page 20, the scoring guide for a "3" paper is given, followed by examples. And finally, on page 28, the scoring guide for a "4" paper is given, followed by examples. You should be able to tell quite easily that papers that score 3 or 4 are superior in many ways to the 1's and 2's -- from the thinking and organization that goes into the content to the grammar, usage, and mechanics that make the paper interesting and easy to read.

If you have a student who is in grade 4, 7, 9, 10, or 11 in Texas, I think it'd be a good idea to print out the scoring guide for that particular grade level and review with your student(s) these scoring guides and the representative essays that illustrate each score. Once your student sees these, it's usually easier to get him or her to concentrate on learning what the teacher is having them work on. In addition, you as a parent will have a better idea of what to look for in your student's writing, as you (I hope!) review his or her papers as they are being written and before they are handed in.

Remember -- if you have questions about any of these ideas, whether in this particular post or any of the others, just post a comment and/or write to me at writeacher@hotmail.com.

Paragraphing

2007-01-17T09:55:00.000-05:00

I ran across a strangely done blog post yesterday. [NOTE: At some point after I first wrote this, the blogger corrected the error. At first there were no paragraph indications at all; it was just one l-o-n-g paragraph! Now there are paragraph divisions, but (as is usual in blogging) the paragraphs are not developed fully, as they should be in academic papers.]

It's the first time I've seen a blog post or any news article which is not divided into paragraphs. It might have been a technical error on someone's part since other posts at this particular blog aren't like this. But it reminded me of an uncountable number of student papers I've seen over time -- one long paragraph! Every time I see something like this, my mind just shuts down. In my classes, I'd just hand the paper back with no grade and tell the student to rewrite it with the proper paragraphing. For a blog post, though ... I just can't read it!

How does one know when to begin a new paragraph? For an academic paper, the answer goes back to the pre-writing stage -- especially, the brainstorming and planning steps. If a student does complete brainstorming and then plans or organizes the ideas in the paper (in outline form, usually), the individual paragraphs will be indicated beforehand. The student will know when to begin the next paragraph if he or she is following the plan or outline.

What should a paragraph include? A decent guideline is about 6-9 or so sentences that focus on one sub-topic in the paper. It'll include a topic sentence, several supporting-detail sentences, and a conclusion/transition sentence.

There is no cut-and-dried formula to follow for every single paper, but the guidelines will work if the student learns them, follows them, and alters them to fit the ideas he or she is trying to make clear. The point is that everything in each paragraph demonstrates development of the main idea of the piece of writing.

Questions? About anything? Post your questions in the comments section or email me at Writeacher@hotmail.com.

Non-words!

2007-01-08T13:07:00.000-05:00

One of the funniest cartoons I've seen lately is "Dilbert," in yesterday's paper. Here's a link to it:
http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20070107.html

I know that a living language is always going through changes of various kinds, as well as additions to the vocabulary. In recent years, most of the new vocabulary in American English has come from all the advances in science and computers that have occurred and still continue. However, when people make up words that aren't necessary, it really makes me laugh ... for a while anyway.

One of the most frequent errors that I heard for several years was the use of the non-word orientate. We already have the words orient (the verb) and orientation (the noun), but I guess some people didn't believe the verb could have fewer syllables than the noun!

Anyway -- enjoy the cartoon, and please don't go around making up non-words to confuse people!

Remember: The comments section is for any questions or comments you may have about English, especially if you are trying to help your child with his or her homework and you're up against a wall with it!

Pronunciation and spelling

2006-12-15T14:32:00.000-05:00

How much does a person’s pronunciation affect his or her spelling skills? I’d say a whole lot!! It’s interesting to watch these skills (listening, speaking, and spelling) in young children’s language development … and to note how these skills will probably affect them all their lives.

Here are some commonly mispronounced words in context:

~ My family use to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. <~~The verb should be used to; it's past tense, after all! But if the speaker doesn't hear the past tense, he won't spell it correctly.

~ We are suppose to visit my grandmother in June. <~~The verb should be supposed to; with the auxiliary (helping) verb are, the past participle should be used. Again, if a person doesn't hear it right, likely he won't spell it right either.

~ The story was about a drownded man. <~~The verb form should be drowned; since there is no such verb as "drownd," there can be no past tense or participle spelled "drownded"!!

There are umpteen more, but these are the most commonly butchered words I can think of at the moment. If you think of others and/or want clarification, be sure to let me know in the comments section below.

In first and fifth grades around here (Klein ISD in Texas), weekly spelling lists are phonetically organized. It’s fantastic. If there have to be spelling lists and tests, then having them organized in some logical or phonetic way is a good thing, I think.

In the process of working with my younger grandson on his spelling words each week, I’ve noticed that he has a much easier time than he did last year, even though this year's words are more difficult. Often they are vocabulary words, not just spelling words, so we discuss meanings and uses as well as any spelling issues he has. One week, he had words with the roots ped, port, and dic (pedestrian, import, dictate, etc.). He has learned how to put the words in his lists in “word families” and he studies them in this way.

The words my first-grade granddaughter has been studying are related and phonetic. Here’s one week’s list: much, inch, itch, lunch, such, bunch, munch, crutch, pitch, catch
Of course we had to discuss the meanings of munch and crutch, but she knew all the rest. Other lists she has been given are like this one – very logical, all words related in some aspect. In this way, she gains confidence and can sound out other words with these same sounds.

Excellent pronunciation is tied to good spelling since most English words are quite phonetic. It’s been obvious to me for decades; it’s becoming obvious to these two children also.

Questions? Please post any questions you have in the comments, whether you think it’s related to this topic or not.

Homework Help Websites

2006-12-04T11:24:00.000-05:00

There are many good websites out there at which students can receive homework help. Just about all of them are multi-subject although a few confine themselves to a specific subject area, such as math.

Here is a list of the ones I consider the best, as well as my reasons:
Jiskha – message boards – free – There is a cadre of teachers who answer questions here, along with many opinions (some good and some not) from other people. It’s easy to tell who is in the cadre identified by the website’s owner; they are the ones who can post links to websites!

PATH – message boards and live-help “rooms” – free – Again, there is a cadre of teachers who have been through an extensive background check and training. Some of these teachers focus on answering questions on the message boards; others volunteer their time in the live-help rooms. A new type of assistance is in the planning-and-testing stages: help via e-mail. I've read that’ll be available in January.

Tutor.com – live help – not free, but very good; all subjects.

And here are some that are all right, but rather cumbersome to use:

BJ Pinchbeck’s Homework Helper (DiscoverySchool) – click and find or conduct a search – free – no live help or message boards, but an extensive collection of links. Be careful of “broken” links, though! A few are quite outdated, and I don't think the links are double-checked often enough.

The Beehive School – click and find – free – no live help or message boards here; click on a sequence of links until you find what you’re looking for (but no guarantee of finding exactly what you need help with); much seems to be under construction.

There are many others. A search on Google for homework help can be useful! Most seem to be the click-and-find type (in other words, you look it up), but that assumes that you know what you’re looking for. Sometimes students don’t even understand their assignments; they need their assignments explained and then guidance to help them with content and writing.

Please post any questions you have in the comments -- whether you think they apply to this topic or not!

Problems in textbooks

2006-12-02T10:16:00.000-05:00

Fortunately, most textbooks for English grammar/usage and writing are pretty straightforward and accurate. In fact, many of them seem fairly repetitive of others! Only the examples and exercises seem to change, while the same explanatory content is rolled out over and over. But sometimes there are problems.

Here's an example of a bad question in a textbook in current use somewhere in the US:

Which is a simple sentence?
1. Given the time of day, we were lucky to find a taxi.
2. Shelia used the lawnmower and Jacob drove the tractor.
3. Eventually she will.
4. Jennifer and Brian gave money to the orphanage.

Pity the unfortunate students (and their parents!) who have to deal with that one! In reality, there are three simple sentences and one compound sentence (with a comma missing!). But parents and students – and too many teachers – are very trusting when it comes to expecting errorless textbooks.

My suggestion to parents and students when facing things like this is not to answer it, but to ask the teacher the very next day about it. In this case, the student should point out the one compound sentence (#2) and ask which one of the others (all simple!) should be chosen.

If you have questions about anything, whether it's this topic or not, please post them in the comments.

Types of sentences - part 2

2006-11-30T14:00:00.000-05:00

Another way to classify sentences is by their structure, rather than their function. In order to be able to identify sentences by structure, it's a good idea that students know the differences between clauses and phrases.

Clause -- must have a subject and a verb; can be dependent (subordinate) or independent (main).
Phrase -- does not have a subject and verb; there may be a noun or pronoun, or there may be a verb form, but they do not function like normal subject-and-verb combinations do; is always dependent -- cannot be a sentence by itself.

Structurally, sentences fall into four categories: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. It's simply a matter of which clauses are put together in what combinations.

Simple sentence: one independent clause; can have as many or as few phrases as the writer likes, but there is only one clause.
Compound sentence: two independent clauses, joined by a comma and one of the coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet) or joined by a semicolon.
Complex sentence: one independent clause and at least one dependent clause; dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions, relative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, and any other subordinating words.
Compound-complex sentence: two independent clauses, joined correctly, and at least one dependent clause.

Here are some examples of these types of sentences:

1. Simple: Three cats live in my house.

2. Compound: Three cats live in my house, and I must now cover all upholstered furniture with sheets!

3. Complex: Three cats, which I love dearly, live in my house.

4. Compound-complex: After I adopted this lovely cat family, my house was again filled with joy, and my heart was, too.

Here is an entire webpage devoted to explaining clauses, and there is a quiz at the end if you want to test yourself! ~~> http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/clauses.htm

Questions? Please post them in the comments.

Types of sentences - part 1

2006-11-27T15:59:00.000-05:00

A sentence has five necessary elements: a subject, a main verb, a capital letter at the beginning, proper punctuation at the end -- and it must make sense on its own. (That is, it cannot depend on another phrase or clause to help it make sense.)

Sentences can be classified in two different ways: by their structure and by their function. Today, I'll focus on sentences as defined by their functions.

Most commonly used are declarative sentences, those sentences that make a statement of some kind:

James hit the baseball hard.

Other sentences are interrogative sentences, those that ask questions:

Did James hit the baseball as hard as he could?
When will James be up to bat?

Still others are imperative sentences -- commands:

Hit it, James.
Run faster.
Sit down.

And finally there are exclamatory sentences:

What a game!
How fantastic was that home run!
Wow!

Most of the time, we use declarative sentences, but clearly, we use the other three types at different times, too. Once students learn to identify and understand declarative sentences, it's usually not difficult for them to recognize the other three types.

If parents want to help their children gain proficiency in this area, one thing they can do is go to English Zone and click on Grammar Blast - Grade 4. In this area there are various quizzes, at least three of which deal with children's ability to recognize complete sentences.

If you have questions, please post in comments.

Sentences

2006-11-26T21:44:00.000-05:00

One of the most prevalent problems I see among students of all ages and grades today is that far too many of them have trouble recognizing and writing complete sentences. Much of it comes from all they're surrounded by, of course, from poor role models in real life, poor speaking skills on the parts of news and weather people (who seem to be allergic to verbs!), and everything in between.

Come here, James. (<~~a complete sentence; a command)

When James came home. (<~~an incomplete sentence)

James came home last night. (<~~a complete sentence)

Students should be able to recognize these and others by the time they exit fourth grade, but far too many cannot. And if they cannot recognize them in print or in their own handwriting, how will they ever learn to write in complete sentences? This is definitely something on which parents can work with their children. And here are some websites that can help:

Questions? Please post them in comments.

Why this blog

2006-11-26T21:29:00.000-05:00

After teaching English in grades nine through twelve and community college courses for over 30 years and now working with my grandchildren on their schoolwork, I've decided to start this blog devoted to helping parents help their children with their English (reading, writing, grammar, etc.) homework. I'll post about reading, grammar/usage, and writing issues, and readers can comment and/or ask their own specific questions. Here's hoping it'll be interesting.