Some websites

Following are some websites in which students can find explanations and examples of a wide array 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. Sometimes, an easier way to navigate this website is to use the INDEX. 

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 - these lead 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.

Grammar Bytes: This is a terrific website with two sections - one for explanations (Terms) 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 if you have questions.

For Shakespeare assignments

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/

Writing that college application essay

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. Post your questions in comments.

School's almost out

What to do with kids for a whole summer looming ahead?

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.

Really good, helpful website

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.

Homework Help Websites

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 – 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.

Homework help at Answers.com: Use the search bar at the top or find a category that you need in the list of links at the left.

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!