That Quote’s Not Quite Right: Albert Einstein

When I see a quote, I often think, “That’s not quite right!”

Getting Specific With St. Patrick’s Day Writing

Let’s take a starting phrase about St. Patrick’s Day and get specific. No, even more specific!

The Moon – Mixed Up Paragraph

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about The Moon back into the correct order?

Parts of Speech Party – Change

How many different ways can we use the word “change”? Let’s find out in this Parts of Speech Party!

Washington, DC – Mixed Up Paragraph

These sentences about Washington, DC got scrambled. Can you put them back in order using nothing but context clues?

Trains – Mixed Up Paragraph

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about trains back into the correct order?

Earthquakes – Mixed Up Paragraph

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about earthquakes back into the correct order?

Writing in Pilish

Pi can go beyond circles! What if you wrote using the digits of pi as your guide?

Fancier Figurative Language: Move the Simile

What if we started a sentence with the simile?

Analyze Paragraphs: Baseball

Three paragraphs about baseball. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.

Changing Coordinating Conjunctions

What happens when we switch out a “but” with a “so”? An “and” with a “for”? How can such tiny words make such big differences?

Writing Technique: Triple Anadiplosis!

Have students mastered the art of anadiplosis: ending one sentence with the beginning of the next? Now it’s time to take it to the next level!

Doubling Up Writing: Anadiplosis

Repeating words can be what you want, if what you want is an interesting effect. (Psst, that’s an example of anadiplosis!)

Fixing Shakespearean Run-Ons

Can your students help The Bard? We’ll fix five Shakespearean run-ons in three different ways.

Writing Technique: 3 Dependent Clauses

A specific technique to help students add some spice to their writing. We’ll be writing sentences with three dependent clauses.

Writing Technique: Contrast With Synonyms

A specific technique to help students add some spice to their writing. We’ll be contrasting two ideas using synonyms.

Punctuation Power

In a sentence, punctuation may seem meek when compared to those mighty words, but punctuation has incredible power over the meaning of a sentence. Students will try re-punctuating sentences to find new meanings – without changing a single word!

Paragraphs: Systems of Sentences

Blow up a paragraph into individual sentences. Now reassemble it. The clues hiding in each sentence will surprise you.

Fancier Figurative Language: Advanced Repetition

Is your students’ use of repetition limited to, “The girl was very, very, very fast.”? Let’s borrow some ideas from Shakespeare!

Advanced Alliteration and Consonance

When students learn about alliteration, it’s hard to steer them away from goofy tongue-twisters. Certainly, there must be more powerful and practical ways of using alliteration. In this lesson, I draw on delicious examples from Shakespeare to show how a very advanced writer used alliteration. Then, I break those ideas down so students can try them out.

What’s In My Brain: Painting vs Painting

Two columns of sentences. Something is different about them. Can you figure out the rule?

Simple or Compound Sentences – What’s In My Brain?

Can your students spot simple sentences vs compound sentences?

Run On or Not? – What’s In My Brain

Can your students spot the run-on sentences?

Complex or Compound – What’s In My Brain

Can your class spot the complex sentences vs compound sentences?

Pronouns With Too Many Antecedents

What happens when a pronoun could refer to more than one noun? Big problems!

Passive to Active Voice

In this lesson, students will not just fix passive sentences, but break active sentences as they learn to put the star of the sentence first.

Ways to Start a Sentence – Part 3

Your students’ sentences all start the same way. Here are three techniques that fix that overnight.

Ways to Start a Sentence – Level 2

We’ll show students how to add more variety to their writing by starting sentences with a reason, a prepositional phrase, and a simile.

Ways to Start a Sentence – Level 1

‘Add more variety!’ teachers say. But how? This lesson gives students actual techniques instead of vague advice.