English Language Arts: Writing Prompts/Journal Topics What is... What is something you dislike about yourself? What is something you do well? What is your favourite room in your home and why? What is a good neighbour? What if... What would happen if you could fly whenever you wanted? What do you think... What do you think of 3D movies? What...misc. What do you like most about yourself? How... How do you feel when it's your birthday? I wish... I wish I had a million... When... When you are angry, how do you look? Which... Which quality best describes your life--exciting, organised, dull--and why? Why... Why is it important to be honest? Misc... Do you think there is too much fighting on t.v.
Bad Blurbs Leaves of Grass -- "Walt Whitman is as unacquainted with art as a hog is with mathematics. His poems, we must call them so for convenience, resemble nothing so much as the war-cry of the red Indians . . . or rather, perhaps, this Walt Whitman reminds us of Caliban flinging down his logs, and setting himself to write a poem." London Critic, 1855 Poems of Emily Dickinson -- ". . . for the most part the ideas [in Miss Dickinson's book] totter and toddle, not having learned to walk. Atlantic Monthly, 1892 Huckleberry Finn -- "If Mr. Louisa May Alcott, member, Concord Library Committee that banned Twain's novel (1885) "Daisy Miller" -- "There are many ladies in and around New York today who feel very indignant with Mr. The New York Times, 1879 "The Awakening is too strong drink for moral babes, and should be labeled 'poison.'" St. ". . . it was not necessary for a writer of so great refinement and poetic grace to enter the overworked field of sex fiction." Chicago Times-Herald, 1899 H.E. Gen.
Language Arts Games - Grammar, Punctuation, Capitalization, Vocabulary Sheppard Software's Language Arts page features a variety of games for different grade levels. Elementary students (and anyone who needs a refresher) can play the animated grammar and punctuation games, which review basic punctuation and grammar concepts. This section is continually being refined and expanded, so check back often! Middle school, high school, and adult learners can review their SAT and advanced vocabulary through the SAT Words and Vocabulary in Context games. Memorizing a wide variety of important vocabulary words will really help you succeed in the verbal sections of the SATs and GREs. In addition, reading challenging books, using the vocabulary you learn in daily life, and writing will help cement the words in your mind.
60second Recap | Learn literature's finest in fun 60-second videos Thesis Statements: Four Steps to a Great Essay, using an example from "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne | Excerpt from "How to Write an A+ Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide" by Jenny Sawyer. Writing the thesis statement. Overview.0:19 What you must do BEFORE you begin writing your thesis statement,0:26 Sample assignment: from "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne0:37 Writing the thesis statement: Step One. Answer the question1:08 Writing the thesis statement: Step Two. Refine your answer2:10 Writing the thesis statement: Step Three. Choose the right supporting examples.3:20 Writing the thesis statement: Step Four. At Amazon's Kindle Store... I'm going to make a confession. No, I knew how to write essays. I’ll show you how you can, too. A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO CONQUERING YOUR NEXT ESSAY ASSIGNMENTMy name is Jenny Sawyer. Most people think A+ essays require hours of hard work. How? YOUR A+ AWAITS.
online graphical dictionary and thesaurus Visuwords™ online graphical dictionary — Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate. Enter words into the search box to look them up or double-click a node to expand the tree. Click and drag the background to pan around and use the mouse wheel to zoom. Hover over nodes to see the definition and click and drag individual nodes to move them around to help clarify connections. It's a dictionary! Visuwords™ uses Princeton University’s WordNet, an opensource database built by University students and language researchers. The Visuwords™ Interface To use the applet you only need to type a word into the search query at the top of the page and press 'Enter'. You can zoom the model in and out by rolling the wheel on your mouse. Understanding the links between Synsets
Free Study Guides Capitonyms VocabularySpellingCity offers worksheets, games, videos, and teaching activities on capitonyms. Capitonyms are a great way to show students just how much capitalization matters, and matching or fill-in-the-blank games are a fun way to reinforce the lesson. Check out our variety of capitonym resources, each tailored to specific teaching strategies. A capitonym is a word whose meaning changes based on whether or not it is capitalized. Capitonyms can be nouns, verbs, or adjectives. Turkey (the country) and turkey (the bird) China (the country) and china (as in porcelain) Most often, capitonym pairs feature one word as a common noun and the other as a proper noun. March (the month) and march (to walk) Capitonyms can also be adjectives, as in: Titanic (the ship) and titanic (gigantic) Sometimes, a capitonym doesn't change just in meaning, but also in pronunciation -- for example: Mobile (the city in Alabama) is pronounced differently than a mobile phone. A further note on Capitonyms
Printing Press The interactive Printing Press is designed to assist students in creating newspapers, brochures, and flyers. Teachers and students can choose from several templates to publish class newspapers, informational brochures, and flyers announcing class events. Text added to the templates can be modified using a simple WYSIWYG editor, which allows students to choose text features, such as font size and color. Documentation for the Printing Press includes instructions for using the tool. Grades 3 – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing & Publishing Prose Flip Book The Flip Book is designed to allow users to type and illustrate tabbed flip books up to ten pages long. Grades K – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing & Publishing Prose Stapleless Book The Stapleless Book can be used for taking notes while reading, making picture books, collecting facts, or creating vocabulary booklets . . . the possibilities are endless! Grades 7 – 12 | Calendar Activity | February 10 Grades K – 12 | Strategy Guide
Tikatok - Kids Activities: Publish a Children's Book with Tikatok Literacy This new section has a selection of downloads to help with literacy. There are all sorts of things here: from alphabet cards to interactive white board activities to help with spelling! You can also visit these extra sections below. Mr Punctuation Poster (based on an idea from Anne Ingle): click the image to download Fun letter cards for word and spelling games: click the image to download 'Ten Things in a Wizard's Pocket' Picture Prompts: click the image to download Vocabulary Split Pin Wheels: click the links below the image to download Available for Instead of said: in blue (as shown), yellow, grey and green, Instead of went: in blue, yellow, grey and green, Instead of saw: in blue, yellow, grey and green, Movement words: in blue, yellow, grey and green and Size words: in blue, yellow, grey and green, A CARP PIE Poster Set: click the image to download Cute animal High Frequency Word Cards in zip folder (this is a large file): click the image to download Word or Publisher Book Cover Template