E.gg Timer - a simple countdown timer textivate Thinking about writing journals? I'm starting to plan for my 6th year as a 7th grade reading/writing teacher at Chicago-area middle school, and I wanted to "think out loud" about writing journals/notebooks and their use in the middle-school language arts classroom. There are several schools of thought on this, and a lot of powerful ways to use these things, as well as several possible ways to handle the logistics. Here are some ways that I've used journals (let's just call them that for now) in the LA classroom: As a daily "Do Now" or immediate activity done at the very start of class. There is at least one other really cool way to use journals - as the "writing notebook," a kind of catch-all or "commonplace book" that writers use to gather their thinking and random ideas. As far as logistical challenges go, there are numerous ways to provide students with notebooks to use for daily in-class writing: All of these cost money, and every year except one, I have provided these notebooks to my students.
The 50 most important English proverbs The 50 most important English proverbs What are proverbs? Every culture has a collection of wise sayings that offer advice about how to live your life. How can you use proverbs to learn English? It's good to know the really common English proverbs because you hear them come up in conversation all the time. You know what they say: when the going gets tough... (Read #5 below to learn the rest of this proverb and what it means.) Learning proverbs can also help you to understand the way that people in English-speaking cultures think about the world. Proverbs can also give you good example sentences which you can memorize and use as models for building your own sentences. The most important English Proverbs This is a list of some of the most important and well-known English proverbs. The meanings of some of these phrases have shifted over the years, so a proverb might have originally had a different meaning than the one I explain. "Two wrongs don't make a right." Print this List
Write On Reader - Forms of Writing - Story Starters As of July 1, 2013 ThinkQuest has been discontinued. We would like to thank everyone for being a part of the ThinkQuest global community: Students - For your limitless creativity and innovation, which inspires us all. Teachers - For your passion in guiding students on their quest. Partners - For your unwavering support and evangelism. Parents - For supporting the use of technology not only as an instrument of learning, but as a means of creating knowledge. We encourage everyone to continue to “Think, Create and Collaborate,” unleashing the power of technology to teach, share, and inspire. Best wishes, The Oracle Education Foundation Teaching English: I have seen the writing on the wall! This activity was inspired by a photo dear Nora Touparlaki uploaded on her Facebook account and it immediately struck me as a great creative writing activity. All you need is a washable pen which also writes on the wall or in case that's not an option some construction paper or card stock. The idea is simple, you ask your students to write a story but instead of drawing the story setting on a piece of paper, you transfer the action on the wall. This was the original picture but you can find more amazing wall decals here Possible ideas Hole to another universe: What is the new universe like? A door within a door. Road on the wall/Arrow on the wall: Draw two lines on the wall and create a road or an arrow. Hello, how are you?
Serial Taxi This EFL lesson plan is designed around Serial Taxi a short animation by Paolo Cogliati and the theme of murder mysteries. Students predict what is going to happen in a film, watch a short film and write a murder mystery. Language level: Intermediate (B1) – Upper Intermediate (B2) Learner type: Teens and adults Time: 60 minutes Activity: Watching a short film, reading, speaking and writing Topic: Murder mystery Language: Future tenses for predictions and narrative tenses Materials: Short film Downloadable materials: serial taxi lesson instructions The School for Training is a small specialist teacher training institute in Barcelona, providing innovative courses of the highest quality for teachers from around the world. Find out more about the courses and how to enrol here. Overview This lesson plan is designed around Serial Taxi a short animation by Paolo Cogliati and the theme of murder mysteries. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Cue the film at 00.04. Step 4 Play the film until 01:22 and pause. Step 5 Step 6
Skriv.no Short Story Ideas - Home Short Stories at East of the Web A game of Scrabble has serious consequences. - Length: 4 pages - Age Rating: PG - Genre: Crime, Humor A semi-barbaric king devises a semi-barabaric (but entirely fair) method of criminal trial involving two doors, a beautiful lady and a very hungry tiger. - Length: 7 pages - Genre: Fiction, Humor ‘Bloody hell!’ - Genre: Humor Looking round he saw an old woman dragging a bucket across the floor and holding a mop. - Length: 3 pages Henry pours more coal onto the hearth as a gust of wind rattles through the cracked window frame. - Length: 14 pages - Genre: Horror ulissa Ye relished all the comfortable little routines and quietude defining her part-time job at The Bookery, downtown’s last small, locally-owned bookstore. - Length: 8 pages - Age Rating: U The forest looked ethereal in the light from the moon overhead. - Length: 15 pages - Age Rating: 18 Corporal Earnest Goodheart is crouched in a ditch on the edge of an orchard between Dunkirk and De Panne. - Genre: Fiction - Length: 20 pages
Fantasifortelling Story Starters: Creative Writing Prompts for Kids If you’re looking to inspire your students’ writing and creativity, turn to these fun and exciting writing prompts. Perfect for overcoming writer’s block or even starting a brand-new short story in a different narrative, creative writing prompts can help students begin a new piece with confidence. Plus, these story starters can also encourage students to explore different genres while honing their writing skills. There are a lot of ways you can use writing prompts in your classroom. Try: Reading a book in a genre, then having students use a story starter in that same genre. Take inspiration from classics like Treasure Island and newer popular series like The Bad Guys to explore how to write thrilling adventure stories. You’re part of a pirate crew in search of a long-lost storied treasure trove. Get students excited about adventure stories with these great books: If you’re looking to inspire your students’ writing and creativity, turn to these fun and exciting writing prompts.
MacScouter -- Stories for Scouts & Scouters Ghost Stories There must be hundreds of good Ghost Stories and other spooky stories out there, suitable for telling around the campfire. Please send me your favorites and I'll include them here. Table of Contents The Lady with the Emerald Ring I heard this one while visting a place in England the previous summer, and it scared the living day lights out of me, only to prevail that I had a good laugh when they were done with the tale. A man's wife became deathly ill the night before Christmas in 1798, he called for the doctor but by the time the doctor had arrived his wife had died, or so it seemed. When later that night the Clergy man fell to sleep he remembered the beautiful emerald ring the woman had been laid with on her finger. He ran with all his might upstairs where he hung himself from the rafters of his home. Wearing nothing but her fine silk dress she walked back to the home and knocked on the door and rang the bell to no avail. With this he shut the window. -- Thanks to Julia Dawn.
Genre, Plot, & Story Prompt Generators Need a plot for your story or roleplay? Or does a plot you already have need a little bit of a boost somewhere? Try these generators out. (Also, you might take a look at Writing Better Prompts, Starters, & Beginnings: A Few Pointers and On Plot Structure & Plotting.) Trying to create an RP plot? Is your story plot stuck, or do you want to avoid getting stuck? AU Idea GeneratorGenerate random AU ideas ranging from fairly serious to utterly silly. Character Bonding Moment Generator Discover the moments that drew your characters closer together! Character Challenge & Obstacle Generator Without challenges and obstacles, there is no suspense. Creepypasta & Supernatural Horror Plot Creator Create creepypasta/horror plots. Genre Blender Not sure what genre to write? Arabian Nights Plot Generator Generate plots ala The Arabian Nights. Fan Fiction Story Prompt Generator Ideas for your latest fanfic. Fairytale Plot Generator Once upon a time, there was a random fairytale plot generator...