SAT* Workshop and Teenage Proofreaders

I’ve been putting together a worktext to go with the three-hour audio workshop I recorded in April, and all the pieces are finally coming together. The thing that has taken the longest is getting the live audio mastered into the proper format, but it’s happening today, and I believe I’ll have it duplicated and ready to go for the HEAV convention, which is less than two weeks away! www.SAT-Workshop.com

One thing I discovered- or actually re-discovered– I realize it every time I write a book or article- is that it’s nearly impossible to proofread my own work. Because I know the material so well, I tend to read what I think I wrote. Someone with a fresh eye can catch small typos and transpositions that I’ve overlooked, just as I can catch the errors in other people’s writing.

My first choice for front-line proofreading is always one of my own boys. If you write anything at all, I suggest that you ask one of your students to proofread it for you. They may or may not be naturally gifted in English, but it’s amazing how much they can catch. I am always touched by the amount of care and thought they put into the process. Even if the subject isn’t intrinsically interesting (66 pages of test prep tips, techniques, and strategies for the SAT isn’t exactly Lord of the Rings!) they know it’s important to me, and they invest the time to do their best. Read more

Writing Opportunities for Teens- Contests and Blogs

Whenever I speak on writing, I ask students whether they like to write. There are always a few, usually sitting on the front row taking copious notes, who respond eagerly that they LOVE to write. A few, usually sitting in back, clearly not there by their own choice, indicate firmly that they don’t like to write anything, anytime.

The most common response, though, comes from the majority, who indicate that they like to write as long as they are writing something that they want to write. Read more

Happy National Grammar Day!

National Grammar Day, sponsored by The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG), is celebrated annually on March 4. I’m sure that someone somewhere has scheduled an event with party hats and noisemakers. I thought perhaps we’d content ourselves with a quiet celebration and a few links to interesting grammar resources. If you visit the links from the NGD site, I’d suggest you preview them before sharing them with your family, as I haven’t checked them all.

Let’s begin with a podcast of “Top Ten Grammar Myths” from Grammar Girl. She tackles the myths that trip would-be grammar experts everywhere, including items such as the true definition of run-on sentences, possessives, the use of ‘a’ or ‘an,’ split infinitives, and the number one myth– ending a sentence with a preposition. Read more

The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy (and SAT Essay Prep)

I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires. Read more

Miss Thistlebottom’s Hobgoblins: A Review

I have a weakness for books with funny titles– especially if they are about writing, grammar, style, and usage. Miss Thistlebottom’s Hobgoblins: The Careful Writer’s Guide to the Taboos, Bugbears and Outmoded Rules of English Usage by Theodore M. Bernstein has finally made its way from my Amazon wish list to my desktop, and I’ve been enjoying it immensely.

Bernstein, a former editorial director of the New York Times Book Division, a 25-year journalism professor at Columbia’s School of Journalism, and consultant on usage for the Random House and American Heritage dictionaries, tackles some of the unfortunate strictures that have made writing more difficult than it needs to be. With delightful good humor, he routs “Syntax Scarecrows” and other distractions, while answering grammar, usage, and style questions you didn’t know you should be asking. Read more

Our Students Need to Write More

During the past decade, I’ve spent a fair amount of time evaluating student writing and teaching SAT prep essay workshops and online high school literature classes. I’ve had the chance to read hundreds of papers from students all over the country, and I’ve discovered one small key to success in writing: Write More...

That’s a directive that easily questioned– write more what? Words? Minutes? Pages? My response is simple– YES to all of the above. Students who write often, tend to write better and more easily than students who are rarely required to pick up a pen (or turn on the computer). Read more

A Science Mystery Solved- Color and Light

*Be sure to check the end of this post for news about upcoming events! NANOWRIMO starts 11/1!

We had an unexpected lesson in the science of color and lighting this past week. Donald graciously used most of his vacation week to paint our kitchen and dining room, and it was one of those snowball projects. We were going from a deep, warm red to a nice mellow Behr color called “Bagel”– a warm golden yellow.

Five gallons of paint of paint and six days after we started taping, the project seems to be all done except for untaping and putting everything back in. However, we had a most interesting science lesson along the way. I enjoy choosing paint colors, and can usually visualize exactly what the color will look like on the wall. This time, by day two of painting, I was getting worried. The nice mellow color on the chip was glowing a rather violent orange hue on the wall. It looked dreadful– but not all the time. There were a couple of times when I looked at it and it was perfect! Read more

Language Arts Workshop is Up- And You Can Get It Free This Week!

When I sent out last month’s newsletter, I fully expected to have my workshop, Teaching Language Arts the Easy, Natural Way, up by the end of the week. I didn’t count on having to move my website and fix all sorts of interesting technical difficulties!

The exciting part of all this is that you can get the audio workshop free when you purchase Lynda Coats’ wonderful phonics curriculum, All the Letters, All Year Long. Lynda is the author of the Far Above Rubies and Blessed is the Man unit studies, and she’s really hit a home run with her new phonics program. It’s unique, comprehensive, and amazingly affordable! There are several great reviews at Lynda’s website– be sure to read them!

So why am I offering the Teaching Language Arts workshop free with Lynda’s book? It’s because a group of the Coats’ friends have gathered together to create an amazing group of bonus gifts (over $100 worth!) in order to benefit Lauren and Lynda. You see, Lynda’s dear husband, Lauren, has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer. He is home from the hospital, under the care of hospice, but as in any situation like this, medical bills continue to mount. Read more

Perfectly Parsed Piffle- The Writing Evaluator’s Dilemma

As parent-teachers, we’ve all seen boring writing assignments– a grammatically-correct report that simply paraphrases an encyclopedia entry or a five-paragraph essay that piles one trite cliche on another, and concludes without a glimmer of an original thought. If you’re anything like me, you may even remember writing a few of those! The cause of such frightful compositions usually lies in an inadequate reading foundation (input) or in a poorly-thought-out writing assignment.*

I’ll write about how to remedy the causes another time, but today, I’d like to discuss how to evaluate this kind of writing. To a parent, perfectly parsed piffle often poses a dilemma. If there are no obvious mechanical errors (spelling, punctuation, grammar, word usage), does the student’s work deserve an ‘A’? How do you grade a paper for shallow content and lack of originality– and should you even do so? Read more

Essay Workshop in Woodbridge, VA

If you’ve been waiting for the next Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop, it’s scheduled for Wednesday, June 13, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. This popular SAT prep writing workshop will prepare teens for the timed essay on standardized tests, as well as those found on college exams. You can read more about it and find registration information on my website! We may, if there is enough interest, follow the student workshop with a one-hour parent workshop on Evaluating Writing. Just let the hostess know if you are interested when you sign up.

This is one of the most rewarding and fun workshops I do. Students often come in feeling uncertain of what is required for the SAT essay and unable to write quick essays, but they almost always leave with a feeling of genuine accomplishment. We write two timed essays during the day, and the students take home a little handbook that will help them continue to practice. It’s a lot of fun, and I hope to see you there!

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