Beyond the Red Pen

Lesson Set 8 - Give Me a Break: Teaching Paragraphs I teach high school, so most of my students have a preconceived idea of what a paragraph should look like. However, the five sentence paragraph that leads to a five paragraph paper is what is trapping my students in their writing process. They are unable to expand an idea or simply move on if it has been covered. I really like the idea of looking at newspaper articles or periodicals and evaluating the number of sentences in the paragraphs. I also like the idea of taking out the indentions and having the students decide where the natural breaks need to occur based on content. These exercises will help the students break away from numbers and focus on the content of their paragraphs. I have young children who are learning to form paragraphs at school. My son does not have to adhere to a five sentence rule, and I realize now that his teacher is helping the students focus on a complete idea and not simply encouraging a lack of stru...

Lesson Set 5 - Is It or Isn't It? Teaching Simple Sentences 1. Using the concept of "Is It or Isn't It?" is a great way to engage the students in the process of understanding what makes a sentence. I love this idea and will definitely try to use this with my students. 2. I often pull sentences from the novel or nonfiction piece the class is reading. Admittedly though, I am usually pulling out metaphors or images and do not typically focus on sentence structure. This challenges me to pull mentor sentences to focus on the writing style. Lesson Set 6 - To Be or Not to Be: Teaching Verb Choice I love verbs. However, I find it difficult to teach verbs and all of their many forms and uses. When evaluating verb choice, taking sentences and changing the meaning by changing the verb is a great idea. I love the idea of showing the students instead of telling because I have no doubt it will make them better editors as well as better writers. Active and passive v...

Lesson Set 1 - Teaching the Serial Comma 1. I love the way he led his students through the invitation to revise by help them visualize what they were describing. I think that is a great way to help students choose the right words to convey specific descriptions. 2. I never thought of uncombining sentences then letting the students recombine them. I love that idea. Lesson Set 2 - Here It Comes: Teaching Colons The graphic on page 67 is a great tool to use for my struggling learners or even visual learners who need to see the sentences side by side. I will implement this graphic and use it to create similar ones of my own. Lesson Set 3 - Capitalize on This: Teaching Capitalization Using a nonfiction book or novel to find capital letters and then discover why they are capitalized is something I have never done. Why have I never done that?! This was a big A-ha moment for me! Lesson Set 4 - Possession or Contraction - You Be the Judge: Teaching Apostrophes Apostroph...

Chapter 1 One of the most influential writing experiences I have experienced was in ninth grade when asked to write about an unstoppable force. I waited until the night before it was due and ended up writing about my family's blue minivan that would not die even after the electrical locks went out, the sliding door jammed, the brakes squealed, the oil leaked, and eventually the only gear the van would operate in was reverse. I filled the essay with stories of embarrassing moments my family had experienced due to the minivan and explained that my mom refused to get a new car until the old one died. I was pretty sure that was stretching the topic out of the box, but I was desperate and did not want a zero. My teacher did not give me a "good" grade, but her comments were valuable. She wrote a note at the top of my paper that explained that my paper had a voice and that it sounded like me. She wrote that I had a good sense of humor in writing and that I depicted great ...

Hi fellow bloggers! My name is Molly Hunt and I teach at Wylie High School. I am reading away and hope to post soon.