Rules for Summer
Rules? …for SUMMER? It’s summer and I am driving my twelve-year-old son and a group of his friends to Junior Life Guard practice at the beach. We pick up the twins and drive to another house to pick up three…
Fall is Just Around the Corner!
And its, by far my favorite time of year… Fall feelings are near! Once upon a time, over two decade ago (wow), our family covered this white pumpkin with orange yarn—one strand at a time. What’s the point of this,…
Print Shop Highlight: The Art of the Sentence
Within a paragraph, beautiful sentences steal the show. They glide across the page like a ballerina twirling across a stage; you can’t help but keep your eyes glued to every clause, every comma, every figure of speech. These sentences don’t…
Romeo + Juliet are Everywhere
One of the significant milestones for student writers is the ability to connect the dots. A big part of becoming educated is acquiring knowledge. In English Language Arts as with all the humanities, students engage in reading and learning from…
You aren’t teaching literature alone: Introducing Reader’s Guides
Leading young minds through literature can be intimidating—teachers are forced to ask the big questions, like, “What are the themes of this story?” and “How can we learn from these characters?” And that’s not even mentioning the pivoting we have…
Print Shop is Live
Print Shop is Live! 🎉 Head over to the website to explore what’s new. Navigate from the orange bar at the top of our homepage. There is something for everyone.
An Alive and Kicking Section 5 Project
The word essay has its roots in the old English word “assay” tied to science in the 1400s. Think metallurgy. In the lab, scientists hypothesize and try ideas out. As a writer, I am often saddened by what has become…
Alive and Kicking
Over the course of five weeks, in the Level 4 Integrated Literature and Writing units, high school students are led on a journey through an exceptional work. Not only will they journey through, but they will document the journey, creating…
The big Print Shop drop is coming up—get ready for The Writing Mentor
Poetic devices can turn prose into poetry. Sprinkle in alliteration or oxymoron or polysyndeton and all of a sudden, a sentence is more than just a sentence. It’s art. But how does one teach the art of writing this sentence?…
10 Days and Counting! 🎉
Soon Print Shop will be loaded with goodies designed to enhance your primary, elementary, or middle school student’s ELA journey. Simply click the “Print Shop” link from the orange bar at the top of the landing page of our website…