Topic Sentence vs. the Storymaker HOOK
“I have an IDEA!” Putting that idea to paper with pencil is not always a simple process. Great writing begins with an IDEA!. And ideas on paper are always introduced by a first sentence. But sometimes the stress of crafting…
Knock! Knock!
Happy Birthday Shakespeare! Thank you for leavening the world with wonderful words and phrases: Leapfrog and Bedazzled and Swagger All that glitters is not gold. Jealousy is the green eyed…
The BEST Sentences are Poetic!
This poem is a call to ACTION: to see light through the color slide, to listen for the sound of the hive, to watch the mouse wander its way through the maze of the poem, to…
Inspiring Writers: Ideas are Genius!
Writing is an art form. Writing is an art form achieved via a series of steps: 1) It all begins with an IDEA. Without an idea, the writer will simply stare at the blank page. 2) Once there is an…
Learn with Leonardo
Look Imagine Create “Whatever you do in life, if you want to be creative and intelligent, and develop your brain, you must do everything with the awareness that everything, in some way, connects to everything else.” ~Leonardo da Vinci…
Words in Context
To LIBERATE is to be free from a state or situation that limits freedom. The Liberation of Gabriel King is a beautiful story about the power of friendship and the ability of two children who face their fears in…
Read Aloud Recommendation
Happy Birthday Dick King Smith! Born in Gloucestershire, England on this day back in 1922, Dick King-Smith was a soldier during WWII, after that he was a farmer, and later a teacher. But he will go down in history as…
Phrasing Verbs Well
“… I just finished reading a wonderful little novel translated from Korean to English. Along the way I discovered several little jeweled takeaways about life and language. The protagonist, Yeongju, abandons the corporate world to follow her dream of opening…
One True Sentence
“Before I discovered the miracles of science, magic ruled the world.” In a single sentence, the first sentence of chapter one, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William KamKwamba draws us in to the world of his small farming village…
Remember to Read Aloud!
Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows, was born on this day in 1859. I remember taking my four children to Barnes and Noble Story Hour back in the day to listen to this wonderful book being read…