http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12.aspxenhttp://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/25583.aspxSun, 15 Nov 2009 18:21:55 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:25583TrentJust because your friend Bob likes green doesn't mean every person on the planet named Bob likes green. Just because everybody's doing it doesn't mean you should. Examine these and other ridiculous statements and how to recognize them for what they are, faulty reasoning. Faulty Reasoning Example #1 "Why are you wearing a pink B...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/22353.aspxSun, 15 Nov 2009 18:17:58 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:22353TrentCorrect word usage begins by understanding the rules of usage that governs good writing. Learn it and teach it with these writing tips. A colleague e-mailed me the following: Yo Dawg! Wazzzzzzzup? I'm glad you got all up here and decided to take a looksie at this here wordliest lesson plashizzle plan in the hood! The receptacle of knowledge residin...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/25492.aspxSun, 15 Nov 2009 18:17:30 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:25492TrentHigh school students love to complain. Teachers love to give high school students a reason to complain. Teaching students how to write a problem/solution essay accomplishes both. Teaching How to Write a Problem/Solution Essay I assigned a problem/solution essay and couldn't wait to see the results. After reading 143 illogical solutions, I r...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/22663.aspxSun, 15 Nov 2009 18:16:27 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:22663TrentHaving a lot of information is nice, but if you can't find it, it doesn't matter. Remember that when writing, evaluating, teaching, or grading an essay. Enter Sandman Mr. Sandman, wearing a beige trench coat, holding a magnifying glass, and talking to himself, hovered over a stack of essays. "Excuse me Mr. Sandman, but you appear to be...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/25493.aspxThu, 12 Nov 2009 21:52:57 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:25493TrentThe whole point of going to school is to prepare for success. What better way to prepare than researching potential careers. The Need for Good English Research Paper Topics After receiving the 27th research paper with a URL across the bottom of the page, I suspected plagiarism . I realized I had to make English research paper topics more agreeable,...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/53856.aspxWed, 28 Oct 2009 03:20:12 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:53856ksosaYour child may not remember everything they did in school that made you proud, but they will remember becoming an author for the first time and when they received their own published book in their hands. At the same time, publishing student writing can be just as rewarding for teachers, too. Planning for Publishing The first step an organizer of a ...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/16132.aspxMon, 26 Oct 2009 21:14:46 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:16132Trentparts of speech lesson plans, parts of speech sentences Needful Things for a Young Writer I recently received this letter from a former student: Dear English Teacher, When I was young, I had great ideas for stories but could never hold my readers' attention. I was about to give up writing forever. One night. while hanging out at the pet cemetary, m...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/22352.aspxFri, 16 Oct 2009 06:04:53 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:22352TrentWriting good sentences requires a knowledge foundation in sentence structure and the types of sentences. Review sentence types and tips for writing better sentences with this simple lesson plan. Sentence Structure There are four basic sentence structures: Simple: A simple sentence consists of a subject and a predicate. They are simple and easy to w...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/22249.aspxTue, 13 Oct 2009 20:05:17 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:22249TrentMaster the paragraph and you've mastered the essay. Good ideas can be made emphatically and clearly with well positioned, ordered, and developed paragraphs. These suggestions will help you write and teach better paragraph writing. An Olympic Moment I received this letter from a former student: Dear Teacher: You may not remember me. I swam in hi...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/22351.aspxSun, 11 Oct 2009 19:40:58 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:22351TrentYoung writers focus on capturing the readers' attention in the introduction, yet lose it in the middle. Improve paragraph structure and you can hold the readers' attention for the entire piece. Feeling Like Lenny It took a while, but my students had finally learned how to write an introduction. I couldn't wait to grade the next round of ess...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/22350.aspxSun, 11 Oct 2009 19:36:25 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:22350TrentTeaching the rules of evidence for using evidence and supporting details will help students avoid common logical blunders and recognize when they're being manipulated by other writers. An Unexpected Visit After a hard days work teaching students about thesis statements , supporting details, and types of evidence, I sat down to grade some essays...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/22356.aspxSun, 11 Oct 2009 19:35:42 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:22356TrentBeing able to define supporting details and use them as evidence in a research paper or essay makes writing more effective and useful. This lesson plan explains the different types of supporting details and includes a quick exercise to help students learn the material. What Are Supporting Details: An Embarrassing Incident I remember my first se...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/22357.aspxSun, 11 Oct 2009 19:35:10 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:22357TrentWriting an effective introductory paragraph binds the audience to the writer. A bound audience means you get to share all those wonderful ideas you’ve been wanting to share. Teaching this skill means instead of communicating with grunts, your students will communicate with words. A Trying Afternoon I felt good. I had taught students about the...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/22664.aspxSun, 11 Oct 2009 19:09:40 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:22664TrentEvaluating writing is the first step in the revision process, so why don't students do it? They don't know how...until now. The Need for Writing and Language Arts Lesson Plans "Mister, why did I get an F on my essay?" asked Darrel. "Because it's no good," I responded. "No it don't!" "Yes, it does. You ...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/28394.aspxTue, 06 Oct 2009 10:04:38 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:28394TrentRemember when you were a kid and your grandpa droned incessantly about his days in the Navy and how they navigated using stars and constellations? You just wanted him to shut up so you could eat ice cream and cake with your cousins. Now he's dead and you wish you could remember all the stories. American History Project Ideas: Capturing ...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/32478.aspxSun, 04 Oct 2009 20:45:17 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:32478TrentWriting about literature can be fun (kind of) with this creative writing assignment. Use this analyzing point of view in literature activity to help students understand perspective. Getting a Different Point of View about Literature I was excited about teaching my favorite novel. I was the only one. "So class what do you think?" &...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/21368.aspxSun, 04 Oct 2009 20:40:50 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:21368TrentPrewriting strategies must include a method for choosing a research topic. Teach students how to choose a topic for a research paper with these easy to follow instructions. Prewriting Strategies: An Explosive Beginning for Research Paper Prewriting I taught students how to write a thesis statement and expected great things in their essays. Alth...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/21369.aspxSun, 04 Oct 2009 20:40:16 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:21369TrentInteresting writing topics are everywhere. Why, then, do students complain about how boring their research papers are? It's because they are not proficient in the selection of a research topic and choose something that they feel the teacher wants. Not anymore. Maybe We Should Teach Students to do Research Students lay prostrate in the libra...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/21510.aspxSun, 04 Oct 2009 20:38:55 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:21510TrentTeaching students how to identify a topic question establishes the foundation for writing effective thesis statements. Tips on Writing a Research Paper: The Importance of a Topic Question I spent hours teaching thesis statements with only moderate improvement in essay quality. I went to the mountains without food or water to meditate on ways to...http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/14427.aspxMon, 28 Sep 2009 07:59:16 GMTb133e95a-c263-4882-8f2a-b24547eff78e:14427TrentI'm a big fan of "to be". I'm also a fan of the other 9,999 verbs my students never chose to use...until I created this wonderful lesson plan to eliminate "be" verbs. What Happened? I had taught my students to eliminate weak verb/adverb combinations and to use strong action verbs instead; furthermore, I taught them how t...