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Blog
Spice It Up with Rhetorical Devices
| Posted on December 7, 2013 at 1:23 PM |
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Dear students, parents, and teachers, There are only a couple of weeks left before the holiday break. It's a great time to try out spicy rhetorical devices in your writing. Read the following document and imitate the examples. You could also practice by using the devices in sensory descriptions and short poems. Have fun with this!
Teachers: a great book on rhetorical devices is Pyrotechnics on the Pageby Ralph Fletcher: Need more examples? Here are three awesome writers who use a lot of rhetorical devices: Roald Dahl (James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, others) Catherynne M. Valente (The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, others) Ray Bradbury (Something Wicked This Way Comes, others) Happy writing and happy holidays! Write Cook  |
Getting Ready and Inspired to Write
| Posted on November 5, 2013 at 11:15 AM |
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Dear students, teachers, and parents, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I think it's also a great month for creating a writer's notebook (or notebooks), examining the writing process, and reading about writing. Take a look at the following documents:
And here are a few books that will get you inspired to write: My Name Is Mina by David Almond Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge How to Dork Your Diary by Rachel Reneé Russell http://www.amazon.com/Dork-Diaries-How-Your-Diary/dp/1442422335/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1383666139&sr=8-2&keywords=how+to+dork+your+diary Breathing In, Breathing Out: Keeping a Writer's Notebook by Ralph Fletcher (and other books on writing by Ralph Fletcher) What's Your Story? by Marion Dane Bauer Look for these books in your local library, and have fun writing about whatever you want to this month. Wishing you a bounteous Thanksgiving! Write Cook  |
"Ghost Girl: The Story of Jamie Jones"
| Posted on October 5, 2013 at 6:03 PM |
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 Dear students, parents, and teachers,October is National Bullying Prevention Month: Interested in a story that addresses the problem of bullying in schools? My short story "Ghost Girl: The Story of Jamie Jones" is now available as an ebook through the Amazon Kindle Store (for only 99 cents). Here's the blurb: One tragedy after another befalls eleven-year-old Jamie. To make things worse, the class bully and her gang are picking on her. What Jamie needs and wants most of all in the world is a friend, but will she ever find one? And who will put a stop to the terrible bullying that's going on at her school? Read this ghost story and find out what happened to Jamie Jones. Much love, Write Cook |
Writing about Spooky or Scary Experiences
| Posted on October 2, 2013 at 3:31 PM |
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Hello students, parents, and teachers, October is the perfect month to write and share spooky stories. Here are a few resources to help you write a personal narrative about a spooky or scary experience: 1- Learn about the elements and the structure of a narrative and read a sample story:
2- Your first planning step will be to brainstorm ideas (incidents) for your story:
3- Then, plan the setting and the characters:
4- After that, decide how you'll "hook" the reader:
5- Finally, identify the climax and organize the main events on a plot diagram:
6- It's time to write the rough draft. Get in the "writing zone" by picturing your planned story as you write it (like watching a movie in your head and writing it down). Don't worry about spelling, mechanics, or grammar at this point.
7- Then, revise and edit (my favorite step!). The following documents will help:
8- You're now ready to write your final draft! And how about adding an illustration? 9- Take a final look at your finished product (or have someone else do it). Fix any spelling, punctuation, or capitalization mistakes. 10- Make sure to share your story with family and friends. Be proud of your accomplishment! Happy Halloween! Write Cook  |
Paragraphs
| Posted on September 2, 2013 at 8:30 PM |
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Dear middle school students, teachers, and parents, I will be posting writing tips and resources during the first week of each school month. This month (September) the topic is paragraphs. 1- Here's a great website that contains a variety of free resources for writing paragraphs: 2- The following website lets you download many documents on teaching paragraph writing: 3- Here's my own document on paragraphs:
4- And last, but not least, a paragraph assessment for teachers to use all year long:
Happy writing, Write Cook P.S. Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store and look for the printable/reproducible document titled "Paragraphs - Basic Structure" (only $2.50) and the free "Hamburger Paragraph" graphic organizers.  |
Sentence Fluency
| Posted on August 26, 2013 at 10:18 PM |
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Hello, students, teachers, and parents, This will be the last grammar review lesson of the summer. Some of you started school today and some of you will start school next week. I hope this summer review has prepared all of you to begin the school year with self-assurance and motivation. So far you've studied the parts of speech and the basics of sentence construction. Today you'll take a look at sentence fluency: writing sentences that are varied in length and structure and that flow smoothly from one to the next. First, read and study the following document.
Then, write a paragraph about something special that happened to you this summer. It can be about something happy or sad, spooky or dangerous, or exciting or embarrassing. Make sure your sentences are varied in length and structure and that they flow smoothly from one to the next. When you finish your paragraph, revise it for word choice: substitute generic nouns for precise nouns, bland verbs for vivid verbs, and add artful adjectives, smart adverbs, and interesting prepositional phrases. Finally, read your paragraph aloud to make sure that it's fluent and that your word choices work well. And that's all folks! I wish you all a fun and successful school year. Write Cook  |
Sentence Parts and Sentence Construction
| Posted on August 19, 2013 at 7:51 PM |
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Hello, students, teachers, and parents, This week we will review sentence parts and sentence construction with the help of Mr. Morton from ereadingworksheets.com. Go to: Watch the PPT lessons and complete the worksheets that go with each lesson: Subjects, Predicates, and Objects Lesson PPT 1- Subjects, Objects, and Predicates with Pirates Worksheet 2- Subjects, Predicates, and Objects Worksheet 3- Subjects, Predicates, and Objects Worksheet 2 4- Subjects and Predicates Worksheet 5- Compound Subjects and Predicates Worksheet Clauses Lesson PPT Clauses and Phrases Lesson PPT 1- Clauses Worksheet 2- Joining Clauses and the Circus 3- Ninjas! – Independent and Dependent Clauses 4- Clauses and Phrases Worksheets Four Sentence Types Lesson PPT 1- Four Sentence Type Worksheets 2- Sentence Types Worksheet Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences Lesson PPT 1- Creating Compound Sentences 2- Creating Complex Sentences More practice: 1- Fragments and Run-On Sentences 1 2- Fragments and Run-On Sentences 2 Next week we will review sentence fluency. Make sure to do something fun this week -- only two weeks left of summer break! (Even less for some!) Write Cook  |
For Teachers
| Posted on August 15, 2013 at 1:30 PM |
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Teachers, The new school year is about to begin, and teachers are getting classrooms ready and preparing awesome lesson plans. www.teacherspayteachers.com.has all you need to get started on the right foot. What's new in my store? Price cuts and new products, including free graphic organizers. Check it out! Much love, Write Cook A sample product from my store:  |
Reviewing Sentence Structure
| Posted on August 14, 2013 at 10:52 AM |
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Hello, students, parents, and teachers, This week you'll be reviewing what you've learned about sentence structure. First, go to time4writing.com and try out their Free Resources for Sentence Writing, especially their printable worksheets: Next, find a favorite book (check it out of the library if you don't have it at home) and do a sentence scavenger hunt. Search for: simple sentences compound sentences complex sentences Finally, use the sentences you found as models for writing your own sentences. Have fun with this! Happy writing, Write Cook P.S. Time to start shopping for school supplies! :)  |
Different Types of Sentences
| Posted on August 6, 2013 at 9:07 PM |
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Hello, students, parents, and teachers, This week's' lesson is on complex sentences, but what you need to do is very simple: Read and study the following document on understanding and constructing different types of sentences. As you do, write your own examples of simple, compound, and complex sentences.
That's all for this week! Happy writing, Write Cook  |
