Category · 413 articles
Grammar & Mechanics
Meaningless Sentence Starters
Avoid beginning sentences with There or Here + a “helping verb” or a “linking verb." Revise to eliminate these words. To delete the unnecessary There or…
How to Eliminate Passive Voice
In the passive voice the subject of the sentence is acted upon by the verb. For example, in “Her mistake was noticed by the students,” the…
ELA Language Anchor Standards | Curriculum Maps
Download these FREE full-year ELA Language Anchor Standards | Curriculum Maps for 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade.
Avoiding Parentheses
An appositive is a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that identifies or explains another noun or pronoun before or after it. Avoid using appositives, particularly parentheses,…
Wordiness | Eliminating Expletives
Expletives are just cuss words! Teach students to eliminate unnecessary words and phrases in their writing in this lesson. Often, expletives add emotion or emphasis to…
Three Types of Conjunctions
“Conjunction junction, what’s your function?” A clever rhyme, but the rest of the lyric provides little help to answer the question. Here’s the answer with some memory…
Coordinating Conjunctions | Writing Style
Frequently, teachers will tell their students not to begin their sentences with coordinating conjunctions. Teachers give this advice because many students who use these sentence beginnings…
Standards Based Grading Rehab
We teachers are impaired by our culturally inculcated group think. We need to make amends and take the 12 steps in standards based grading rehab.