Finding Encouragement Through Prioritizing

by Donna | Apr 30, 2018

The scene was a common one for this “young mama” (then!) of five children ten and under (so far!): I worked my tail off all day long and still felt like a complete failure. My husband came home from a typical twelve hour day to my cries of “I didn’t get anything done today that I needed to do” and “I just don’t understand why I can’t get more done as long as the day is and as hard as I work.”

And once again, he answered with sweet words that pointed me to prioritizing, something that I was still in the process of learning: “Did you rock and feed the baby?” I nodded yes.

(more…)

Live Teaching Video & REAL Book Give Away! (Free Lesson Download Included!)

by Donna | Apr 29, 2018

Classes are underway for the second semester for both Character Ink Cottage Classes and Donna’s Live Online Writing Classes (yay!). I had so much fun with a couple of students in a book that I haven’t taught from for a while that I thought I would give my readers the lesson and video of the class—AND give you a chance to win a copy of the book I am using! Yep–someone will win a free copy of the spiral-bound, print version of Meaningful Composition 9 II: High School Creative Writing simply by watching the teaching video in this post and commenting below that you watched the whole video–and what you learned or liked about it! 🙂 (Homework!)

(more…)

Character Ink 2018-2019 Cottage Classes! Live and Online Options!

by Donna | Apr 19, 2018

Character Ink (CI) is announcing a tentative class offering list for the 2018-2019 school year for all three of our locations. Please note that the classes will be offered based on enrollment as of July 1st (for first semester) and November 1st (for second semester), so if there is a class that you want CI to run, please be sure to register early to be sure that class is full enough.

Registrations are on a first come-first served basis. A deposit of $50 per student (regardless of number of classes) is required with the registration form in order to hold class spots for a student. Students will be invoiced at the beginning of each semester with monthly payments as needed.

You may see the full schedule, prices, descriptions, and forms at our blog by clicking HERE. (See Cottage Classes.) You may also request a registration form by e-mailing characterink@gmail.com .

(more…)

Families and Co-Ops: Online Writing Classes by Donna Reish (Character Ink Press)

by Donna | Apr 18, 2018

I have had a wonderful year teaching online classes! The tech wasn’t as bad as I was afraid it was going to be. We didn’t really have any trouble getting papers back and forth between me and the students. And it was great to teach students from Canada, Florida, Chicago, Ohio, and more! So much fun!

I am excited to open up a couple more classes–and extremely excited for the interest from co-ops and small groups to join me! I’m still working out the details of the small group or co-op classes, but I would love to talk you on the phone to work your group in! (260-433-4365)

Also, if you have a group of four or more students, I would consider creating a writing or complete language arts class for your group possibly on a different day/time.

Here are the details as I know them so far!

(more…)

5 Tips for Past vs. Passed From Language Lady

by Donna | Apr 13, 2018

For optimal viewing on a mobile device, tilt your device to landscape mode.

Slideshow: 5 Tips for Past vs. Passed From Language Lady

#1

Pass Is the Verb

The first thing I teach my students is that PASS is the verb. It is the current tense. We do not say Today I PAST the test. PASS/PASSED is the verb.

To cement this further, I ask them what would happen if we added the past tense suffix ED to the non-verb PAST. I love doing this because they look at each other and try to figure it out aloud: PASS/TED? Then I have them write PAST on their paper and add ED to it. In unison, they say PAY/STED (pasted)! This helps them really think about the fact that PAST is not the verb! PAST with ED has nothing to do with PASSING–it has to do with PASTING, as in gluing!

#2

Focus on PAST as a Preposition First

I like to break down and “play with” the word PAST first. Past can be one of three parts of speech (at least). Past is a preposition when it has an object following it: PAST the barn. PAST the house. PAST the school.

I remind them of their Preposition Practice Pal and/or Preposition Check Sentences: Birdie flew PAST the tube or The angel flew PAST the cloud. Yep. PAST is a preposition. We practice with PAST as a preposition with many objects–and if I feel they are “getting it,” I will also have them highlight the verbs in the “past as a preposition” sentence. This helps them see that past is a preposition, and there is already a verb in that sentence. (More on this later….I don’t do too much of this yet!)

#3

Focus on PAST as Other Parts of Speech for Older Students

If the students are well-versed in prepositions with me, they are also well-versed in the fact that prepositions can also be other parts of speech. (We talk about this ALL the time, beginning with the preposition TO also used as part of an infinitive phrase: to run, to be, etc.) So they are used to my talks of “prepositions can also be….”! So we delve into two of the other things that the word PAST can often be: adverbs and adjectives.

PAST is an adverb when it tells WHERE you went: We drove PAST. We just walked right PAST. (Some would argue that these are prepositions with their objects missing!) More importantly, however, PAST is an adjective that tells after a time or before and describes a noun: half PAST twelve; it is PAST noon; those are PAST memories. (Of course, PAST can be a noun when used in place of the word history or distance, but since it is usually a noun that is the object of a preposition {in the PAST; don’t dwell on the PAST}, I don’t bring this up—first PAST is a preposition, then it’s an object of a preposition????–Stop the madness! Poor kids!)

#4

Use Structural Analysis When It Works

I like to give students as many tricks, tips, mnemonics, rhymes, jingles, and more for learning as I possibly can! And I like to use as many DIFFERENT ones as possible since one trick (recitation, for example) might work wonderfully for this student but not for another. Visual kids might not HEAR the difference between the base verb PASS and the word PAST (even without the ED added onto the PASS). However, that same visual student might do really well with structural analysis–analyzing the structure of words (and the visual/kinesthetic learner might learn really well by analyzing and highlighting or “coding” in some way).

Thus, I like to point out that PAST ends with a T….. and THE begins with a T. Then I write on my board (or have them highlight it in their lesson where it is written): pasT The barn; pasT The school; pasT The park, etc. This further cements the fact that past is the preposition, not the verb. (We also place parentheses around all prepositional phrases when we “dissect” sentences, so I will have them do this as well.)

#5

Go Deeper With Older Students

For older kids, I give a dozen or more examples of all of the parts of speech that PAST can be–again pointing out that it is never PASS in these instances since PASS is a verb. I also have them practice writing examples of each instance of using PAST.
    a. Preposition: They drove PAST the gate
    b. Adjective: He is the PAST president.
    c. Adverb: He flew PAST.
    d. Noun: Let’s leave that in the PAST.

Older students can also grasp the concept that if there is another MOVEMENT verb in the sentence (and it’s not a compound verb), you want the word PAST with it: We DROVE past the park. However, if there is not another movement verb in the sentence, you want the VERB PASSED: We PASSED the park.