Today’s Puzzle is about Proper Nouns and Quotations… and it uses an interesting sentence from one of our Write-for-a-Month/Write On books about Pinocchio.

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By Zac Kieser and Donna Reish

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The Checklist Challenge (CC), a challenging checklist of editing tasks, is included in ninety percent of the assignments in all one hundred of my books. It is taught extensively in the first couple lessons in each first semester Meaningful Composition book for grades 4 through 9 (and books 2 and 3 have lessons scattered throughout them). There are even downloads teaching nothing but how to complete this amazing editing tool (I really love the CC!).

But it has recently come to my attention that teachers really want help in scoring it. I mean, is a colorful paper enough? What about every box checked off? How about great adjectives and adverbs sprinkled throughout?

So, I have created a video that will at least get you started in how to grade your student’s CC—how to teach them to code it thoroughly, what a completed CC paper looks like, how to cross check the chart (and its check boxes for each task) with the student’s paper, how to total a score up, and much more.

I hope this video helps you see how you can quickly and efficiently score your student’s CC—and how the CC can be used as an incredible writing improvement tool at all grade levels.

How to Grade the Checklist Challenge

Love and hope,

The post How to Grade the Checklist Challenge appeared first on Character Ink.

It has been said that when a banker or a counterfeit money “agent” learns about counterfeit money, he or she begins by learning what the real thing looks like.

I use this same approach to teach about sentences, clauses, and phrases in my language arts and writing books (Character Quality Language Arts and Meaningful Composition): teach the students what a real sentence looks like—and then teach what are not real sentences.

I teach what a sentence contains using a simple acronym: CAVES

Once a student learns what a real sentence is and can spot real sentences (and “non-sentences”), the possibilities for writing, sentence structure understanding, advanced sentence combining technique use, and more are endless!

Work on CAVES first—then your student will be able to do any and all of the following:

1. Tell the difference between a real sentence and a non sentence
2. Fix comma splices (since it will be obvious that this is a real sentence and that one is too)
3. Match subjects with their verbs in tense and number easily
4. Write with sentence openers clearly and in sophisticated manners
5. Combine sentences for all kinds of conciseness techniques and fancy shmancy writing

CAVES—it is what a sentence contains!
If you write a sentence and you are unsure of whether it is a “real” sentence, use CAVES.

When a sentence is not a “real” sentence, the culprit is usually the A one—All makes sense. And that “A” one will take us into sentences vs. phrases and clauses…on another day. Happy writing!

The post CAVES: Parts of a Sentence appeared first on Character Ink.

Did you know that there is a group of pronouns called reflexive pronouns? I know, right? Not mentioned that often. I hardly remember studying them in school at all. And yet, we use them all the time—and even eloquent people use them wrong quite often. (How many interviews or speeches have you heard someone say, “Then my friend and myself….” or “He began talking to my friend and myself…” WRONG!

So here is the scoop…that I am giving to you by MYSELF…actually my technical assistant will put this all together HERSELF and make it look amazing, so I can’t really say that I am doing it all by MYSELF. Sorry…..I couldn’t help it…

First of all, myself, yourself, and ourselves are pronouns known as reflexive pronouns. That is, they reflect back to the antecedent (a noun or pronoun earlier in the sentence).

When we say that Donna is the antecedent to herself in the sentence “Donna gave herself a pat on the back,” we are saying that herself is a pronoun and Donna is the antecedent (the word that herself refers back to).

So, reflexive pronouns reflect or refer back to another word. They cannot be used alone (i.e. myself can not be used without a noun or pronoun earlier in the sentence as its antecedent).
1.       I bought myself some candy. (Myself refers back to/is reflexive of I.)
2.       Donna bought herself some candy. (Herself refers back to/is reflexive of Donna.)
3.       He looked at himself in the mirror. (Himself refers back to/is reflexive of He.)

The key to understanding and using reflexive pronouns is to not use THEM by THEMSELVES!

Thus, you wouldn’t say the following:
1.       Ray and myself went to town. (There is no noun for myself to refer back to. You need the subjective I in this sentence…Ray and I.)
2.       They gave it to him and myself. (Same thing—no noun or pronoun for myself to refer back to.)

PIN THIS POST

If Language Lady posts help you, spread the love (and the good usage!). Share a blog post on your FB wall or share a meme or two. I, myself, will appreciate it!  😀

The post Reflexive Pronouns: Myself, Himself, Herself, Ourselves, and Themselves (Never Theirselves…Let’s Get That Straight in the Title of This Post!) appeared first on Character Ink.

I know that title is a lot cheerier than most people are when they think of Summer School. However, I want to help you look at Summer School in a little more positive light. It CAN be an opportunity to catch up on missed skills, reinforce what was just learned, or prep for the upcoming school year. It CAN be an opportunity to focus on one area of academics instead of several. It CAN be an opportunity to grow your student in an area of interest. It CAN be a great opportunity!

My teaching load is way lessened in the summer (especially this summer since I am also starting to teach Intermittent Fasting online!), but I still have a day or two in which I offer remediation classes and private tutoring. (They are never called remediation classes outside of the sign up!)

Additionally, Ray is offering a few private slots middle school/high school math and science areas. For example, he is adding one student starting in April who is behind on chemistry and wants to finish the course strong before starting school in the fall (i.e. not carrying it over). He also has some SAT/ACT math prep students in the spring and summer. His degree is in accounting. (He was a CPA before he went into a plant setting and got involved in production and materials.) However, his real “claim to fame” in teaching has been teaching speech, debate, economics, biology, chemistry, physics, and 5th-12th grade math to our own kids as well as hundreds of kids in our cottage classes.

So…..if you are considering summer school and want a little help, we’d love to help you! We are offering two 5-week sessions—students can do one or both with one non-paid miss per session (due to vacations and busy-ness of summer).

Here is what I am offering so far and what times Ray has available for private kids. Please note that if I have three or more students interested, I can add an online class or face-to-face class to my schedule pretty easily, so check out my Meaningful Composition samples if you are considering a quick summer writing class for your students!

TWO SUMMER SESSIONS

First Session: Tuesday, June 5, 12, 19, 26, and July 3

Second Session: Tuesday, July 10, 17, 24, 31, and August 7

Ray’s Availability: Any week day or week night in SW Fort Wayne; some Bluffton/Ossian openings; Saturday mornings in SW FW

Donna’s Private Availability: Monday morning; Tuesday all day and all evening; some Thursday openings

Private Costs: Private tutoring for Ray and/or Donna is $30 for a 55 minute hour for once a week; $25 for a 55 minute hour for students who come twice a week (or one session with Donna and one with Ray). Students may miss one out of every session during the summer sessions without penalty. More than one miss per session requires a make up session or a payment. (These are summer guidelines only.) We always prefer to make up sessions whenever possible.

Donna’s Online or Face-to-Face Summer Classes—Tuesdays—(Minimum student count must be met)

• Complete Language Arts remediation for 4th-8th grade students who have not written three or more paragraph reports and essays—Tuesdays 12:00 SW Fort Wayne (We will use CQLA Level A for this class; one month samples are available at the store.) CQLA Summer Cost: $15 per week for a minimum of four weeks each session (preferably all five weeks); plus $10 per each five week session for their book.

• High School Writing/Remediation—grades 7th-12th who have not written four paragraphs or more of all types of writing with quotes, persuasion, and more (Jump Start book)—Tuesdays 1:30-2:45 (This is also excellent preparation for jumping into CQLA or Meaningful Composition classes in the fall!) Writing Summer Cost: $10 per week for a minimum of four weeks each session (preferably all five weeks); plus $15 per each five week session for their book.

• You Choose! –I would love to add an online class or a different in person class to my line up this summer—check out the MC books at the store to choose a book for your student or group, and I will plan around you! (Note that this year’s in-person writing classes by Donna will be High School Essay in the first semester and Four Research Reports second semester; Jump Start is a wonderful way to get your upper level high schoolers ready for these two classes. Or we could do a creative writing class this summer if I had enough interest!) Writing Summer Cost: $10 per week for a minimum of four weeks each session (preferably all five weeks); plus $15 per each five week session for their book.

Call or text today for more information or to sign up! Decisions as to which classes will run will be made by May 15th and will be based on class enrollment. Donna at 260-433-4365.

The post Welcome to Summer School appeared first on Character Ink.

I recently had a student miss an important class session in my sequence of teaching the 3 P’s of Persuasive Writing, so I recorded the review for him. When I finished recording it, I thought it would make a good review for parents and teachers who are teaching in these areas (and for those who would like to see what goes on in my advanced writing classes). So….here you go!

Watch the teaching video and follow along with the downloadable portions provided. It really is fun to learn how to take your POSITION, design your POINTS, and gather your PROOFS! 🙂

Click here to download the lesson PDF!

P.S. We are planning next year’s classes. Contact me to learn more or to find out which classes (live and online) will be perfect for your students! 260-433-4365.

The post 3 P’s of Persuasive Writing Review Session Video (With Free Download!) appeared first on Character Ink.

So I did a Major Works and Minor Works Slideshow. I did a lesson in a video class about them. I gave parents and teachers a quiz! I’m going to end this subject with a Tricky Trick Download for students!

I’ve been putting together Tricky Trick Downloads for a few months now, and I love how they take complicated information and make that info succinct and understandable. Print them off and put them on your bulletin board–or in your student’s language arts binder. They will come in handy regardless of the curriculum you are using!

Here’s what this week’s Tricky Trick Download looks like:

Download and print it here!

Find past Tricky Trick Downloads here:

1) Be, a Helper, Link Verbs

2) Beginning Quotation Use

3) Sentence Combining With Semicolons

Note: What language arts or writing area would you like to have a Tricky Trick Download for? I can fix you up in the coming month!

The post Major Works and Minor Works – Tricky Tricks Download for Students! appeared first on Character Ink.

The post 5 Tips for Using Its and It’s From Language Lady appeared first on Character Ink.

“Conjunction Junction—what’s your function?”

Did you start to sing along? Can you picture the images?

How old are you????? Lol

Most kids today are not raised on “School House Rock,” which is such a shame! Because you really can’t forget the songs, jingles, rhymes—and dare I say—rules learned from those little ditties. (You can still find them on YouTube!)

And those little ditties are really needed when it comes to commas! Commas are a mystery to many people–and rightly so! They are extremely subjective at times across the board. And then, different handbooks and authorities stress different rules for them, making them even more elusive.

Today I would like to give you a little lesson on creating a compound sentence (two sentences joined together as one) using a comma-coordinating conjunction between the two sentences.

Download this Tricky Trick sheet for your student(s) here!

Before you watch the video in which I teach this skill (as part of my Checklist Challenge for most writing projects in all 100 of my books!), let me give you some details in writing:

1. Coordinating conjunctions (cc’s) include the following with the acronym FANBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

2. A comma must be used with the cc when combining two complete sentences into one.

3. With a comma only (no cc), you would be creating a comma splice, also known as a run-on sentence–two sentences joined together incorrectly.

4. Each side of the compound sentence must be able to stand alone in order to be combined with a comma-cc.

5. Complete sentence (CS) on the left: The spider’s prey seldom escapes & a complete sentence on the right: it is caught in a sticky web: The spider’s victims seldom escape, for they are caught in a sticky web.

6. -If a CS is not on one side or the other of the cc, no comma is used: The spider’s prey seldom escapes and oftentimes gets eaten (no CS after and, so no comma).

CS ,cc CS SAMPLES…

1. The spider’s victims seldom escape, for they are caught in a sticky web.

2. The victims are stuck, and they become “dinner.”

3. They can not free themselves, nor can they be freed.

4. They sit in the web and wait, but they do not wait for long.

5. The spider lets the victim sit in the sticky mess for a while, or it carries the victim away to eat it right away.

6. The spider is ruthless, yet it is also known for its special “web designs.”

7. The spider has special skills, so it puts these skills to good use.

Watch the Live Online Class Video of me teaching how to create compound sentences with FANBOYS!

Wish you could teach your students parts of speech word lists effortlessly? Check out my Think Fast Grammar Quiz downloadable product! It teaches kids prepositions, subordinators, FANBOYS, interjections, Being/Helping/Linking verbs and more effortlessly with mnemonics and more!

The post Creating Compound Sentences With Coordinating Conjunctions (Live Video AND Tricky Trick Download!) appeared first on Character Ink.

By Zac Kieser and Donna Reish

Welcome to another Punctuation Puzzle! Yep… a puzzle that you solve by putting in the correct punctuation and words/usage fixes—along with explanations and answers about each error!

Perfect for students and teachers alike!

Today’s Puzzle is about Parallelism and Noun Markers (Articles) … and it uses an interesting sentence from one of our Write-for-a-Month/Write On books about Alice In Wonderland!

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