This contest is a winner for middle schoolers! The Patriot’s Pen essay contest for grades 6-8 is getting started for the 2018-19 school year. The first step: learning the theme. And (drumroll please!)…here it is: Why I Honor the American Flag. This year’s theme will resonate with students as it recalls the national conversation aboutContinue reading “Here’s the prompt for the 2018-19 VFW Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest”
Author Archives: Marilyn Yung
Where have all the “thank you” notes gone?
Here’s what happened the first time I taught the “thank you” note Okay, where are the thank you notes? Who said they were no longer necessary? Someone must have, because I often don’t receive one anymore. And it’s not as if I’m expecting one, but I would like to at least know that the giftContinue reading “Where have all the “thank you” notes gone?”
Mini-lesson resource: 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing
This “new to me” book will be fun to try this fall A year or two ago, I found an effective paragraph that explained sentence variety perfectly. Read the post about it here. I dug a little deeper about the author and eventually made my way to this book, 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing,Continue reading “Mini-lesson resource: 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing”
Here’s the 7th Grade Missouri State Winner in the 2018 DAR American History Essay Contest
Plus: How I used this contest to teach blended-genre writing Every fall, my sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders enter an essay in the Daughters of the American Revolution’s American History Essay Contest. Last fall was the fourth year my students entered the local contest, which is sponsored by the Taneycomo Chapter of the DAR, Forsyth, Mo.Continue reading “Here’s the 7th Grade Missouri State Winner in the 2018 DAR American History Essay Contest”
How to forget the Holocaust
Remove it from the curriculum Are we forgetting the Holocaust? I asked myself this question recently as I perused an English Language Arts curriculum map for grades 6-8 and found that out of dozens of texts the curriculum uses over the three years, only one text addressed or had any connection to World War II: Continue reading “How to forget the Holocaust”
Writing Contest #9: NCTE’s Promising Young Writers
An any-genre writing contest just for your 8th graders Full disclosure: this is a contest I have NOT tried with my students… yet. I’m a member of NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) and for some reason, I just found out about the group’s Promising Young Writers contest a few days ago while surfingContinue reading “Writing Contest #9: NCTE’s Promising Young Writers”
Top Resources that I Use to Teach 9/11
It’s never too early to plan to “never forget.” I get it. The school year has just ended and the last thing you may want to think about right now is what you will be doing in September in your classes. However, discussing 9/11 effectively deserves forethought and preparation to match the motivation and curiosityContinue reading “Top Resources that I Use to Teach 9/11”
Paperless classroom? No thanks.
I like “the little transaction.” I don’t have a paperless classroom and it will always be this way. I like the transaction that occurs when students actually turn things in. When students turn in assignments, they walk over to the three stacked baskets (one for each grade that I teach) that stand at theContinue reading “Paperless classroom? No thanks.”
A good thing: Weekly in-class awards
I enjoy recognizing students for their on-time, on-target writing Last year, sometime during the second quarter, I decided to start awarding students for their hard work on their weekly written homework assignments. I came up with four awards to recognize students for being on-time and for doing a good job. The awards and the skillsContinue reading “A good thing: Weekly in-class awards”
Contest #8: Cursive is Cool
It’s a cursive handwriting contest! I stumbled upon this cursive contest online a few days ago sponsored by Campaign for Cursive (C4C). This organization is a committee of the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation (AHAF) and is an all-volunteer non-profit that began in 2012 in the Southern California chapter of the AHAF. Its goal is to “bringContinue reading “Contest #8: Cursive is Cool”