Writing instruction: Explicit and practical applications
Writing Points for July, 2011

Writing Points presents: struggling students
3 ELA topics in 1-sentence mini-lesson

In last month's Writing Points, I gave ideas for a vocabulary and reading comprehension mini-lesson using a newspaper headline. This month, I have a vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation lesson using a sentence I picked up from a newspaper:

That sentence is a perfect opener for a discussion about the logical function of the word and.

Struggling writers need someone to explain explicitly the logic that underlies the connecting words and, but, and or. Unless someone calls it to their attention, many students (not just struggling writers) many not realize that and should join ideas that are logically related.

There is no logical connection between how long Niles worked for the district and where he lives. Niles would not work more or less than nine years if he moved to another street.

You could get struggling writers to think about the logic-grammar connection with an informal writing prompt asking them to revise the original sentence to show that Niles' place of residence has nothing to do with how long he worked for the district. There are two easy ways to do it.

Students could solve the problem by putting the information about where Niles lives in a separate sentence:

Niles has worked for the district for nine years. He lives on Wightman Avenue.

They could also put the location of the residence in a nonessential (nonrestrictive) clause, as shown here:

Niles, who lives on Wightman Avenue, has worked for the district for nine years.

The commas around the clause who lives on Wightman Avenue show that those words are not necessary to understanding the main part of the sentence.

Writing Points presents: free teaching resource
Graphic organizers guide inquiry learning

Many of the free graphic organizers available on the web are either too simplistic or too complicated for secondary classroom use. Exploratree is a notable exception. Although piloted with students 11-13, it could be used with teens or adults.

Exploratree supports inquiry learning in all disciplines and across disciplines with interactive "thinking guides." These are not just worksheets in disguise. The guides can be edited by registered users. (Registration is free.)

Here are a few of the graphic organizers I spotted that have clear relevance to the ELA curriculum:

• Question things you read, hear, see
• Compare and contrast
• Sort facts from opinions
• Analyze an issue from different perspectives

Teachers can set up Exploratree groups where students can work together on projects. (Students can set up their own groups, too.) If your English class and a colleague's history class want to work collaboratively on an interdisciplinary project, they can work through Exploratree for the planning since it's available 24/7. For more about what can be done with Exploratree, see its detailed Help section.

Exploratree is from EnquiringMinds, a research and development outfit in the UK that's attempting to find ways of having students acquire subject knowledge while exploring topics of personal interest. The project was funded by the Microsoft Partners in Learning initiative. Research reports and an "EnquiringMinds" guide are available for free download.

Writing Points presents: technology resources
Live Mesh and other storage options

This article will wrap up the Writing Points series on free online storage options. Previous issues explained how online storage works and discussed two of better known programs: Dropbox and eBackpack.

Windows Live Mesh

Windows Live Mesh is an online storage option for Windows XP and later Windows versions. It provides users of the popular Windows operating system with 5 GB of storage (more than twice what most other free storage programs offer). It will keep your files up to date on all your computers whether PC or Mac, and on cell phones.

SugarSync.com

SugarSync is an an excellent Dropbox alternative with mobile apps for all major platforms. SugarSync offers 5GB for free. There's no limit on the size of files that can be uploaded. SugarSync offers multiple language support.

Spideroak.com

Spideroak gives you 2GBs of storage free for life. Unlike most of its competitors, it measures in compressed files, so may get more actual storage with its 2GB than with a program that offers more storage measured in uncompressed files. Spideroak is Mac, Windows, and Linux compatible.

Syncplicity.com

Syncplicity is a Windows-only program. As its name suggests, Syncplicity can keep your data in sync online and on multiple computers. Syncplicity offers 2GB of free online storage. For each friend you refer for a free account who signs up, the company gives you 1GB extra (up to a total 3GB), which can increase your Syncplicity free storage limit to 5GB.

Writing Points presents a note from Linda
Email signature is business essential

Amid the other communications skills you teach students, teach them the basics of writing a business email including using an email signature. Students' sig should include:

• Their full name,
• Email address,
• Alternative email if their primary address is a school address,
• Phone number with area code,
• A physical mail address.

Is all that information necessary? It may not be. But several people who answered ads I placed for people to help with English education projects did not get a summer job because they provided no way to contact them that was still in service after they graduated.

The next issue of Writing Points should be released August 15, no providence preventing.

Until then, keep your pencil sharp.

Linda Aragoni