NoRedInk for Improving Writing and Grammar

It is no secret that writing is a tricky subject for teachers to teach and grade. Much of writing can be subjective, but there are also some very concrete grammar skills that a student must master to be an effective writer. Finding an engaging, effective way to help support students in building these skills can also be a challenge. Grammar workbooks just don’t really cut it for most students.

NoRedInk is free website created by teachers to help students improve their writing skills using engaging, personalized content. The program strives to use high-interest content to teach children concepts by generating questions and activities related to their favorite celebrities, TV shows, or friends. The program is also adaptive, meaning it will adjust subsequent questions based on what a student gets right or wrong. NoRedInk also believes in “playing with language” and they designed the program to be interactive by allowing students to click on words to capitalize them or drag and drop to add or delete punctuation.

For teachers, NoRedInk is able to provide data on what areas they need to focus on in class and where their students’ skills are lagging. Teachers are also able to track student progress toward common core and state standards. Many teachers also seem to  be using NoRedInk for standardized test prep classes as well to build foundational grammar skills. NoRedInk has published two study guides to help map out the concepts NoRedInk can help build for the SAT and the ACT. exams. If you are curious how other schools have used the program, you can read the case studies they have published. NoRedInk also has several onboarding guides to help both teachers and students understand how to effectively use the program.

Why Not? Celebrate: Punctuation!

This Thursday, September 24th, is National Punctuation Day! If you’re like us, this is a day to celebrate. After all, those little dots, lines, and squiggles add important meaning to texts that words couldn’t on their own. Of course, not everyone is as passionate as we are about punctuation. Here are some fun ways for teachers and parents to drum up a little enthusiasm with young writers.

• Personify Punctuation – To help kids understand the tone those little marks imply, invent a short description of the personal characteristics each mark might have if it was brought to life. (This can be done in writing or as part of a discussion.) Perhaps the question mark is a whiny three-year-old who hates following the rules and needs justification for everything. The exclamation point might be a cheerleader. 

• Draw It Out – Make posters or pictures to show each mark’s meaning artistically. For a group, assign different marks to different students, or a have a single child come up with images for all of the marks. In a classroom, these can be displayed; at home, these can go into a resource binder or on the wall near the child’s homework spot. Perhaps the period is a stop sign. Maybe red and yellow should be used in imagery for the exclamation point to show excitement and urgency. 

• Take It to the Stage – Play a guessing game with kids just learning the basic punctuation marks. The adult should set up the game by choosing some simple words, then writing an exclamation point, a period, and a question mark on slips of paper to put into a paper bag. To play, the child must draw a mark from the bag, then say the designated word (“Yes.” “Me?” “Go!”) in the tone that fits the punctuation. The other player(s) should guess the mark. 

• Make it Meaningful – Of course, the reason punctuation really matters is that it affects a text’s meaning. One famous example is the (photo shopped) magazine cover that, without commas, seemed to say that celebrity chef Rachael Ray enjoys cooking her family and her pets.Another comma example that spawned many memes is the sentence “Let’s eat, Grandma!” whose meaning changes rather dramatically if the comma is removed. Or check out the way the Oxford, or serial, comma changes the meaning of a sentence in this popular meme, which features a rhinoceros and two of the United States’ most beloved presidents. You get the idea. Get kids talking: how does punctuation shape the meaning of their own writing? How would that meaning change if they were to choose different marks instead?

• Ask an Expert – Older students may enjoy these pieces  by well-established authors on punctuation.

Finding Logic in the English Language

Many people will tell you that English is a crazy language. Because it is derived from so many disparate languages—English is based mostly on a West Germanic language but peppered with influences from Greek, Latin, and other European languages—there are plenty of exceptions to English spelling patterns, grammar, and punctuation usage. Sympathetically agreeing with a child that English spelling doesn't make sense or that rules governing comma use are simply crazy may seem like a kind gesture. After all, the rules can seem endless and complicated, and we don't want to make kids feel bad about their errors.

But simply falling back on the excuse that English is just wacky and devoid of logic is not only damaging to kids' motivation to improve, it's untrue. English does contain exceptions, but there are actually plenty of rules that govern correct usage. These rules are not only fascinating to learn about, they're tremendously helpful.

For example, the /ər/ sound at the end of words that define a person's job can be spelled in two ways: "-er" (painter) and "-or" (senator). Though the two suffixes are pronounced the same way, they're spelled differently and many people will tell you that the only way to know which one to use is to memorize the word in question. Not so, according to Solving Language Difficulties, a fascinating and useful book of exercises by Amey Steere, Caroline Peck, and Linda Kahn. Although there are a few exceptions, spelling of the /ər/ sound corresponds with the level of education needed for the job. An "-or" spelling is generally used for someone whose job requires a great deal of education (doctor, editor, governor) while the "-er" is used for someone who doesn't need as much training (barber, farmer, waiter).

Want more? TED-Ed is an outstanding source of interesting educational videos. A great one to get you started is a fun, story-like video that anthropomorphizes the comma, lending logic to rules about when commas are called for and when they're unnecessary. 

                                       

Another video we love provides a brief, fascinating explanation of how English spelling that seems completely illogical, like the "tw" in the word "two" is actually reasonable and meaningful.

                                        

Learning these rules is empowering for kids. After all, nothing is more frustrating than being told that the guidelines don't make sense but you have to learn them anyway. And young people generally enjoy discovering explanations for concepts that were previously shrouded in mystery. Solving Language Difficulties and TED-Ed are just the beginning. But be warned: start digging and you may become hooked.

Try OWL for Writing Help

By the time a blog has reached almost 700 posts -- as ours has -- it sometimes pays to look back and see what newer readers may have missed. We were reminded of this recently when we recommended that a student use the Purdue OWL to help with his writing and realized that it had been several years since we mentioned this terrific tool for writers of (almost) all ages.

Created and operated by Purdue University, the Online Writing Lab is a free resource (designed for those in seventh grade and up) with answers to questions about grammar and usage, information about teaching writing, English as a second language, and dozens of links to resources parents can use to help their children.

With a selection of podcasts, vidcasts, and downloadable guides, OWL has something for everyone who writes - student, educator, and -- of course -- blogger. Try it the next time you have a question. If they don't have the answer listed you can always email them for guidance. 

Photo Credit: John Haslam via flickr cc

National Poetry Month: The Diamante

For people who are intimidated by writing poetry, the diamante poem can be a great format to try first. The diamante is a relatively new form – it was invented in 1969 by poet Iris McClellan Tiedt – that follows a very precise formula. It’s easy to follow, but a working knowledge of parts of speech is required.

Steven Depolo/Flickr

A diamante is seven lines long and shaped like a diamond. In fact, “diamante” means “diamond” in Italian! Each line is made up of words from a particular part of speech:

Noun

Adjective, Adjective,

Verb, Verb, Verb,

Noun, Noun, Noun, Noun

Verb, Verb, Verb,

Adjective, Adjective,

Noun

And that’s it! When writing a diamante, though, there’s one more choice to make. Some diamantes are called synonym diamantes; this means that the first noun and the second noun are different words for the same thing. For example, here’s a synonym diamante we wrote about brothers and sisters:

Siblings

Obnoxious, Helpful

Sharing, Arguing, Laughing

Brother, Sister, Enemy, Companion

Teasing, Tickling, Tattling

Irritating, Loveable

Friends

Siblings are sort of like friends (at least sometimes…), so that’s why this is considered a synonym diamante. On the other hand, some diamantes start and end with words that have different meanings or associations. As you can probably guess, these are known as antonym diamantes. Here’s an example:

Lake

Refreshing, Calm

Sparkling, Flashing, Lapping

Lily pads, Ripples, Seashells, Waves

Roaring, Crashing, Rolling

Salty, Endless

Ocean

Diamantes are great for kids. Let them pick their own topics, or challenge them to tie their poems into something they’re learning by assigning them to start and finish with words like “Tom” and “Huck,” “element” and “compound,” “cell” and “virus,” “democracy” and “monarchy,” etc. This is a wonderful poetic form – a true gem!