Bit & Rudder

Homeschool Writing Made Easy

high school writing

Episode #28 Best Practices for Requesting a Letter of Recommendation

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How important is a letter of recommendation? Well, it depends. If you’re trying to get a job at McDonald’s, it probably doesn’t matter that much.

But if you want to get into a competitive program such as med school or law school, or if you’re applying for a scholarship, it matters a lot.

A strong letter of recommendation can tip the scale when applicants have similar GPAs and test scores, or when a selection committee needs to assess character and leadership abilities.

This week’s episode is about the real-world skill of requesting a letter of recommendation. I discuss:

☑️6 key strategies to guide your request

☑️how far in advance of the deadline you should submit your request

☑️the importance of humility, helpfulness, and gratitude in crafting your request

☑️the specific details you must include if you want a strong recommendation

I also provide a step-by-step process for drafting a request as well as an example request that you can use as a model.

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Episode #19 Writing the Body Paragraphs

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Body paragraphs aren’t as flashy as introductions or conclusions, but they make up about eighty percent of any essay.

Eighty percent!

That’s a huge percentage, which means that we had better pay attention to them if we want our arguments to be strong and convincing.

So that’s what this episode is about: dissecting a body paragraph to see how it works and then using that knowledge to develop strong paragraphs of our own.

In this episode, I discuss

  • the four essential components of a body paragraph
  • the differences between coherence and cohesion and why your essay must have both
  • how many body paragraphs an essay should have (and how long they need to be)
  • three different ways to embed research smoothly into your writing
  • eight mistakes students make in writing body paragraphs (and how to fix them)
  • strategies for teaching students to write strong body paragraphs

If you have wondered how to help your students develop their ideas into strong paragraphs, then this episode is exactly what you’ve been looking for. All you have to do is click play.

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Episode #18 Writing the Conclusion

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Imagine watching a thrilling movie that suddenly ends without wrapping up the storyline. Frustrating, right?

An essay without a strong conclusion feels like that: unsatisfying, incomplete.

Maybe your student is the exception, but I can tell you that most of the students I teach stumble over conclusions. Even strong writers often fail to make the last impression a good one.

This is not surprising: conclusions can be tricky to write. Believe me, I know. Conclusions are what always tripped me up in my own writing. But not anymore, because, finally, I understand the purpose of a conclusion and what my goal should be in writing it.

And that is what I am sharing with you in this episode today. So if you are a little fuzzy about the purpose of conclusions or how to direct students in writing them, then get ready to be amazed by this powerful content. Seriously, it is that good.

In this episode, I discuss

  • what most people get wrong about the purpose of a conclusion
  • the words that absolutely should NOT appear at the beginning of a conclusion
  • why synthesis is more important than summary (and don’t worry, I’ll explain what synthesis means)
  • the three questions that your conclusion should answer
  • one easy strategy to create an elegant ending

Plus so much more, including plenty of examples.

Links Mentioned
The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Harvard College Writing Center

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How Are You Feeling?: A Student Writing Project for COVID-19

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Project 4: How Are You Feeling?

I created a group of COVID-19 writing projects to help my kids preserve their memories about this historic time. That’s what you get when your mom is your English teacher! The project I’ve included here is a guided essay that will help students evaluate their feelings about this experience.

Instructions

Write an essay that explains your feelings about the COVID-19 situation.  Write a paragraph to answer each question.  When you are finished you should have eight paragraphs.  The words in parentheses suggest a way to start your paragraph, but you do not have to use it.

Paragraph 1: What has been the hardest part of this situation?  (The hardest part of the COVID-19 crisis has been …)

Paragraph 2: What has made you angry/upset/frustrated?  (Something that has frustrated

me is …)

Paragraph 3: What has made you afraid or worried?  (The thing I’m most afraid of is …)

Paragraph 4: What has made you sad or depressed?  (I am sad when I think about …)

Paragraph 5: What has surprised you about the situation?  (I didn’t expect …)

Paragraph 6: What has brought you joy or happiness in this situation, or what have you had fun doing?  (In spite of the circumstances, I have enjoyed …)

Paragraph 7: What silver lining have you found in this situation?  What are you thankful for? (Something good that has come out of this is …)

Paragraph 8: What have you learned from this situation?  (This pandemic has helped me to realize…)

The other projects are available in the FREE PDF download. You can print as many copies as you need to help your kids write about this historic time.

COVId-19 Project Guide
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