Bit & Rudder

Homeschool Writing Made Easy

homeschool 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 #25 Spooky Short Stories That Students Love

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Today I am talking about spooky short stories that students love. These are short stories that I love too, and all of them are classics, worthy of being studied as literature. I will tell you what I find valuable about them, and then I will give you some specific ways that you can use them in your literature and writing classroom. 

In this episode, I discuss

✅how spooky stories have their roots in eighteenth-century gothicism

✅why short stories are great tools for teaching literary analysis

✅7 spooky stories that students can’t wait to discuss

✅3 specific writing activities to accompany each story

✅a literary element to focus on for each story

Links Mentioned:

Spooky Short Story Lesson Plan Free PDF

Twilight Zone Season 5, Episode 23 “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Ridge”

The Monkey’s Paw Short Story Film 1982

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Episode #22 Why Writing Is Important

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Have you ever been so busy getting things done that you lose sight of why those things matter in the first place? It’s easy to get caught on the hamster wheel of life and forget our purpose for running. So in this week’s episode, I’m taking a few minutes to reflect and catch my breath and remember the reasons that writing is so important.?

In this episode, I discuss 

✅How good writing skills are essential for academic success even if you’re not a liberal arts major

✅How being a strong writer can help you land your dream job

✅The value of writing in day-to-day life

✅How writing can help you improve your vocabulary and become a better speaker

Plus much more, including suggestions for helping your student to focus on writing.

This episode will inspire you to make writing a top priority in your homeschool classroom.

If you are looking for some tools to help you with writing, then head over to my website, where you’ll find lots of free resources, including the thesis statement workshop which will walk you through the process of creating that crucial thesis statement, a skill that is fundamental to good writing. 

The thesis statement workshop has plenty of examples and places for students to practice writing their own thesis statements. Plus an answer key for you. It’s a really great resource, so please take advantage of that.

Links for sources referenced in this episode:

How to Write Anything, by Laura Brown

2016 Study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers

Help Your Homeschooler Become a Confident Writer

Thesis Statement Workshop

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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 #16 Thesis Statements

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Episode 16 Thesis Statements

Today’s topic is thesis statements. I know. Not the most glamorous of topics, but an important one since thesis statements are the workhorses of the essay world. Exciting? Probably not. Essential? Absolutely. A strong thesis statement is often what makes an essay shine, and in this episode I share with you the method I use in my classroom to teach this important skill.

In this episode, I discuss 

  • the characteristics of a strong thesis statement
  • how to transform a broad and general thesis statement (which is not what you want) into a clear and specific one (yes!)
  • whether it is necessary for your thesis statement to be a single sentence 
  • what it means for a thesis statement to be “arguable” and why this is an absolute must
  • a simple strategy for having students practice writing a thesis statement without having to write an entire essay.


I think that learning to write a strong thesis statement is one of the best things students can do to improve their writing and create shining essays.

Email me at ruth@bitandrudder.com

Links Mentioned
OWL (Online Writing Lab at Purdue)

Episode 11 To AP or Not to AP? 

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Ep #13 Research Papers Part 1

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Ep #13 Research Papers Part 1

As a homeschool parent teaching your high school student to write, what would you say is your top concern? If you said anything related to writing a research paper, then I have some good news for you. 

First, you are not alone: research writing makes the “Top Ten” list of concerns that homeschool parents have about writing (this is based on a list compiled by ChatGPT).

And second, this week’s episode was created with you in mind as I’m answering all your questions, or at least a lot of them, about how to teach a research paper. 

 In this episode, I discuss

·         Why learning to write a research paper is so important

·         How to choose a topic and construct a working thesis statement

·         Why you need credible sources and where to find them (NEWS FLASH: Wikipedia is NOT a credible source!)

 If you’re like, wait a second, I also need to know how to teach notetaking and citing sources, so where’s that information? No worries, I’ll be talking about those topics and so much more over the next two weeks. The topic of research papers was too BIG and IMPORTANT to cram into one episode (or even two!) 

 To go along with this three-part series, I have created a free resource for you that you might want to download ahead of time. It is a roadmap to the research process, and you can use it to jot down notes as well as your own ideas as you listen to this episode. 

 I won’t pretend that research writing is easy, but I can assure that following my step-by-step process will make it a lot less overwhelming. 

Links:

Research Paper Checklist

List of current events topics

“Five Must-Have Google Search Tips for Students”

Find It Virginia Explora Libraries Database

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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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