Writing

How Students Can Find Reliable Sources Online Using 3 Simple Steps

In the era of fake news and Internet misinformation, ensuring that students know how to find reliable sources of information online is essential. Thanks to the relative ease of creating and sharing content online, students are confronted with publications created solely to entertain, persuade, and incite via incorrect or incomplete statistics. Students diving into the world of academic and professional-level research often have no awareness of the gaps in their understanding when it comes to performing…

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6 Essential Tips for Improving Your Handwriting

Handwriting is something that many people let fall by the wayside in the digital age, but there is true artistic value and design in something as creative and intricate as handwriting. Even if you aren’t interested in this aspect of handwriting, it’s still of general use to make your writing legible to other people. If even you find it difficult to decipher your own handwriting, it’s time to make a change. Here’s how to do…

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Top 5 Books for Aspiring Writers

If you want to be a writer, chances are you’re also a voracious reader. Many writers have dedicated their time to writing books about writing books, and there is so much to learn from their advice. Here are my top 5 picks for books about writing.  On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft–Stephen King. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this volume is a revealing and practical…

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Using Writing in Other Subject Areas Gives Students a Learning Boost

Writing has significant potential to help students learn other content areas like math, science, social studies, art, physical education, and more. Like speaking and listening, writing isn’t one more thing to teach but rather a tool to help students learn whatever it is you’re teaching. It is critical to use rigorous, evidence-based instructional strategies within your framework. All students can learn at rigorous levels when provided appropriate instruction that incorporates support and scaffolding. Here, let’s…

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Expressive Writing in Science Courses Keeps Students Grounded

Before attacking a problem set or being introduced to a new concept, some students at San Francisco State University will pause during their science class to do something unusual: ponder life, write thoughts into a journal, and share them with classmates. Why am I here? What am I contributing to this class? Who can I go to when times are tough? While it’s not unexpected for humanities classes to incorporate self-reflection, expressive writing in science…

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Do’s and Don’ts for College Admission Essay Writing

The college essay is one of the biggest obstacles your student will have to face when applying to schools. For students who aren’t strong in creative writing or literature, this part of the Common App and other school applications can be nerve-wracking. There is an infinite amount of things that your child could write about, and narrowing that down is part of what makes the college essay so difficult to begin. When it came time…

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