Writing Help For Older Students
Q. We have a set of
encyclopedias at home and some CD-ROMs and other general reference books for
our two teenagers, a junior in high school and an eighth-grader. But they need
at-home writing help. What resources help with writing projects?
It's a "must" to provide children in the older
grades with a few basic resources for better writing. Hint to grandparents for
gift ideas, visit sales at bookstores or hit the garage sales for bargains.
Ideas:
n A sizeable dictionary in
reasonably big type.
n A thesaurus that's easy
to use.
n Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.
n The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.
There are many other subject-area references and
resources that can help. Some parents frequent the withdrawal cart at public
libraries or their annual inventory reduction sales, where wonderful books can
be acquired for a dollar or two.
In addition, there's a clear, concise set of
English guides that might be just the ticket. Published by BarCharts, Inc., the
"Quick Study Academic" guides cover English, history, foreign language, math,
science and other topics for middle school and high school students. The
company also offers guides for college-level academics and beyond, on into
adult learning needs.
The guides come on color-coded, laminated sheets
that fit nicely in a notebook or folder for use during class assignments or
while doing homework. They sell for $4.95, for the most part.
The English Grammar & Punctuation guide has
sections on subjects, verbs, modifiers, objects, words, phrases, clauses,
connectors, sentences, commas, semicolons, apostrophes, quotation marks, end
punctuation and other punctuation.
Other English guides cover English composition
and style, American literature, British literature, essays and term papers,
Greek mythology, Shakespearean plays and other topics.
Homework: Take a look at the homework helpers
in English and other subjects available from Bar Charts, including quick-study
products, online study, and "Nifty Knowledge Foldouts." Call 1 (800) 226-7799
to order or visit www.barcharts.com