Most of us have no idea whether we’ve misused or misspelled a word. Otherwise, we wouldn’t do it, right?

This humorous chart includes eight sets of words that often cause confusion. Are you guilty of any of these infractions? If so, study the examples and become a pro at using these words correctly!

Source: Online Schooling

Note: If “flammable vs. inflammable” still seems confusing, even with the cartoon, here’s a good explanation of the difference.

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Welcome back to our series on 10 Stumbling Blocks to Writing! Last week we looked at ways to increase your student’s confidence. What’s today’s hurdle?

Stumbling Block #2

Problem: Lack of skills and tools to make writing fresh and interesting.

Solution: Introduce pre-writing exercises, brainstorming worksheets, and checklists.

Whether you’re sewing, gardening, working with wood, or fixing an engine, you can’t do the job properly without certain skills and tools. The same can be said for writing—and I’m not just talking about paper, pens, and a laptop. Let’s look at some practical principles you can apply to begin equipping your children for success!

Pre-writing Activities

One of the easiest ways to build writing skills is to have some fun! Pre-writing exercises and writing games act as enjoyable warm-ups to get creative juices flowing, build vocabulary, and strengthen sentence development. Games you make up, like sentence-building or concrete writing games, make perfect pre-writing exercises. And don’t discount the value of purchased word games. Scattergories and Apples to Apples come to mind as two great writing warm-up games our family loves to play. Along with old friends like Scrabble and Boggle, they make ideal family Christmas gifts. Your kids will have no idea they’re learning!

Brainstorming Worksheets

Before your student writes the first word of her composition, she’ll improve her chances for success by brainstorming. Like pre-writing, brainstorming is a skill that stimulates thinking in general. However, it also acts as a springboard for writing about a particular subject. When a student brainstorms:

• It gets her ideas flowing so she has something to say.
• It helps her overcome writer’s block.
• It prepares her for writing as she develops a plan and gains direction.
• It helps her organize her thoughts.

To further promote thinking skills, you’ll want to teach a variety of brainstorming techniques. Whatever the topic, suggest a brainstorming method—mind map, list, or outline, for instance—that’s best for the kind of composition your student is writing. For example:

• She might brainstorm for a how-to composition by listing the steps of the process.
• If she’s writing a descriptive paragraph, she should carefully study the subject for interesting details and record her observations.
• For a narrative, she’ll want to sequence the events.
• A Venn diagram is especially useful for compare/contrast essay.

There are many ways to brainstorm, but worksheets and graphic organizers are tools that often smooth the way for reluctant writers. If you are using a program like WriteShop I or II, you’ll find brainstorming worksheets already prepared for each writing assignment (see an example here). Alternatively, a quick Google search will yield a variety of brainstorming tools available on the web.

But brainstorming isn’t just for your junior high or high schooler! You can begin teaching this skill in kindergarten, either on your own or with a helpful curriculum like WriteShop Primary. Starting your children when they’re young can help prevent the debilitating case of writer’s block that often plagues older students.

Checklists

A good checklist serves as a guide to help your student identify her own errors in content, style, and mechanics so she can improve and enliven her writing. For instance, if the checklist reminds her to use synonyms instead of repeating main words, she’ll be forced to find more interesting words. This simple tool can help her hone a valuable skill she’ll use all her life. (In a few weeks I’ll be talking about checklists in greater detail when we take a look at Stumbling Block #6: Laziness.) 

Other Skills and Tools

In addition to checklists and brainstorming sheets, there are other tools that help breathe new life into writing. For example, skill-building exercises can give a student instruction and practice in new writing skills like choosing titles, writing topic sentences, citing sources, or using sentence variations.

I’m sure grammar is part of your language arts curriculum, but how it can revive writing may be a complete mystery to you. I’d like to suggest that when you require your student to use newly learned grammar concepts in her compositions, the grammar actually makes more sense. So rather than teach grammar in a vacuum, teach it as it applies to writing. That’s where the rubber meets the road!

Writing isn’t an exact science, but you can certainly apply proven principles to promote stronger writers in your home. It’s my prayer that you’ll begin to notice a difference in both attitude and output as you put some of these tips into practice.

Next week we’ll look at Stumbling Block #3: Lack of motivation. You won’t want to miss that one!

2009 © Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

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Do you wish your writing curriculum offered more pre-writing activities and brainstorming ideas? Then take a look at WriteShop I for your 6th – 10th grader. You’ll love the writing games and brainstorming worksheets that equip and inspire successful writers!  

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng.

Should the title of a high-ranking official be capitalized?

Depends on who you ask! But since we use, recommend, and carry The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, that’s the source WriteShop tends to rely on first. According to the Blue Book (10th ed.):

Capitalize the titles of high-ranking government officials when used with or before their names. Do not capitalize the civil title if it is used instead of the name.

The author cites several examples, including:

• The president will address Congress.
• The governors, lieutenant governors, and attorneys general called for a special task force.
• Governor Fortinbrass, Lieutenant Governor Poppins, Attorney General Dalloway, and Senators James and Twain will attend.

That said, you may accept either from your students since other sources may conflict. For instance:

The Holt Handbook, 6th ed. says:

Titles that indicate high-ranking positions may be capitalized even when they are used alone or when they follow a name.

Example: Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States

The Writer’s Brief Handbook, 5th ed. says:

When you use titles of world figures alone, capitalization is optional.

Example: The President [or president] spoke to the reporters.

. . . . .

Do you or your kids need some grammar guidance? The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation offers concise, helpful rules, examples, and practice exercises. It’s a combination reference book and workbook, super easy to use, and handy for home or office. Examples are short, simple, and practical. We know you’ll love it too! Want to read some reviews? Just click here.

Another (book) case of apostrophe abuse. I just don’t get it. What is so hard about adding an “s” to the end of a word to make it plural? Just…a…simple…little…s. This is not rocket science, people!

. . . . .

Stop by every 1st and 3rd Wednesday for a peek into the world of spelling, punctuation, or grammar gone wrong!

Photo used by permission. Redvers, via flickr.com – CC-BY

Sentence variations add interest and variety to a piece of writing, improve rhythm, or help you trim wordy sentences. One sentence variation, the appositive, can even help you combine two sentences:

Bertram is a master chef.
Bertram works at La Petite Restaurant.

into one sentence:

Bertram, a master chef, works at La Petite Restaurant.

What’s an Appositive?

An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that immediately follows another noun. An appositive explains or defines the noun it follows and is usually set off by commas.
In these examples, the noun or pronoun is red and the appositive is tan.

• Mike’s dog, a mutt, sat down in the street.
• Mike’s dog, a scrawny mutt, sat down in the street.
• Mike’s dog, a scrawny mutt with scruffy coat, sat down in the street.
• Mike’s dog, a scrawny, scruffy-coated mutt with no common sense, sat down in the street.

A few more examples:

• My neighbor Augustus grew a 100-pound pumpkin last summer.
• Flipper, Melvin’s pet goldfish, lives in a glass bowl on the bookshelf.
• Grandpa’s ancient Buick, a behemoth of a car, still drives like a charm.
• The garage, a danger zone, is filled with tools, bags of used clothing, boxes of papers, stacks of old magazines, and countless other piles of junk.

Punctuating the Appositive

Some appositives require commas and others don’t.

Commas Needed. You’ll need to use commas if the sentence would still be complete and clear without the appositive. Put one comma before the appositive and one after when it provides non-essential information.

• Dilbert Dithers, one of the town’s junk dealers, collects vintage radios. (The sentence makes sense without the appositive. Since the appositive adds non-essential information, commas are necessary.)

Commas Not Needed. If the appositive gives meaning to the sentence, you will not need to put commas around the appositive. One-word appositives do not need commas.

• The American author Ernest Hemingway spent many years abroad. (Since there are many American authors, Ernest Hemingway makes the sentence meaningful. Therefore, no commas are needed.)
• Her brother Roscoe lives in Walla Walla. (In order to explain which of her brothers she’s referring to, Roscoe becomes essential information. It’s also a one-word appositive. Therefore, no commas are needed.)

Choosing Where to Place an Appositive

An appositive can BEGIN a sentence.

• A prize-winning baker, Mrs. Patchett loves to make pies, cakes, and cookies.

An appositive can BREAK UP a sentence.

• Mrs. Patchett, a prize-winning baker, loves to make pies, cakes, and cookies.

And an appositive can END a sentence.

• Needing donations for the church bake sale, the committee called Mrs. Patchett, a prize-winning baker who loves to make pies, cakes, and cookies.

From geography jingles my children learned over 17 years ago, I can still remember, among other facts, the states that comprise the eastern border of the U.S.

There’s just something about poems, songs, and mnemonics that can make learning facts—and remembering them—so much easier. That’s why I’ve always liked this little poem, as it defines and illustrates many common grammar concepts.

          Grammar in a Nutshell

The articles are, oh, so wee,
     These little words are A, AN, THE;
The nouns are names of anything,
     Like BOOK, COMPUTER, FAITH, or RING.
Pronouns are used for nouns instead—
     I run, HE flies, SHE wished, THEY said.
Adjectives simply tell the kind
     of everything that we may find,
Like BLUE and ROUGH and SOFT and SWEET,
     RUDE and PLEASANT, WISE and NEAT.
Adverbs will tell “how,” “when,” “where,”
     Like SWEETLY, NEATLY, OFTEN, THERE.
The prepositions help each day
     IN our work or AT our play,
UNDER, OVER, AROUND, and THROUGH,
     AMONG, ABOUT, ABOVE, and TO.
Good conjunctions join together
     Man AND woman; plume OR feather.
Interjections always claim—
     OH, NO! ALAS! AH, what a shame!
The verb—it helps us get along
     In conversation or in song,
Since it explains the subject’s fate,
     Expressing action, being, state;
You ARE friendly, I LOVE you,
     EAT your breakfast, TIE your shoe.
Grammar may not seem exciting,
     But it will help our speech and writing!

Author Unknown

As promised, here are the answers to Friday’s grammar quiz. I’m sure you’ll find differing opinions as to the exact number of punctuation marks, prepositional phrases, etc. That’s OK—these lists identify the main ones. 

1. The fourteen main punctuation marks in English grammar

• Period .
• Comma ,
• Colon : 
• Semicolon ; 
• Dash – 
• Hyphen -
• Apostrophe ‘
• Question mark ?
• Exclamation point ! 
• Quotation mark “double” or ‘single’
• Parentheses ( )
• Brackets [ ]
• Braces { }
• Ellipsis . . .

2. The eight traditional parts of speech

• Noun
• Pronoun
• Verb
• Adverb
• Adjective
• Preposition
• Conjunction
• Interjection

3. The four main sentence types

• Declarative (statement)
• Interrogative (question)
• Exclamatory (strong statement ending with an exclamation point)
• Imperative (command )

4. The 50 most common prepositions

about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, atop, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, in front of, nside, instead of, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, on top of, out of, outside, over, past, since, through, to, toward, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, within, without

. . . . .

Do you or your kids need additional help with basic grammar concepts? The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation offers concise, helpful rules, examples, and practice exercises. It’s a combination reference book and workbook, super easy to use, and handy for home or office. Examples are short, simple, and practical. We know you’ll love it too! Want to read some reviews? Just click here.

OK, here’s a quick little grammar quiz. Yes, there will be differing opinions on the exact number of some of these, but this is just for fun!

I’ll post the answers Monday!

1. There are 14 primary punctuation marks in English grammar. How many can you name?   
2. There are eight traditional parts of speech. Do you know them all?
3. What are the four main sentence types?
4. There are approximately 50 common prepositions. Can you name 25?

I know this is a writing blog and, for the most part, not a personal blog. But what can I do? I’ve been TAGGED by my daughter Karah!

So if you want to learn a few random things about me, read on! And if you don’t, that’s cool. Just come back another day to read more about writing.

Here are the rules :

And here are seven trivial facts about me. Are you ready?  

1. I lived in Mexico City till I was six.

My family moved there when I was two because my dad and my uncle opened a chain of Tastee-Freez restaurants. Spanish was my second language; wish it had stuck better.

2. I’m a grammar geek.

I don’t mean to be. I don’t read church overheads or websites or signs in windows with the intention of picking apart the spelling, grammar, or punctuation. Honestly. But sometimes it’s like a neon light that glows against a black sky, and I can’t help but notice.

So I finally created an outlet for this distraction of mine: Twice a month I blog about bad signage for Wordless Wednesday. Serious fun.

And along those same lines…

3. I’m a word geek.

Scrabble, Scramble, Boggle, crossword puzzles, anagrams—I love word games! Though my husband does enjoy crossword puzzles, and he’s a big Sudoku fan, he isn’t especially fond of word games, so sometimes it’s hard to find someone to play along. I have Boggle installed on my computer. A 3-minute game used to provide a perfect little break in the middle of some tedious task. But a couple of months ago, along came Facebook. Aaack! It opened up a whole new world of word games, not to mention friends to play with. I tell you, it takes real discipline to “just say no”!

4. I had cataract surgery at 15.

Cataracts run in my family—not the typical old-age cataracts that people get in their 70s. Nope. These show up during adolescence. As an added bonus, I passed ‘em down to two of my kids. What can I say? We’re special.

5. I’m scared of heights…but selectively.

Yes, I would definitely say I’m afraid of heights. Even so, I’m not always freaked out about being in a high place. There’s actually a fairly clean line between what wigs me out and what doesn’t. For instance, I’m OK standing at the window of a very tall building. I actually like looking down and seeing cars and people in miniature! I’m also OK sitting at the top of a Ferris wheel or ski lift or standing at the rail of a scenic canyon vista. And I have absolutely no problem with airplanes. Give me a window seat any day—I love looking down on the world from 40,000 feet!

For some illogical reason, heights don’t bother me when I’m sitting. But what gives me the willies is looking between my feet through the gaps in a bridge and seeing the water so far below. The bottoms of my feet tingle and my stomach flip-flops in a most alarming fashion. Another super-scary thing is to walk on a metal floor grid where I can look waaaay far down. I just don’t do well when I can see through floorboards or mesh. And forget standing at the edge of a high place when there’s no railing. I’m outta there!

6. Once I locked myself out of the house while cleaning windows.

No big deal, right? Except that I was on the roof of our two-story house. Now put this together with No. 5 and, well, you’ve got a winning combination!

7. I was a huge Monkees fan during junior high.

• Nothing could tear me away from the TV screen when their show was on.

• I got to go to a Monkees concert at the Hollywood Bowl. I don’t remember hearing much of the music, though. Why listen to the songs when we paid good money to jump up and down and scream?

• In 8th grade, I went to an auto show at the Anaheim Convention Center. And certainly not because I cared a whit about cars in general. It’s just that one particular car would be on display—Mike Nesmith’s own personal vehicle—which is probably, when you think about it, the only way to get a 13-year-old girl to an auto show in the first place.

• I still have a few of my Tiger Beat and Monkees Spec magazines from 1967. Yeah, I’m a dork.

OK, wasn’t that fun? Don’t you wish you could get tagged? Well, since I have to tag seven people, it’s your lucky day. Tag . . . you’re it!

1. Janel

2. Lori

3. Amy

4. Tami

5. Nancy (or Humphrey)

6. Anne

7. Heidi

Last week we talked about some Notable Confusables, and you and your kids had fun with a bunch of online grammar quizzes. How’d you do?

Clearing Up Confusing Combos 

If your children had trouble with any of the concepts, they’ll enjoy the following engaging and interactive learning tools. They’ll view definitions, learn the rules, and practice the new skills with the click of the mouse. Give ‘em a try!

• Confusing Words: Their – There – They’re
• Confusing Words: It’s – Its
• Confusing Words: You’re – Your

. . . . .

Do you or your kids need additional help tackling these Notable Confusables? The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation offers concise, helpful rules, examples, and practice exercises. It’s a combination reference book and workbook, super easy to use, and handy for home or office. Examples are short, simple, and practical. We know you’ll love it too! Want to read some reviews? Just click here.