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How John Warner’s R.O.A.S. Method and Reading Like a Writer Make Students Better Writers
The short writing piece above, written by my Writing Essentials student Mumu, was a response to a creative writing warm-up exercise I did in each of my classes this past semester. I call it “The Tree.” For this assignment, I asked each student to imagine a single tree in the middle of a field. Then, they had complete freedom to describe that setting in whatever way they chose. The one catch was that they had to do it from the perspective of a person feeling a strong feeling or emotion, and they could not name that emotion in their writing.
Reading comprehension level and Lexile
Sometimes we assess students at a lower reading level than parents expect. When this happens, the parent may take issue with our judgement and tell us that their child actually reads at such and such Lexile level. While we understand why parents want to rely on Lexile as a reference tool, we need to understand …
How to leave a comment on a Google document
We use Google Documents to share a general classroom blog with parents (so everyone can see class news and activities) and to inform parents directly about their child’s progress. We also know some parents may not be familiar with Google Docs, so here’s a clear, step-by-step guide for opening the document and leaving a comment on something the teacher wrote.
Academic Writing
How Englist does online learning better than others
We understand that online learning is hard for families. Online classes might mean parents need to do a little extra work in helping their kids, or might need to pay a little bit closer attention to how their student is behaving in class. It’s no fun for anyone – parents, students, and teachers. What makes Englist such a great program is that we both understand the difficulties and drawbacks of online learning, but we are also able to transition to an online system in the blink of an eye.
The 5 most common mistakes in academic writing
There are a few academic writing mistakes Englist teachers see more often than others. Take a look at the five most common mistakes in academic writing and see if these are problems you may have in your writing.
3 common types of academic writing
Those who don’t have a good grasp of writing structure and who have never learned how to properly analyze and organize their thoughts tend to fail when they try to write on their own. Even if they have a large English vocabulary and are proficient in English grammar, they find it extremely difficult to write English academic essays that will be logical and well constructed to the end reader.
Elementary Fundamentals
How to leave a comment on a Google document
We use Google Documents to share a general classroom blog with parents (so everyone can see class news and activities) and to inform parents directly about their child’s progress. We also know some parents may not be familiar with Google Docs, so here’s a clear, step-by-step guide for opening the document and leaving a comment on something the teacher wrote.
Why the stories we tell matter
If I, as a fluent English speaker, felt unseen in my textbooks, imagine how much harder it is for children learning English as a second language.
Why kids need freewriting
Freewriting is simple. It’s just writing with no rules, no expectations, and—most importantly—no grades. In a world where kids are often ranked, tested, and pushed to perform, students also need space to explore and to just write.
College Applications
How to prepare for the IELTS exam
By Teacher Jon A good IELTS study plan can do a lot to prepare you for the test. These steps will help you organize an ideal study plan. Useful resources Ideal study space Understanding the test format Immersion - not over-study Taking mock tests Practicing...
Why your kids are studying the wrong way for the SAT
Students practice until their heads hurt, and as soon as the test is done, they forget most of what it was they were learning. Cram, forget, cram forget. It is how testing works in Taiwan and how it will continue to work. The thing about these methods is that students aren’t actually learning, and this sort of training has very little value.
5 great (and 5 overrated) extracurricular activities for college
High school students need to take up activities that make them stand apart from other candidates and show them to be thoughtful, engaged, passionate, and bright. A popular way of ensuring you stand out is to plan a “spike”, or an extracurricular that is highly unique, independent, and impactful.