Below is a a basic lesson outline that covers the “foundation” of English, or the rules and patterns that make up how words are made, their spelling and sounds. This lesson outline can be used for anyone who is developing their literacy. Almost 50% of people in Canada have low levels of literacy, so this…
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IntroductionIndigenous Speculations In this essay, I explore various Canadian Indigenous speculations, including the artwork of Sonny Assu, and science fiction of Cherie Dimaline, and Drew Hayden Taylor. Before I get into it, I’d like to acknowledge that…. I’m very grateful to live and work on the traditional, unceded and ancestral territory of the Musqueam I’ve…
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Diversity, Multimodality & Comics Teaching children’s literature using sequential visual narratives Part 1: How comics were squeezed out of my life Until recently, perhaps the last five years, I looked down on comics and visual narratives. As a young reader, I read Archie and some Wonderwoman; however, I didn’t relate to the male protagonists of most…
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Part 1: Lost in the Woods I am fascinated by the special kind of horror that can only be found in stories about and for children. Since the very first children’s books by Perrault and the Grimm brothers, and before that, in folktales and oral traditions, stories about children have so often been gruesome and…
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Was I alone in my quest for adult reading materials? Around the age of nine or ten I discovered Stephen King, and I would never go back to the Sweet Valley of children’s books ever again. I recall sneaking my mother’s horror and thriller books from her bedroom bookshelf, one at a time, and reading…
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This review of When You Reach Me, a Newberry Award-winning novel by Rebecca Stead, is hopefully the first of a series on writing craft in middle grade science fiction. I’ll explore issues of writing craft, such as theme, tone, voice, plot, characterization, etc. in a few of my new favourite books. My aim is for…
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Pico Iyer wrote a playful and eloquent article for the Los Angeles Times about his decision to write long sentences as a form of protest against our world’s obsession with speed. He explained that as a young journalist he had succumbed to the need for speed and crunched his writing into short soundbites, but as he…
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For the writers (and readers) who have not read (or who have not finished reading) William Gibson’s Neuromancer NEUROMANCER! Well, I don’t want to come across as a book snob, but I do have to ask: How can you call yourself a well-read fictionado without having read Neuromancer? In classic Lily-(from How I Met…
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Did you know that the average person uses only 2000-5000 words on a daily basis? One of the most important tools I use as an English, ESL & Literacy teacher is a most frequently-used-words list. It is possible to make countless vocabulary exercises & games from the crucial 2000 most frequently used words, and they…
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The best book I read in 2010 was Out of the Silent Planet, by C.S Lewis. It is a very small book and inconspicuous. This was the copy I picked up:
If you are learning a new language, the most useful and pleasant thing you can do for your study is READ!!! As an ESL teacher, I have noticed that my students who are regular readers, really advance more quickly than students who do not like reading. Therefore it is important to foster the skill of…
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Hi, I'm Shalon and I'm a writer and educator. I use this site to share what I learn on my journeys in creative writing, education, English, science, and psychology.
Each article you read here is a labour of love grounded in research, with plenty of references to professional, academic, or peer websites, books and articles. I aim to connect my writing to a larger knowledge community while offering my own unique perspective or contribution, which often comes in the form of free downloadable templates, worksheets and study guides.
Welcome. I hope you find something useful here.
You might enjoy reading the top post on my site, The 7 Types of Sentence Fragments and How to Use Them.
This post is used every day by teachers and students around the world to teach and learn the art of building beautiful, advanced sentences in English.
The free pdf download of the lesson in shortened form is free to copy, alter and distribute for non-commercial purposes.
If you are using this lesson, please let me know how you have used it and how it has helped you. I’m curious!
Below you’ll find works of art that I lovingly crafted just for you!
FEAR & HORROR IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
In this essay, I discuss why children’s literature is often scary, and why that’s awesome!
In this essay I discuss how to use comics to teach Language Arts, and how diversity in comics can help students enrich both their literacy and their life.
In this essay I discuss my personal journey with anxiety and some of the ways I’ve learned to manage my anxiety.
PLOT YOUR NOVEL WITH M.I.C.E. QUOTIENT
In this post I share what I learned at a writing conference about plotting with Orson Scott Card’s M.I.C.E. Quotient, and Mary Robinette Kowal’s adaptations to this technique, including nesting codes and try/fails. All of these techniques help you evaluate whether your plot keeps the promises you made to your readers.
