Grammar Help
English Grammar 101: A fabulous site that takes students through fifteen modules, including parts of speech, punctuation, capitalization, and even “troublesome words.” Each module covers multiple topics through lessons and self-checking exercises. Have your student spend 10-30 minutes each day working through each module, repeating each exercise until it is 100% correct. It’s like daily grammar vitamins! The site offers free access to the explanation part of each lesson, but now a paid membership is required in order to access the exercises and tests. A single membership is $15/6 months or $25/year, which is a great value for this outstanding resource!
Literature
Center for Lit: I use Adam and Missy Andrews’ method for analyzing stories in my Level 1 and 2 classes. The website is a treasure trove of literature resources.
Writing Help
Citefast.com: I’ve had my students use Easybib.com for years for help with creating a MLA Works Cited page, but there are so many pitfalls to using it that I even had to make a video about how use it. I just found this one. It seems much easier to use, and it has the added benefit of help with formatting in-text citations. Hopefully I can transition the students to this one and make a much simpler video.
Tips for Academic Writing and Other Formal Writing: The author, Dr. James A. Bednar, is a computer programmer who is concerned with the details of formal writing. It is an excellent and readable presentation of many important aspects of formal writing. Unfortunately, this particular edition of Dr. Bednar’s tips left off two important sections that he originally included. You can access the missing sections, “Word Level Issues” and “Additional Guidelines Specific to Academic Writing” on this much-less-readable page: Everything About Wood: Tips for Academic Writing and Other Formal Writing. These sections are too good and, often, too funny to miss, so it is worth taking the time to read the poorly formatted text.
Numbers in Academic Writing: This webpage is a printable pdf that details the rules for writing numbers in academic writing.
Using Transitions Effectively: An excellent printable pdf resource explaining the basics of transitions, which also includes a 3-page chart of “Common Transitional Words and Phrases.”
The Easiest Way to Write a Thesis Statement: This is a gem of a slideshare presentation! It contains basic information about writing a thesis statement, but the real genius is the 20 thesis statement templates. I have used these templates successfully with my students for the past two years and they have demystified the process of writing a great thesis statement.