Welcome to the Shurley English Blog! For the past thirty-four years, our mission at Shurley Instructional Materials has been simple. We do all we can to help teachers and students experience grammar and writing success. With that goal in mind, we wanted to create a space where our team of educators could share tips, tricks, and techniques to ignite learning. It’s all about educators helping educators on the Shurley English Blog. We invite you to join the conversation!
I am sure you have seen posts like this before. I know I have, and I get a charge out of them. Whether or not you like to teach systematic phonics and spelling, you probably have a hard time getting kids to lock in certain sounds and spelling rules…and this one can be a doozy!
Let’s look at this dastardly duo up close. You have probably heard the old rule
Read MoreI simply cannot wait until spring to get my home and office in order; my brain won’t allow it! Both of these spaces need a major overhaul. (Trust me! With four grown-ups and a grandchild in the house, I often feel like I need professional help from someone like Marie Kondo.)
For me, the process of organization begins with
Read MoreWhat if elementary teachers approached the subject of Language Arts as if it was a competitive sport? Just think of it… every K-8 teacher would be part of a coaching staff charged with developing players’ language arts knowledge and skills. In this analogy, the playbook contains plays designed to help each team member achieve literacy success, which is the ultimate goal of the game! The knowledge and skills learned by each team member will grow into great competence, and every time these competencies are used to practice or compete, confidence will grow.
Read MoreWelcome back to the fourth entry in my series about sentence patterns. Remember, if you recognize the pattern of a sentence’s core parts, the grammar of the sentence (or its word arrangement) will make more sense. So far, you know about Pattern 1, Pattern 2, Pattern 3, and Pattern 4.
To get ready for Pattern 5, let’s first look at the
Read MoreLast time, I told you about nine ways to ignite emotional intelligence in your classroom. I discussed how music can impact emotional connections to learning. Now, let’s examine how bringing games into the school day can support emotional intelligence.
Read MoreIf you’re ready to learn English definitions in a fun and easy way, Shurley English Jingles are for you! Using domain-specific language, our definitions for the parts of speech and many other important language arts concepts incorporate rhythm, rhyme, and movement. Jingles provide the tools for critical thinking during sentence analysis and writing.
Read MoreWelcome back to the third entry in my series about sentence patterns. Remember, if you recognize the pattern of a sentence’s core parts, the grammar of the sentence (or its word arrangement) will make more sense. So far, you know about Pattern 1, Pattern 2, and Pattern 3.
Now…on to Pattern 4. For this sentence pattern, you need to pay careful attention to the verb. Take a look at our sample sentence:
Read MoreI’ll never forget returning to my 6th-grade language arts classroom after winter break. Being the social type, I had stopped between classes to say hello to some of my friends, and I barely made it into the room before the tardy bell rang. To my surprise, the desks had been rearranged into groups of four, and I had no idea where I was supposed to sit.
Read MoreIn a word…YES! If you are seeking a great writing prompt, look no further than a picture book, a local art gallery, or a collection of great works of art from one of those coffee table display books.
When I was a kid, we used to have a large reproduction of Paul Detlefsen’s work, called The Smithy and Horse. I used to stare at it, sort of daydreaming about how the objects could interact if they were real and not just a painting.
Here’s just a short sample of how I made the objects in the picture come alive:
Read MoreIf you are a teacher, you know that teaching—and learning—are emotional experiences. Thanks to neuropsychology and neuroscientists, we have some exciting ways to increase the joy in our classrooms, which in turn increases learning. Why? It’s one of the most basic concepts in teaching and learning…happy kids learn new things easier than stressed-out kids.
Read MoreShurley English is the best English Language Arts curriculum available to public schools, private schools, and home educators.Shurley English is a rigorous curriculum that brings back student-teacher interaction, promotes higher-order thinking skills, and provides students with a successful base from which they can achieve mastery, retention, and enthusiasm for English.
Our mission is to inspire and empower ALL students to become competent, confident communicators by providing superior educational solutions and innovative teacher training tools. This will enable all students to positively impact their school, community, and future work environments.
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