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!
At Shurley English, we are committed to helping you and your students experience language arts success. Whether you use the Shurley English curriculum or not, we want your language arts experience to be the best that it can be. Today, we are excited to share several FREE resources to help you in your quest for excellence:
Read MoreAs the calendar year comes to a close, a teacher’s journey is still moving at full speed. (It’s true!) We are not quite to the halfway mark of our year, and we still have much to do! As 2021 comes to a close and before you begin the second semester, I would encourage you to take a moment, stop, and reflect. It is good for the mind and soul to take note of one’s progress. What successes are you seeing in the classroom? Are you on the track you had planned? Do you need to make adjustments?
To help you do so, we've assembled a list of the 10 most significant language arts stories we discussed in 2021. From cyclical spelling to jingles to language arts centers, these articles examine ways to ignite learning while building a solid foundation for #ELAsuccess.
Read MoreAt Shurley English, we are committed to helping you and your students experience language arts success. Whether you use the Shurley English curriculum or not, we want your language arts experience to be the best that it can be. Today, we are excited to share several FREE resources to help you in your quest for excellence:
Read MoreWhen you think of testing, do any of these statements come to mind?
“I want to see what my students have learned at the end of each chapter.”
“I want to make sure I’m teaching effective lessons.”
“My administrator says I have to have a certain number of scores in my grade book.”
“I’d like to see the strengths and weaknesses of each student so I can know how to differentiate my instruction.”
We’re all familiar with national standardized testing, the numerous true/false or multiple-choice tests a teacher gives throughout a school year, along with the benefits these assessments can provide. One school of thought says that assessments are a key component of learning because it helps students see how well they understand subject-specific material. Others say assessments can help motivate students. Still, testing often feels like a necessary evil that all teachers must do to show evidence that students have learned the content teachers worked so hard to teach.
I’d like you to consider looking at
Read MoreLast week, we talked about student-led learning centers. Personally, I found that learning centers gave my students the opportunity to collaborate in small groups, be a leader among their classmates, and learn subject material on a deeper level.
This week, we would like to provide you with some tips on how to create Shurley English Centers in your classroom. Here are some possible center/station ideas to get you started:
Read MoreFor the past thirty years, Brenda Shurley's mission for Shurley English has been simple. We will do all we can to help teachers, parents, and students experience grammar and writing success. With that mission in mind, we have published several of our Workshop Series training videos for you to view for FREE! The Workshop Series features relevant topics and teaching techniques designed to enhance your skills as an educator.
To access our Workshop Series on demand,
Read MoreTeaching kids to write can be easy if you have the right tools! Getting organized is the first step, and one of the best ways to accomplish this is with an excellent set of writing maps. Writing maps are the foundation for writing success and truly help your children start out focused and on topic. What could be better than that?
At Shurley English, we want to give you a great start to the new year. Right now, you can download our Shurley English writing maps for FREE! Below, you will find a
Do you remember story time when you were little? I hope you have experienced story time at least at some point in your life. But even if you haven’t, it’s not too late to learn how to enrich the lives of children through this worthwhile process.
Read More
If there’s one subject I enjoy teaching almost as much as English grammar, it’s phonemic awareness, phonics, and spelling! I know it’s strange, but my linguistic brain has always identified with letters and the sounds they represent. When I began teaching phonemic awareness and phonics as an aid for spelling, letters began to take on a personality in my brain. It happened quite by accident, but I started noticing that certain letters could be grouped based upon their attributes of both position and function. So, without getting too deep into the linguistics, I would like to introduce you to four important reasons for the Silent Final E. And once kids understand the “why”, it will be easier for them to remember to include the silent e on words that require it. Below is Part 1, which will explain an important feature of vowel pairs. This is a prerequisite to lock down with kids before moving on to the first rule.
You will want to teach the following basic letter pattern concept:
Vowel + Silent Final E : Pattern (V + e)
-When you put a Vowel e just after any one of the other vowels, you make a Vowel Team.
-A Vowel Team is two vowels side by side that make one sound.
-When you put an e after any of the vowels, you will hear the first vowel say its long sound, and the e becomes a silent e.
Here’s a completed list of these vowel teams:
Next time, I will officially introduce Rule 1 for Silent Final E: The Split-Vowel Spelling Rule. You won’t want to miss it!
In the 1960’s, a researcher by the name of Paul Diederich asked a group of language arts professionals a simple question: “What makes writing effective?” As the responses rolled in, Diederich was able to configure them into six distinct traits and coined them as the Traits of Effective Writing. Amazingly, these six traits are still being used today as a framework for teaching and assessing all types of writing at every stage of writing development.
Voice
Teaching “voice” doesn’t have to be difficult! The key is to establish clear goals and objectives to help students understand and apply the 3rd Trait of Effective Writing. Today, I will provide you with some background information and give you a few tricks to help students effectively demonstrate voice.
Let’s begin with the definition. “Voice” is the individual way a writer expresses himself or herself; it’s that personal, unique style of using words and expressions to convey meaning in a way that jumps off the page and leaves the writer’s imprint on the reader. The same words and expressions that tend to flow freely during conversation are often difficult for writers to express effectively. One reason is because there are no set rules for “how” or “where” to include “voice” in a piece of writing.
Teachers need to understand that words and expressions that convey voice do not always magically appear. Students must be taught how to apply voice in their writing. Good modeling is important. As students’ knowledge, skill, and practice pertaining to the use of voice increases, their personalities are sure to shine through. It’s up to you to nurture the development of voice and help students hone their skills by providing lots of practice!
Shurley 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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