Their They're and There
The issue of mixing up or misusing the words “their,” “they’re,” and “there” is a common one shared by even the best readers and writers.
Word by
word, every word has a job. This is what I teach to my itty-bitty students, and
even to my college students. As students grow in their writing they forgot the
little pieces that tie it altogether to make it a great piece. They forget that
nouns need to do their jobs just as adjectives and verbs do theirs.
Something
that have my students do before starting to write their essay is brain storm
and put their words into short phrases and sentences. We do this together with
an outline set up with roman numerals. This helps with the organization of
their essay and all they have to do is fill in the blanks with examples and
quotes if applicable.
Getting it all out on Paper
Another
piece of advice that I give to my students is to just get all their thoughts
down on paper. I remind them not to get hung up on words, punctuation, or even
worry about it making sense. Too many times I have students with writer’s
block, and many times this stems from not thinking outside of the box. This can
also happen from over thinking. Writers block and forgetting what they wanted
to say, are the two main reasons that I have my students do this exercise
before sitting down and piecing together their essay.
This is a
huge part of the writing process for my students, they are able to grasp where
their mind is going on the topic, and take the free handed rough draft of ideas
and thoughts and put it into a master piece.
Smooth and Steady
Getting back
to the idea of word by word, I spend at least one lesson working on topic
sentences and transition words. Topic sentences help my students of all ages make
sense of what their paragraph is about. This helps them to stay on topic and
focus on the points they are trying to make.
Transition
words work just the same. Their purpose is to make the structure of the paper
mesh together, and keeps you away from chopping sentences and paragraphs. Some
examples of transition words are:
In addition, conversely, for
example, furthermore, additionally etc.
Giving your
student a tool box full of tools to work with will help to make them a much
more confident writer.
Making Sure Quotes Help your Paper
and not Hurt your Arguments
Quotes are
another important component to a well written essay. Often times students are
asked to incorporate quotes from a test or for a research paper. Students
usually take this as a last-minute addition and figure throwing any quote into
the paper will satisfy the requirements. However, this is not the case. Quotes
are to be used, and used only, when they make an argument stronger or prove a
statement that the writer has made.
As a tutor it
is important to teach your students to treat their papers like a piece of art.
Putting each brush of paint where it needs to go and dabbing just the right
colors together to make a beautiful master piece. Have no fear a great tutor
can make your writing clear.
The issue of mixing up or misusing the words “their,” “they’re,” and “there” is a common one shared by even the best readers and writers.
Parentheses serve multiple purposes in English, and they are implemented in pairs.
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