Welcome to HIT—How I Teach…. Each week in this innovative audiocast/videocast, I bring you tips, tricks, and techniques for teaching writing, language arts, grammar, and more (to grades two through twelve) drawing upon my 100+ curriculum books totaling over 50,000 pages.

But wait…there’s more! Not only do I teach parents, teachers, and homeschoolers the hundreds of teaching tools I have developed over the past twenty years, listeners/viewers also get a weekly downloadable booklet, Teacher’s Notebook (TN) that has actual lesson sheets that you can print off and use with your students to teach the very topic that I just taught you!

And for your convenience, How I Teach…. is available as a podcast (follow along in your TN sheets for that week) and a Youtube video (with Power Point containing the same as the TN)!

In HIT #2, I taught how to teach a very short story for fifth through twelfth grade students (adjustable according to length assigned and story elements required). I also taught about the infamous to/two/too issues.

In the portion about the very short/predator and prey story, I covered too much to list…but here are some of the highlights (using a sample and some sheets for you to use with your students!):

1) How to teach a story vs. a retelling or essay

2) The importance of the Directed Brainstorming Box for including story elements

3) How to use a “Topic of Paragraph” line to include the inciting incident, progressive obstacles, resolution, and more!

4) How to use synonyms for various classifications of animals and specific animals

5) How to help students use action verbs rather than being or linking verbs

6) How to help students understand what they need to describe in a story and what they can skip

7) Much more! 😊

Note: TN sheets this week contain free Directed Brainstorming Boxes and Outline Space for the Very Short Story of Predator and Prey!

In the homophone portion, I taught many tips (Wacky Words are my jam!), but here are some from this episode:

1) Why it’s best to start out with TWO early on

2) How to teach the two uses for TO

3) How to help students tell when TO is being used as a preposition and when it is being used as the beginning of an infinitive

4) Combining TWO and TO

5) Some cool tips for TOO

6) Much more 😊

Note: TN sheets this week contain free to/two/too lesson and assignment!

Note: This lesson came from Write On, Mowgli, Level V, a month-long downloadable book!

Find everything you need here!

Weekly broadcast episodes with Teacher’s Notebook downloads (and links to listen or watch!) at the Language Arts Lady blog

Master (continually updated) Teacher’s Notebook downloadable booklet

Free writing books and videos of me teaching your students for you for a couple of weeks!

All of my digital books at my Language Arts Lady Store

How I Teach YouTube Channel

How I Teach Podcast