In learning about the Constitution in my American history class in junior high, we learned about the Framers, checks and balances, three branches of government, and all the rest. We learned about the bicameral legislature, i.e., the two chambers of the United States Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. But after learning all that, I wondered: Where did congressmen fit into the picture with all these representatives and senators? I'd seen campaign signs referring to "Congressman So-and-so"; I'd heard encouragements to "write your congressman!"; who were these congressmen?  Continue reading...

How can students identify the correct homophones to fit the context of quotations taken from Matilda?  Continue reading...

It's time once again for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). As the website explains, it's "for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved." Visit the NaNoWriMo website to learn more.

A sighting of a "corrections institution" has us thinking about the gamut of terms used for the punishment end of the criminal justice system.  Continue reading...

Homographs — words that are spelled the same but have different meanings — are a common source of frustration among ESL and native English speakers alike. What many students do not realize is that sometimes identifying a homograph's part of speech can indicate to readers how that word is pronounced.  Continue reading...

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Welcome to the November-December 2010 WordMasters Challenge, the first of this school year. Over four thousand school teams from every state participate each year in this popular national competition for Language Arts students in grades 3 to 12. Visit the WordMasters website to learn more about how to participate in the Challenge using the word lists posted here.  Continue reading...