Table of Contents

The Process of Writing

Getting Started

3 A Basic Writing Guide

9 Understanding the Writing Process

13 One Writer’s Process

21 Qualities of Writing

Using the Writing Process

35 Selecting and Collecting

45 Focusing and Organizing

51 Writing and Revising

61 Editing

67 Publishing

Learning Writing Skills

75 Writing Basic Sentences

81 Combining Sentences

85 Writing Paragraphs

99 Understanding Writing

Terms and Techniques

109 Understanding Text Structures

The Forms of Writing

Personal Writing

115 Writing in Journals

121 Using Learning Logs

125 Writing Emails and Blogs

Narrative Writing

131 Writing Personal Narratives

137 Writing Fantasies

145 Writing Realistic Stories

151 Writing Stories from History

157 Responding to Narrative Prompts

Explanatory Writing

165 Writing Explanatory Essays

173 Writing Process Essays

181 Writing Comparison-Contrast Essays

189 Responding to Explanatory Prompts

Persuasive Writing (Argument Writing)

197 Writing Persuasive (Argument) Essays

203 Writing Persuasive Letters

209 Writing Problem-Solution Essays

215 Responding to Persuasive Prompts

Report Writing

245 Writing Reports

253 Writing Research Reports

269 Writing Summaries

Writing Plays and Poems

275 Writing Plays

281 Writing Poems

Writing About Literature

223 Writing Book Reviews

231 Writing About Literature

237 Responding to Literature Prompts

The Tools of Learning

Using Technology

295 Communicating Online

299 Researching Online

305 Staying Safe Online

Reading and Spelling Skills

309 Reading Strategies for Fiction

321 Reading Strategies for Nonfiction

331 Reading Graphics

341 Building Vocabulary Skills

359 Becoming a Better Speller

Speaking, Viewing, and Listening Skills

365 Giving Speeches

373 Improving Viewing Skills

379 Improving Listening Skills

Thinking Skills

383 Using Graphic Organizers

387 Thinking and Writing

395 Thinking Clearly

Learning Skills

409 Completing Assignments

413 Working in Groups

419 Taking Tests

427 Taking Good Notes

Proofreader’s Guide

Marking Punctuation

431 Period

432 Ellipsis

433 Comma

435 Semicolon

436 Colon

437 Hyphen

438 Dash, Apostrophe

440 Quotation Marks

441 Question Mark

Exclamation Point

Parentheses

442 Italics and Underlining

Editing for Mechanics

443 Capitalization

447 Numbers

448 Plurals

450 Abbreviations

Checking Your Spelling

452 Commonly Misspelled Words

Using the Right Word

456 Commonly Misused Words

Understanding Sentences

466 Parts of a Sentence

467 Subject-Verb Agreement

469 Types of Sentences

470 Kinds of Sentences

Understanding Our Language

472 Nouns

475 Pronouns

479 Verbs

484 Adjectives

486 Adverbs

487 Interjections

488 Prepositions

489 Conjunctions