by Jenn | Jul 17, 2019 | Figurative Language
Can you smell the crayons? That waxy, unique smell carries a whiff of excitement combined with nervous energy. For kindergarteners, it isn’t “back to school,” it’s “to school.” Everything is new. Kindergarten marks the first step on the road to formalized...
by Jenn | Aug 15, 2018 | Descriptive Writing, School, Uncategorized
I usually stay in my lane and focus on writing, but as we get head back to school, I’m going to swerve a little bit. The transition from summer vacation to school is tricky, but if you keep it simple and focus on the things you can control, it gets easier. Here...
by Jenn | Jul 17, 2018 | Summer
When I started out as a writing tutor six years ago, I had a master’s degree in writing, a love of language and an enthusiastic, almost evangelical, energy about the subject. Instinctively, I knew how important writing is to a child’s future. After all, even the...
by Jenn | Mar 12, 2018 | Descriptive Writing
It’s pretty hard to write a decent description without using your senses. Sometimes the right smell will jolt you back in time. The other day, I was walking along the coast in La Jolla, CA (I know, rough life!) when I was hit with a scent that rocketed me right...
by Jenn | Feb 20, 2018 | Figurative Language
Today's Instagram prompt is heartfelt. As a diehard gadget girl, I've been teaching myself all of the tech I need to spread my message that writing is fun. I've learned Wordpress, Woocommerce, Drip, Stripe, and probably a dozen other tools. The ridiculous part is...
by Jenn | Apr 28, 2017 | Figurative Language
On today’s Instagram, I posted a writing prompt to write a sentence that contained a simile for one single rose. Then, I remembered the Dorothy Parker poem, “One Perfect Rose.” It’s full of poetic imagery, metaphor, personification and that famous Dorothy...
by Jenn | Apr 28, 2016 | Idioms, Uncategorized
It’s a theatrical superstition that wishing someone good luck is actually bad luck. Following that logic, the polite thing to say is, “Break a leg!” There are all sorts of bad things that can happen to an actor on stage, so I’m not sure why we settled on breaking a...
by Jenn | Apr 20, 2016 | Idioms
Are you the big cheese? “Big Cheese” is an idiom that means a very important person, usually the boss. For some reason, cheese is very popular when it comes to idioms and jokes. In addition to the “big cheese,” there’s “cheesy” and “cut the cheese.” We’ll save those...
by Jenn | Mar 11, 2016 | Figurative Language, Idioms
YOUR SECOND BRAIN I’m going to go with my gut for this week’s Idiom of the Week. Does that mean: A: I’m going to take my belly to the movies. B: I’m going to do a lot of sit ups. C: I’m going to trust that feeling I have in the pit of my stomach. D: I’m going to...
by Jenn | Mar 3, 2016 | Uncategorized
Hearts are very popular for idioms. There’s “heart to heart,” “wearing your heart on your sleeve,” “broken heart,” “bleeding heart,” and this week’s winner, “heart of gold.” To have a heart of...
