Homemade, Recycle Bin Shoe Box Dioramas, Miniatures, Props

 It's 8 pm and darling daughter is wailing. She forgot to make her school diorama project due TOMORROW! Been there done that. I was annoyed but as an eleventh hour girl myself, I couldn't complain too much. So I bailed her out. The whole family helped. We made an awesome woodland Native American diorama with stuff around the house. From that experience grew this guide to making homemade shoe box dioramas for any content area. All you need is a recycle bin, craft scraps, household junk and a little ingenuity. Alas I neglected to take a picture of that awesome Indian diorama. But it's easy to recreate along with other ones with different science or social studies themes. Homemade, Recycle Bin Shoe Box Dioramas, Miniatures, Props

Writing Prompts --Family Type 1, Type 2 Writing, Poems, Expository

Every day, I'm doing an A to Z challenge on writer inspiration. I've been freelancing online and blogging for eight years. I've been writing since I learned to use that big yellow school pencil in preschool. Why am I putting writing tips in the business category? Because writing has become my home business. I make sustainable income doing it. I've written for countless sites.

Today's writer inspiration is F for family. I've been married for 26 years (same guy). We have four kids and lost two babies. We're big on family. So I write about my own, but in a broader sense, parenting. Students can use family issues as writing prompts too. Family is a good springboard for lots of Type 1 and Type 2 writing, so long as private details are kept private.

In health, students might writing about family health history or illnesses they're genetically disposed to. They could journal about family struggles or concerns in psychology. They might even write about what mom and dad are doing right. Kids can compare and contrast family issues with current events. Maybe they've experienced a natural disaster, weather emergency or situation like the Lac-Megantic explosion?

Kids could write character bios based on family members. They could describe siblings in haiku, acrostic
or other poetry. Or they could retell a family incident in narrative. If someone has passed away, writing eulogies is healing. Family travels make excellent fodder for creative writing. Perhaps the family has a hobby that could be described in a demonstration speech or expository writing. Here's more on my writer tips at  A-Z Challenge Writer Inspiration F is for Family (click the link for all my ideas, A-Z!) (Picture is a little love note my husband wrote for me in newly-laid concrete.)