Hi friends, How are you? I hope you are well. I know how difficult it can be to accomplish writing goals when you don’t have a topic in mind. With that in mind, I like to try to give writing prompts about once a month or two. I have a question for you. Do you like board games? I hope so, because I have decided that today’s writing prompt would entail board games. Have you played any board games? Which one is your favorite? Write a story that includes you teaching someone how to play your favorite board game. It can be a story based on real life or a made up story. It can have anyone you want in it for characters. The story can be set in the past, present, or future. Have fun with it. Maybe make it part of a family game night or a slumber party or something. I don’t know. It is up to you. Speaking of writing, did you know that I am a children’s book author? This is an image of my current books for sale. Here is a link to my author page on Amazon. You can check out my books there. Thank you. 
Children's books by Jodi Desautels
***Note: I don’t know the legalities or copyright rules around using a product name in a story. (I am not sure, but I think it would be fine for a writing assignment or personal practice. However, if you want to create a story you can publish or sell, I think I would research it first.) Now, it is your turn. Thank you for being here. I hope you are finding the writing prompts and the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations helpful and interesting. Regardless of whether you choose to use the writing prompt or not, please feel free to share your favorite board game. (Mine? Pictionary. Sadly, I don’t have many people in my life that enjoy it as much as I do.) If you are finding value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations, please feel free to share it. If you are a teacher, parent, or homeschooler, please let me know that you are here and let me know if there is anything that can help with your educational journey. Also, if you haven’t done so already, please consider signing up below to receive the Education Blog and other education content in your inbox. Thank you.
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Hi friends,
How are you? I have something new for you today. As you may know, I am a children’s book author. I enjoy writing and teaching, as you can probably tell from my blogs. Today, I have a writing resource for you. Authors and writers go about writing in a variety of ways. They work the words and design their stories from thoughts, events, people, situations, desires, dreams, and a multitude of other inspirations. The resource today is to help writers organize their thoughts around the characters in their stories. Especially for a longer story with multiple plots and subplots, it is good to be organized and know your characters well. Although, it can be helpful for short stories and children’s books to know your characters well. You never know when you want to complete a series or even a movie based on your stories. So, how do you keep everything about your characters organized? One strategy is to create a character profile. You write everything you can think of about a character down in one spot. Don’t take anything for granted. Just because you think you know your character and have a clear picture of your character in your mind, doesn’t mean that you will remember everything as your write your story. Keeping yourself organized about your character is important, but it also serves a greater purpose. If you don’t know your character, then you might not portray your character very well and your readers won’t know your character either. Why is this important? Often times writers feel they have an image of their character in their minds, but if they don’t describe characters well enough readers won’t have that same picture. To help keep you (and other writers) organized, DUO Inspirations offers the “Basic Character Profile Package”. It can be used as both a way to brainstorm character possibilities or to completely organize a character and it’s part in a story. Keep your notes regarding your character all in one spot. The “Basic Character Profile Package” comes with a Character Profile sheet, a Character Profile and Purpose Sheet, Sample Character Description Words and Phrases sheet, and a Basic Character Conflict Ideas list. Some stories fall apart if there are inconsistencies in writing. It may seem fake and unbelievable. To me, this is especially true if there are inconsistencies have to do with the characters. I really like to be able to relate to the characters in the story in some way. For example, if you say a character is weak and unsteady on his or her feet, you probably don’t want that character to solve a problem by walking across a log that has fallen across a creek. It may seem obvious, but it isn’t so obvious. I have seen these little inconsistencies in stories. Use the “Basic Character Profile Package” to help you grow in your writing skills. Create vivid, strong, believable, and relatable characters that make your story come alive. If you are interested in the "Basic Character Profile Package", you can check it out here. It is a great resource for writers. You will find it useful. Now, it is your turn. I am glad you are here and look forward to your comments. Do you write? What sort of resources do you like? The "Basic Character Profile Package" would be a great resource for writing classes. I hope you are finding value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations. If so, please consider sharing it with your friends, family, and coworkers. Also, if you haven't done so already, please consider signing up below to receive the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations and other Education content in your inbox. Thank you. 
Hi friends,
Today’s Education Blog by DUO Inspirations isn’t going to be about anything academic. It may be argued that the topic of today’s post is meant for parents alone. However, colleges teach courses on communication strategies and tactics, why not think that elementary schools or high schools can do the same? Also, communication is an important skill that many of us are not taught, because our parents didn’t think of it or didn’t have the skill themselves. I don’t mean just talking and saying words. I am talking about healthy and effective ways to speak. Often, we don’t know or think about how we say something. Although, most of us tend to recognize that two people will ask for basically the same thing in two different ways and one person will get it and the other not. Communication isn’t just the words we speak, but also the tones, mannerisms, behaviors, and all that goes with them. Some teachers and parents may already do this, but I think that teaching healthy and effective communication skills to children should be a widespread and integral part of any upbringing and schooling. Even very young children, if put in a way that is at their level, will understand that the need to communicate in a healthy and effective way. Role-playing in conjunction with some basic conversation might be helpful. For, example, if you first role-play shrieking, trying to grab something, saying, “Give me _____. I want it!” Then, you role-play, saying in a nice, warm tone of voice, “I would like the ___________. Could you give it to me, please?” Many times, a child will understand that the latter is kinder and will more times than not be more effective than the former. Even a young child will understand that it “feels” better, even if he or she really can’t understand or communicate why it feels better. Young children can sense, if not understand, that it “feels” better to have someone speak with you in a kind and pleasant voice with kind words than to have someone try to grab at you and shriek at you in a loud and unpleasant voice with unkind words. Healthy and effective communication includes many things and this is only a very basic and general point on just one part of it. However, I hope it is enough to get you thinking of the importance and viability of teaching it to people from a very young age through all ages. Now, it is your turn. Do you teach healthy and effective communication skills as part of your class or homeschooling? What are some things that are encompassed in healthy and effective communication skills? At what age do you feel healthy and effective communication should be taught? Do you think that healthy and effective communication should be taught in school as a course, in the home, both, etc.? Would you like an entire blog series on teaching healthy and effective communication to children? I look forward to your thoughts. Thank you for being here. I appreciate your kindness and support. If you find value in the Education Blog, please share it with family, friends, and coworkers, so they may find value as well. Also if you haven't done so already, please consider signing up below to receive the Education Blog and other education topics in your inbox. Thank you. Please note: Education Blog by DUO Inspirations has been weekly up to this point. My plan at the moment is to go from weekly to first and third Wednesdays through July or August. At that point, I will re-evaluate the situation and see what the most effective use of my time seems to be and how I can bring you the most value. Please, keep me and that focus in your prayers. Also, if you have questions, comments, or suggestions, as well as requests for specific topics, products, or services, please feel free to comment or contact me. Thank you. 
Hi friends,
How are you? Today is a writing prompt day. I hope you are enjoying the writing prompts here at the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations. I would be interested in knowing if you are trying them out and what you think of them. Please, let me know in the comments. Anyway, today’s writing prompt is a little bit different. Today, your writing assignment, if you choose to take it is this: Start with an animal, any animal. For example, I will choose a rabbit. Now, add a word to describe the animal. So, I could say “a furry rabbit”. Yes, I know I added the indefinite article “a” to the phrase without telling you. That is okay. You can do it too. LOL. I wonder what you chose for an animal and what word you chose to describe it. Okay. Where are we at now? Yes, we started with an animal and a word to describe it. Now, choose something the animal was doing and make it into a sentence. I will say, “A furry rabbit was nibbling on some leaves.” I wonder what your animal is doing. We aren’t done yet. Now, let’s add a place. I will say, “A furry rabbit was nibbling on some leaves under a tree.” What do you think? I wonder where your animal might be. You might think we are finished, but we aren’t done yet. The next step is to rewrite the sentence to be more specific. In my case, I need to try to make the rabbit easier to recognize if you were reading my sentence. I can also say what kind of leaves it was nibbling and what kind of tree it was under. We want to create as clear of a mind picture as we can for our readers. They should be able to practically paint the exact picture we are describing just by reading our sentence. Let’s see. I can say something like, “A small, furry, brown rabbit was nibbling clover leaves under a tall oak tree on the other side of my lawn.” What do you think? Now, you try it. I would enjoy reading your sentence. If you choose to try it, feel free to leave your sentence in the comments. I am sure it is a good one. The fun part is that we can do this exercise as many times as we want. It is short and fun to do. Likely, it is something that may intrigue the timid writer when other writing prompts seem more lengthy or difficult. Not only that, but also this exercise helps to teach many skills about writing descriptions, being specific, and adding details. These are skills are powerful tools for a writer. This could be the end of the writing prompt and turn it into something more. This could be the start to a paragraph or even a story. (Don’t be surprised to see more on this in the future.) Now, it is your turn. I am so glad you are here. I value you and I also appreciate your kindness and support. Are you enjoying the writing prompts? Did you try this one? Have you shared your sentence with us? Do you know a writer, writing student, or writing teacher? If you do, please share this post with him or her. As a matter of fact, if you are finding value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations, please share it with friends, family, and coworkers. Also, if you haven’t done so already, please consider signing up below to receive the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations and other education content in your inbox. Thank you. 
Hi friends,
How are you today? Today’s post is for the Christian teacher or homeschooling parent. Well, not entirely. Anyone can learn something from today’s Education Blog by DUO Inspirations. Organization is important for everyone. I hear all the time, “I would like to be more organized.” Maybe, I hear it all the time, because I say it all the time. LOL! However, I know that I am not the only person who says it. Many people struggle with organizational skills in one or more facet of their lives. Probably the most basic concept of organization is that everything has a place. If there isn’t a place for something, we need to prepare a place for it. Even Jesus, “prepares a place” in John 14:2. We are called to do the same. While learning, being organized often means things like having folders, planners, pencil holders, cubbies, backpacks, notebooks, and binders in which to hold things. Keeping those things filled with proper things in the correct order and in the right place is being organized. Other ways of being organized in education are to have charts, tables, diagrams, and infographics to keep information organized. Having labels for things is another way to stay organized. In our every day life, we may have labels for food in pantries, tools in toolboxes, and crafts in craft supply bins. We see labels in many places, even on the computer. The internet tabs we open have labels. The documents we open have labels. In education, one way to have labels and to stay organized is to label the sections of our notebook or having binder covers. That leads me to my next point. DUO Inspirations is happy to create binder covers for you. Here is the first set. Each image in the set is like the one below, except instead of “binder covers” are the words for the subjects. 
Included subjects are reading, writing, language arts, math, science, social studies, Bible study, music, art, study skills, foreign language, notes & ideas, research, and portfolio.
Good organization skills are important. It makes work more time effective. Organization also cuts down on frustrations, chaos, lost items, and other self-made obstacles. Being more organized often leads to being more successful. Sounds good to me! What about you? Now, it is your turn. Are you organized? Do you use binder covers already? What subjects do you teach? What labels would you like for your binder? What is your favorite color? I am open to chatting about creating personalized and custom binder covers for you and to add to my product list. So, please feel free to contact me. I look forward to reading your comments and messages. Also, if you purchase this year and enjoy the product, please keep DUO Inspirations in mind for next year. I am so glad you are here. I appreciate your kindness and support. If you are finding value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations, please share it with your friends, family, and coworkers. Also, if you haven't already done so, please consider signing up below to receive the Education Blog and other education content in your inbox. Thank you. 
Hi friends,
How are you? I hope you are well. You may know that I used to teach kindergarten. So, it is no surprise that I have quite a few activities in mind to use for the younger students. Today, I want to show you what I call the “Counting Petals Poster”. I usually introduced the “Counting Petals Poster” in early spring with the plants unit. Petals are something that most students can kind of draw by the time early spring comes. By then, we have already worked on numbers and counting to ten, at least a little. The good thing about the “Counting Petals Poster” idea is that you can tailor it to the needs and skills of your students. However, don’t underestimate what they can do. It might not always come out neat and tidy, but students can often do more than we think they can. Let me show you what I mean. Here is an example of my finished “Counting Petals Poster”. 
This one is done digitally, however, when I was teaching kindergarten, often I would do it by hand just to show that they can do it too. You can do this activity in a variety of ways. I tried in different ways, depending on my students. You can ask the students to create a poster of their own making and design as long as the number of petals are drawn and labeled for numbers one to ten. (For struggling students, you may want to do it for numbers one to five or even one to three.) I tried this once. Some came out pretty nice and others came out all squished together and not necessarily in the correct order. The activity can also be done with handing students a plain piece of paper with just the grid on it. Or, a plain piece of paper with the grid and circles for the flower centers on it. Sometimes something as simple as adding the circles for the flower centers is all it takes to give the students a greater understanding and sense of accomplishment. Then, you don’t have to explain which squares have the numbers and which squares have the flowers with the petals. If you want, you can let students do this individually, as a small group activity, or as a class. You will probably want to introduce it, discuss it, and even walk through parts of it before you give it out as an activity for independent work. Another thought is to do the “Counting Petals Poster” activity partially as a group. Maybe draw the petals as a group one step at a time and then have students go back and count the petals and write the numbers. Or, it can be done the other way around. Write the numbers as a group and then have the students go back and draw the flowers with the petals to match. I like to have the students do the activity in pencil first. Then, I can check it, let the students know if there is anything that needs correcting, and when it is ready, have them go over it in color. The numbers can be traced in marker, the flowers can be colored with crayons or colored pencil, and then students can color around the outside of the grid to make a border of his or her own color or design. Or, students can cut out around the edge of the grid and glue it to a piece of colored construction paper. These make great art and academic pieces to hang on the wall or the bulletin board. They can also be put in a portfolio, because this activity highlights many different skills. At times, after we did the activity once as a class, I would put it in one of the centers as an activity. In that way, students can do it over and over again as they choose. They can learn ways to improve the involved skills. There was even a time when I had the students not just put the number but also write the labels, such as “one petal” or “two petals” and so on. It depends on the skill of the students. I am sure that you have many of your own ideas about how to include the “Counting Petals Poster” activity into your lessons. I look forward to reading your ideas, so other educators and I can learn from you. How would you introduce the “Counting Petals Poster” activity to your class? Now, it is your turn. I am so glad you are here. I can’t wait to read your comments. Also, it is possible that you will be seeing this poster as a bigger package product, so stay tuned. Speaking of products, if you haven’t checked out my educational resources, please do so. (I will let you in on a “secret”. Currently, most of my products are supplemental curriculum materials. However, I am working towards creating curriculum materials for entire skills sets, subjects, or units.) And, if you don’t see anything that fits your needs, please feel free to contact me and request something. I am happy to make things easier for you, if possible. Also, if you haven’t done so already, please consider signing up to receive the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations and other education content by email. Thank you for your kindness and support. If you find value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations, please share it with friends, family, and coworkers. Thank you. 
Hi friends,
How are you? After a bout of cold, gray, blustery snow, and rain in the weather, we considered getting out for a nice meal. We thought about getting a bite to eat and having a car picnic. This got me to thinking, about a great idea for today’s writing prompt. There are many kinds of meals. A quick sandwich at home alone can be a meal. A buffet style banquet can be a meal. Meals come in all sizes, smells, and shapes. Meals can be ritzy restaurants with black ties and evening gowns or picnics in jeans and a t-shirt on a beach. Meals can be created out of all kinds of foods and ingredients. With some meals the best parts are the aromas and smells that mingle in the atmosphere around you as the meal is cooking. If you are anywhere in the area, you can get a delightful whiff of the meal to come. It sets the stage for an enjoyably delicious meal. So, with this in mind, your assignment is to write a description of your ideal meal. Where is it? Is anyone with you? Who? What is the setting? What is the meal? What are your surroundings? How does it feel? What is the occasion? How does it smell? What do you hear? Are you talking with someone? What are you saying? What are you thinking? Paint a picture so detailed that anyone who reads your description can just feel, taste, smell, hear, and experience everything that you do as if he or she was there with you. I can’t wait to read or hear about your descriptions. Maybe you should just tell me about them at first. If you send them to me, I might gain fifty pounds. Ugh. And, I don’t want that. Maybe I can read the descriptions of one or two people. (If you would like me to read yours, contact me. I will see if I have time and can afford to gain a pound or two. LOL.) Thank you for being here. I appreciate your kindness and support. If you are finding value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations, please share it with your friends, family, and coworkers. Did you know that DUO Inspirations has more to offer in the way of education? Please, check it out both here and on Pinterest. If you haven’t done so already, please consider signing up to receive the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations and other content in your inbox. DUO Inspirations is committed to helping others teach and learn. 
Hi friends,
How are you? Today, I am going to post about a new subject… art. I enjoy being artistic and creative. Lately, I have been sketching or creating things digitally quite a bit. As a matter of fact, I have created a new product, the “Art Ovals Packet”. It wasn’t long ago that I took a portrait drawing course and I was drawing ovals quite frequently to practice drawing faces. That is what gave me the idea for this product. I knew there must be a way to do the practice without always drawing the ovals. Then, I got to thinking about other uses for ovals in both art and education. These ideas were some of the ideas behind the “Art Ovals Packet” by DUO Inspirations. As a teacher, homeschooling parent, or artist, I bet you can come up with uses for ovals as well. Some of the ideas I came up with for using the ovals are: Easter eggs... You or a student can draw and color different Easter egg designs. Students can color the eggs. Then, students can compare and contrast each of the eggs he or she drew or tell you which is his or her favorite and why. 
1-to-1 Correspondence (such as counting petals)… You or a student can write numbers in the ovals and then students can draw and color items in each oval to correspond with the number. 
Faces… You or students can use the ovals to draw various faces or to draw the same face over and over again for muscle memory. At the end, the faces can be evaluated for which is the favorite.
These are just a few snippets of the samples I did for the “Art Ovals Packet” by DUO Inspirations. (I sketched samples to complete each page of ovals.) The ideas listed here are only a few of what I included in the packet note. I included twenty activity ideas in the “Art Ovals Packet”. So, what is included in the “Art Ovals Packet” by DUO Inspirations? *A product note to educators, parents, and artists for possible uses for the ovals *One page of four blank large ovals *One page of nine blank medium ovals *One page of twenty blank small ovals *One sample page of the four large ovals with sketched Easter eggs *One sample page of the nine medium ovals with sketched flowers showing number of petals matching the noted number to show 1-to-1 correspondences *One sample page of the twenty small ovals with sketched faces If you are interested in purchasing the “Art Ovals Packet”, please click the link below. 
Now, it is your turn.
Thank you for being here. I appreciate your support and kindness. I would really like to read your ideas for oval uses. I know as an educator, a life-long learner, and a creative person, I am always looking for new ideas. I can imagine that others would like to read your ideas as well. Please, feel free to comment here or contact me about this or any education topic, idea, suggestion, and request. I am happy to hear from you. If you find value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations, please share it with your friends, family, and coworkers. Some of them will appreciate it if you do. And, if you haven't already done so, please consider signing up below to receive the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations and other education content in your inbox. Thank you. 
Hi friends,
How are you? Today, I would like to talk about two important words in motivating students to learn. Do you know what those words could be? Do you use these words in your own learning? Do you use these words in your teaching? The two words help pique interest and gets the imagination flowing. These two words help drive curiosity and thought. They aren’t difficult words, but they are catalysts into some pretty powerful learning. Have you guessed the words yet? These two words are… v v v v v v v I wonder… Yes, the two words of “I wonder” can do a world of good for helping a person to learn. They can go a long way in teaching a person to learn more things and to become life-long learners. These can drive people to want to learn. They inspire people to think, research, try, experiment, and to do various things. Here are some great ways to use the words, “I wonder”: *I wonder what would happen if… *I wonder how much _____ it would take to ________. *I wonder why that happened. *I wonder why the author wrote it like that. *I wonder what would happen if I changed this one thing. *I wonder what would happen if I did _____ to that. *I wonder who was the first to _______. *I wonder what they had to do back in the day instead of _______. *I wonder who invented the ________. *I wonder how high I can stack these blocks. *I wonder how many card tents I can set up to create a domino effect before one of them falls. *I wonder how many verbs I can name. *I wonder how many words I can make out of the letters in the word transportation. *I wonder what type of soil makes plants grow better. *I wonder if I could make a ________. *I wonder if I could be a _________. *I wonder how I would feel if __________. *I wonder if __________ or _____________makes a better insulator. Do you wonder? If so, what do you wonder? Are there any wonder examples that you could add to the list that would make great teaching tools? Do you teach others to wonder? (I can’t wait to read your answers to some of these questions. I wonder what they will be. LOL.) The ability and trait of wondering are fabulous assets to learning. “I wonder” are powerful words that can motivate people to learn and encourage them to try new things. I hope as a learner you will try them and I hope as a teacher (and role model) you will show others how to use these two words. They will greatly benefit both learning and success. Now, it is your turn. Do you wonder? What do you wonder? Do you teach others to wonder? Do you agree with the importance of wondering? What are "I wonder" statements would be great examples of teaching tools? Please, let me know in the comments or feel free to contact me. I can't wait to read your answers. I wonder how many of you find value in the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations. I wonder how many of you will share the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations, so others can find value in it as well. LOL! I hope it is you! And, I really appreciate you being here and all of your support. Also, if you haven't already, you may want to consider signing up below to get the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations and other education content sent straight to your inbox. 
Hi friends,
How are you today? If you have been reading the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations for a while, you know that I try to give writing prompts about once a month. I know how difficult it can be to come up with writing ideas at times. Even as I was trying to decide what to do for this writing prompt today, I was having trouble with coming up with a topic. However, I finally came up with one. Yesterday, I was wracking my mind to come up with a topic. I wasn’t feeling up to par and I was tired. It was raining out and I was craving some sunshine. No ideas were coming to mind. I was complaining a bit in my mind about the rain and then thought that I should have a writing prompt about the rain. So, I started to think about some memories I had about the rain. I remembered stomping in puddles when I was a small child, trying to walk around the many puddles when I was a bit older, wearing self-made rain coats out of garbage bags on a trip with my parents when I was a bit older, and singing in the rain and having the time of my life as an adult. Yes, I have many more memories about the rain. I am sure many people have memories of rain in which they can turn into a story. It can be a fictionalized story or a true story based on your experience. It is up to you. You can also choose to create an entirely new story all together. Your assignment, if you choose to take it is this: Write a story in which rain plays a prominent part. It can be a memory and true story of something you experienced or something that is completely made up. It can include people or animals as characters. Your story can be cute, funny, serious, scary, nonchalant, or evoke any emotion you would like. Now, it is your turn: If you try it, I would enjoy hearing from you. Let me know what you think and how you enjoyed the assignment. Also, you can tell me a sentence or two about the story. Leave a comment or feel free to contact me. I haven’t mentioned it in a while, but did you know that DUO Inspirations is on Pinterest? Feel free to check it out here or explore the DUO Inspirations website. Also, if you haven’t done so already, please consider signing up below to receive the Education Blog by DUO Inspirations and other education content in your inbox. Thank you. |
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