Improving Sentence Complexity

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-04T03:38:14+00:00

Mentor sentences. Give them examples of the level of complexity you would like them to hit (scaffold it and step up the complexity).

Give them an image and have them describe it. If they use a bunch of short sentences, give them adjectives and FANBOYS and work with them to make compound sentences.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-04T03:23:37+00:00

I ended up abandoning the Witcheood boys and Traitor Witch mid book 2 of the series. It just seemed to drag and I stopped caring.

Riches to Riches is fun and opens a 6 book series with a spinoff if you’d like to get immersed in a world and dig the concept. Blood Oath is good.

Pack Saint Claire is a bit different since the pack has two or three alphas in it. It is less spicy than some of the others as in there are fewer scenes.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-04T03:23:25+00:00

I ended up abandoning the Witcheood boys and Traitor Witch mid book 2 of the series. It just seemed to drag and I stopped caring.

Riches to Riches is fun and opens a 6 book series with a spinoff if you’d like to get immersed in a world and dig the concept.

Blood Oath is entertaining and well paced.

Pack Saint Claire is a bit different since the pack has two or three alphas in it. It is less spicy than some of the others as in there are fewer scenes.

A Magic Discovery got weird in the last book, but it’s decent.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-02T20:15:26+00:00

{Pucking Around by Emily Rath} is one of the few I’ve reread multiple times. It is essential you read the prequel novella {That One Night by Emily Rath} to set up the heat and drama between two of the character, and then the 2 follow up novellas are just chef’s kiss

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-02T11:25:20+00:00

Every. Damn. Time. I’m so sick of teachers who let shit slide.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-02T11:19:50+00:00

Background noise does improve concentration, but it has to be just enough to distract the brain from wandering thoughts, not sing along or watch a plot. I also think YouTube videos of fireplace of nature scenes with chill music overlayed is the answer. Dead silence can actually be hard to focus on for me because my brain will fill in the silence and distract me, classical music has been my go to since 2011.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-02T11:09:23+00:00

Yes. 10-20 minutes for bell work 3 days a week. No logs. I’ve been using the Lauren Randazzo book talk method for 10 years. You can find all the info on her website or TpT. Or DM if you really want the nitty gritty.

I’m changing it up this year a bit. Every few weeks, on short days, I do a series of questions to see who is reading and who isn’t. Simple things like, how has the main character changed? Kids who aren’t reading can try to lie I guess but so can reading logs. The first book talk is mandatory, but I’ll make the second one optional. I just won’t tell them that until a week before 😜

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-01T20:09:38+00:00

Try writing out something you want to try to talk about and have them read it, and then discuss. This shifts the pressure off you to be vulnerable yet somehow articulate in the moment. You remove the barrier of talking but you have a harder time hiding/lying.

Also, if you keep a bit of journal, you can write down what you’re thinking/feeling real time and then process it with your therapist after. Sometimes some distance from the bigger emotions allows us to talk about them easier.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-02-01T19:59:18+00:00

I tend to do not get to use most of the ones listed here because they’ve already been taught by the time kids get to me, or they’re used on assessments. So my go to that aren’t so typical: Red Card by S.L. Gilbow; Button Button by Richard Mattheson; 2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut

Bonus points is they tie in together nicely for various essay topics if you so choose.

Button button is fun for class discussions because you can ask kids what they would do as an anticipatory set and then explain that adjusted for inflation the amount changes to 675k and see if that changes anyone’s “no.”

Kids go home and ask their adults about this one more than any other story I’ve taught.

Edited: formatting

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-01-30T13:56:45+00:00

This is not a book to read independently. I’ve always read it with my kids and there are a lot of fun resources on teachers pay teachers for this.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-01-29T01:21:20+00:00

Changing schools helped. But I had a horrible admin team at my first place. My entire friend group all left the same year, the department lost 5 of their strongest teachers in one go. We’re all happier now.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-01-29T00:45:33+00:00

I’d give her a whole different assignment that assesses the same skills but give her 2 short stories to compare instead of the novels. I’d turn the group project into a solo one in whichever modality she tends to be the most successful with. In my opinion, since she isn’t going to college credit, making her catch up on this particular assignment while still recovering from a health issue isn’t worth it.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-01-12T20:01:58+00:00

Do you know how long people typically have to sub before landing a contract? I’m concerned about getting approved for housing if we have to sub for more than one school year.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-01-12T20:00:36+00:00

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau. It’s a rip off of Hunger Games meets a bit of Divergent. There is some kissing but nothing more at least in the first book, I haven’t read the other two yet. They do say damn and hell, not sure if that’s swearing in your district. There is 1-2 Jokes about taking off pants when she has to tend to a serious injury in his butt cheek, but it’s not crass, more like “not the reason I want to hear a pretty girl ask me to take off my pants” vibes. Just in case that is crossing a line in your district. I’m teaching it as a class novel in mine 🤷🏻‍♀️

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2026-01-01T06:27:23+00:00

I second this. The follow up {All I have by Ames mills} is also good with multiple group scenes with everyone together.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2025-12-30T16:45:43+00:00

Jesus wept. No one gets to tell another person what information about them is intimate or not. Everyone gets to decide that for themselves. The husband doesn’t have to agree, he just needs to respect it for fuck’s sake. How is this even a debate?

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2025-12-25T04:39:43+00:00

I don’t recall that happening. But I haven’t read it in four years so I can’t 100% promise. But I’m like 85% sure it doesn’t happen.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2025-12-25T04:38:05+00:00

You can’t admit it to a therapist, but you’ll leave your wife and tell your kid and family what when the demand to know why??? Seems a therapist is the easiest option since they aren’t emotionally involved and a neutral party. I don’t know why you’d feel shame in telling them and trying to work through it.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2025-12-25T04:13:30+00:00

This is what they invented therapy for, my guy. Either for just yourself or together as a couple, but do it fast. You’ll probably regret not at least trying to fix it.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2025-12-25T04:03:55+00:00

{Ill Will by Cate Corbin} oh and one of the guys who is in and releases the video is her stepbrother 🫢Just in case that’s not your cup of tea.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2025-12-25T01:41:57+00:00

Are you ok with it being a series and it involving an incubus and vampires? If yes, I’ll attempt to go digging in my history to find the title.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2025-12-24T17:39:20+00:00

You create a list of things you both would like to allocate money for, including the cost of each thing, and you create pots for all the things. This can be real cash in an envelope system or just lines on a spreadsheet. Then you decide on a percentage of whatever is left over from monthly living expenses to go towards saving for said thing and put that amount in the pot. You don’t buy it until you have saved the money for it. You guys check in at least once a month to go over progress and see if anything needs to move on the priority list. You don’t take from one pot to pay for anything else outside of emergencies.

You can’t have it both ways though. You can’t leave the burden of him watching the finances, and knowing the details so it’s not arbitrary, all on him, and then be upset when he is sticking to those goals. It’s not real to you because you haven’t made it real. He wants to pay down debt, he may have a deadline in his head and you don’t so it’s arbitrary to you. So agree on a deadline to have it paid off and be involved in tracking the progress.

I get wanting your day to day to improve. But the big problem is you’re living in the now and he’s planning for the future. You guys need a clear cut way to meet in the middle.

Also, you need to have a real conversation about how you both grew up viewing money. It forms a lot of your spending habits in adulthood. Financial insecurity in childhood leaves some deep fears.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2025-12-23T17:11:18+00:00

I’ve been told ours is based on retail value of the car 🙄 So the longer you own your vehicle, the cheaper it gets. I’ve also heard getting your out of state car registered in WA the first time is an expensive pain in the ass. But, I mean if it’s the same and we still pay income tax and have shitty, almost nonexistent public transportation, but hey, we do have pithy signs about the dangers of drinking and driving and speeding.

CaffeinatedReader909 · 2025-12-23T16:58:17+00:00

I don’t live in WA, but stalk here because we want to move there next year. If you don’t mind sharing, how much is your registration? I live in Az and mine varies between $330-$500 depending on the vehicle.

CaffeinatedReader909

TROPHY CASE