Greg Baran Greg Baran

Do You Need Support?

When students write a Baran Method paragraph, it can sometimes be difficult to come up with a supporting detail for their claim. In the video below, you’ll see how to write three supporting details for different types of paragraphs. Having your students watch the video will help them write supporting details more easily.

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

Annotate the Easy Way

Being able to annotate a text is a skill students absolutely need to master. However, getting kids to annotate can be difficult. In the video below, I show you an app I use and love for annotating. This app will take the fear away and help your students become awesome annotators! And one of the best things about this app is that it's FREE!

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

Where’s the Theme?

Being able to find the theme of a story is an important skill for students to have. In this brief video, you’ll see how to help your kids find the theme of a story.

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

Nate Learns to Write: Part 2

In Part 1 of this series, Nate was introduced to The Baran Method by doing Exercises 1 - 3. Now, he’s on to Exercise 4. By the time he’s finished with Exercise 6, he’ll be able to apply the method to any writing assignment.

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

Where's the Evidence?

A teacher recently asked, "Do you have a video that teaches students how to find evidence to support their claim?" That's an excellent question. Here’s a video that shows your students and you exactly how to find text evidence.

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

The Magic of Reading with Colors

Using colors to help our students learn how to write works incredibly well. It's an integral part of The Baran Method philosophy. But did you know that you can use colors to help your kids build their reading skills? Watch this video to learn how to do this easy and fun activity with your students.

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

Grammar Made More Gooder!

How do we teach grammar to students so that grammar errors become a thing of the past? In this short video, you’ll learn a helpful strategy for correcting every student’s grammar errors so that the errors disappear forever.

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

Color Is Cool

Colors really help students become successful writers in a short time. Watch this brief video to find out why and how to implement this practice in your kids’ writing routine.

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

Isn't Teaching Writing with Examples Cheating?

Using examples to teach writing is a really helpful way for students to get their footing. When our kids are learning the basics of math, we work through examples and model how to put the "pieces" together. It's the same with writing. So use examples whenever possible in order to show your students the end product, and just like when they learned how to do addition and subtraction problems independently, they'll soon be writing independently as well.

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

How to Start a Persuasive Written Response?

Our students will regularly have to write persuasive and argumentative paragraphs and essays in school. This activity is great training for the thinking, writing, and conversations they will have as adults. But how do they get started on that persuasive piece? Watch this short video and find out.

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

How to Write a Topic Sentence

For students, writing a topic sentence can feel very scary. As a matter of fact, the blank page is daunting for many of us! Watch this short video to learn an easy way to get that first sentence written.

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

Teach Your Kids How to Write About Non-Fiction

Learning how to write about non-fiction can be really difficult for students. And teaching kids how to write about non-fiction can be even more difficult! However, this is an extremely important skill to master, so we want students to start learning this vital skill in elementary school.

This video is directed at the upper grades, but the concepts apply to second grade as well as twelfth. Watch this video with your students so that your kids understand how to respond to someone else's writing.

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Greg Baran Greg Baran

Teach Analysis the Easy Way

Analysis is the foundation upon which clear thinking and communication is built. Analyzing engages and builds critical thinking skills. By practicing analysis, students utilize cognitive processes (work and build mental muscles) that help them think clearly so that their ability to communicate verbally or in written responses becomes richer and fuller. This skill is a vital part of every child’s education, and we all know education is vital to every student’s success.

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