Writing workshops are a great way to allow students to write about whatever they want. However, if you feel like a more structured approach would be beneficial, you can give a list of approved topics.  For elementary and middle school students, you could suggest writing about their family, a trip they would like to take, or their favorite sport or pet. High school and college students might enjoy writing about their emotions, a recent conflict that they had, or where they would like to live someday. Present a mini-lesson at the beginning of each workshop. This lesson will introduce a new writing skill for students. To begin, give students a refresher of what they learned in the previous lesson. This will help them connect the skills and build on previous knowledge.  For elementary school students you could say, “Writers, you have done a great job learning to write complete sentences. We are now going to use what we know about sentences to build a complete paragraph.” When you're working with college or high school students, you can be less structured. Allow them to write a short story or an essay on a topic of their choosing.  If you want to give students a prompt, consider topics like travels, hopes and dreams, conflicts, or social pressures. If you are teaching a new group of students or a stand-alone workshop, take a few minutes to discuss their previous experience. You can say, "What have you been working on recently?" If you assigned some work before the meeting, try, "Did everyone have a chance to look at the pre-writing assignment I emailed you?" Clearly explain what you are going to be working on that day. Sticking with the paragraph example, you could say, “Paragraphs need to have a topic sentence, 2-3 supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence.”  Give students a sample of a complete paragraph. It can be from a book or something you've written yourself. You can also try using a visual. Draw a sandwich to illustrate the paragraph. Label the top part of the bun “Topic Sentence”. Label the ingredients (cheese, lettuce, etc.) as “Supporting Detail 1, Supporting Detail 2, etc. Write “Concluding Sentence” on the bottom bun. Let the students have a few minutes to take notes on what they've learned. In their notebook, they could outline a paragraph, or work on coming up with a topic sentence. This is good to do before the independent portion of the workshop because it lets students get a feel for what they are supposed to be doing. When they're ready to free-write, they'll know what they should do. Let students know that this is a good time to ask questions. Students do best when writing about things that they are interested in. Use this time to let them choose the topic for their paragraphs. For college or high school students, allow them to choose any topic they are interested in. Give the students a specific example of how this skill will relate to a bigger project. You could say, “As you know, we're working on being able to write an informative paper by the end of the year. Paragraphs are going to make up the body of that paper, so it's important we learn to do them well.”  If you're teaching high school or college students, you can typically skip the mini-lessons. By that point, students should have a pretty good grasp of the basics of writing. In an upper-level or adult writing workshop, the students might already be working on a piece. Take a few minutes to go around the room and check in with what students are working on. This is a great time to ask if there are any problem areas they'd like to address. Have each student take a few seconds to let the class know how they're doing on their project. You might ask, “Okay, how many paragraphs were you able to write since our last session?” or “How's everyone doing on creating a character for their story?” You can skip this step for younger students, like K-5th graders. But it's a helpful tool for older students who are working on connecting these pieces for a larger project.

Summary: Make a list of topic or curriculum ideas. Remind students of their prior knowledge. Break down the new skill so that students can grasp it. Give the students a few minutes to practice the skill. Link the topic to the students' work. Ask students to give a status update on their work.


Generally, the seller needs to pay any existing loans or liens. Also, the seller pays real estate commissions, title insurance policy with the buyer to receive benefit, and the balance on any leased items that remain on the property. The seller shall also transfer any existing rental or lease deposits to the purchaser at closing. The buyer can pay the deed and deed of trust recording fees, association transfer fees, transfer taxes, insurance (hazard and other), purchaser's settlement fees, and its own loan expenses. The house might sell in the middle of the tax year. Accordingly, you might want to prorate the taxes. You should explain whether taxes will be prorated and what the proration will be based on. For example, you can base the proration on the previous year's taxes, an agreed upon amount, or the most current county information.

Summary: State what closing costs the seller must pay. Explain what closing costs the buyer must pay. Explain who pays the taxes.


For a vegetable soup that does not use broth, add 4-6 cups of water into a large pan, and simmer all the ingredients for 45 minutes to 1 hour, using a very low heat. Add all the vegetables, garlic, and spices at the same time.  The pan needs to be large enough to include the 4 cups of vegetable stock, so choose a heavy-bottomed stockpot.  Do not boil the water; this may cause the vegetables to burn. Stir the soup occasionally. When all of the vegetables are soft, the soup is ready to be served. For a quicker vegetable soup, you will need to sauté the vegetables and use broth. Heat the olive oil until it begins to slightly bubble.  Lower heat will make the process go very slowly, and higher heat will cause the oil to burn. If you don't have olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, avocado oil, or butter is also acceptable. Continue to cook these for about 8 minutes over low heat. They will begin to simmer and will become fragrant. Stir them occasionally, about once every minute. This includes the green beans, celery, corn, and any other vegetables you will include in the soup. Sauté the vegetables over low heat for another 5 minutes. You will know the vegetables are well-cooked when they become soft and fragrant; you never want the vegetables to turn dark brown.  Stir the vegetables occasionally with a long wooden or metal stirring stick. Twice every minute should suffice. If your vegetables start to get very hot and sizzle constantly, this means they are frying. Turn the heat down if this happens. Turn the heat up if the vegetables are not sizzling at all. Stir the pot to make sure the ingredients are all mixing together. Then, increase the heat to high. This will cause the vegetables to simmer. If the soup begins to boil, lower the heat a little bit. You will need to watch the soup and make sure it doesn’t go beyond a simmer  Turn down the heat to medium or low if it boils. You want the soup to bubble slightly but not to be at a rolling boil. If you had turned down the heat of the soup, it may be appropriate to turn it up again to medium or high so the soup returns to a simmer. After 25-30 minutes, the potatoes and carrots should be soft. If a fork can pass easily through an entire chunk of potato or carrot without stopping at any hard spots, your soup is done. After you add a bit of each seasoning, stir thoroughly to mix the spice into the entire soup. Taste test to see if the amount of spices is to your liking. In general, start with just 1 tablespoon (14.8 ml) of each spice, including salt and pepper. Then, add more if you want a stronger flavor.  Be careful because it's a lot easier to add spices to a soup than it is to take them out. If you would like to season the soup further, you can add more spices or seasonings, such as dry or fresh oregano, thyme, or parsley. Dried Italian seasoning blends or poultry seasoning are good additions as well. Spices like cayenne and red pepper flakes will make the soup spicy. Carefully ladle the soup into bowls—remember, the soup will be very hot.
Summary: Simmer all the vegetables in 4-6 cups of water. Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the minced garlic, carrots, potatoes, and celery. Add all other vegetables. Add the diced tomatoes. Add 4-6 cups of chicken, beef, or vegetable stock. Cook the soup to cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Check that the potatoes and carrots are cooked. Add salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you desire. Serve and enjoy your delicious vegetable soup.