• What’s New – SAT Writing Section Emphasizes Concepts Taught by Merit
  Software
• Customer Feedback – Essay Punch
• Recommended Resource – Questia
• Grants for U.S. Educators

High school students taking the SAT face a new writing section. The SAT essay component requires students to draft a 1-to-2-page essay, while the multiple-choice grammar component requires students to identify errors and to improve sentences or paragraphs. Two Merit Software programs, Essay Punch and Grammar Fitness for Upper Grades, focus on the skills tested by the SAT writing section.

Learn more at: http://www.meritsoftware.com/news/sat_2005.html

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“My students’ writing is greatly improved using this software. They use it often. I’ve also spread the word to colleagues,” remarks an English teacher at Suffield High School in Suffield, CT, about Merit Software’s Essay Punch.

The program helps students make the transition from writing paragraphs to writing well-organized short essays. The program teaches techniques to persuade, inform, and describe. Students learn to develop a point of view using step-by-step prompts.

For a complete software description or to try the downloadable evaluation version, go to: http://www.meritsoftware.com/software/essay_punch

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Questia is an online research library beneficial to high school students. Questia provides access to academic books and reference articles pre-selected by librarians, as well as tools for creating footnotes and bibliographies. Students may track highlighted passages and notes in a personalized online workspace.

Visit: http://www.questia.com

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Grant Proposal.com offers free resources for educators seeking grants. The site includes hundreds of tips organized by topic. Topics include letters of inquiry, budget planning, and advice from philanthropic organizations. The site also offers a complete sample proposal.

Go to: http://www.grantproposal.com

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