Curated OER
Julian Secret Agent: Commas
Your class participates in a variety of shared reading and writing activities related to the book Julian Secret Agent. They complete a class story chart, examine how to use punctuation for dialogue, write an alternative...
EngageNY
Reviewing Conventions and Editing Peers’ Work
Encourage young writers to edit text based on conventions. After reviewing the conventions, fourth graders watch a teacher demonstrate how to revise a paragraph for correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation, or dialogue. Then, pairs...
Curated OER
Yo! Conventions!
Learners get in groups, take a list of words, put them into story form, and punctuate them. They present their story to the class and consider how punctuation changes meaning. Great excercise.
Curated OER
Let's Just Dialogue
Fourth graders listen to the story, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish" and complete a cartoon drawing containing dialogue that shows an understanding of conventions used in dialogue by using the bubble form.
Curated OER
Macaroni Quotations
Third graders grasp the difficult concept of using quotations. This lesson uses a hands-on approach to assist students in mastering this skill in a fun and easy way! This clever lesson has students use elbow macaroni noodles to highlight...
Curated OER
Heart to Heart
Candy conversation hearts make writing a sweet pastime. Fifth graders write narratives demonstrating a complete thought and correct punctuation. The trick here is that they must use the words on five candy conversation hearts as part of...
Curated OER
Using Quotes as "Thought Shots"
Students explore how to use quotation marks in writing to add dialogue to a paper. In groups, students observe pictures and add quotations to them. Students follow rules of punctuation and capitalization as they proofread and edit each...
Curated OER
Writing Multiple Viewpoints Using Sequoyah
Fifth graders practice using quotation marks and capitalization in writing. In this multiple viewpoints instructional activity, 5th graders read Sequoyah and write ten sentences stating what they believe the character was thinking....
Scholastic
Smart Quotes Mini-Lesson
Prepare for an interview project with a set of worksheets about asking questions and quoting people. After completing a grammar exercise about quotation marks, kids write out the questions they want to ask their interviewee, and record...
Curated OER
The Wind Blew
Learners look at a picture book and observe what the facial expressions show. In this character's feelings instructional activity, students write what they think the character might be saying on each page and the punctuation they use. ...
Curated OER
Commas in a Series; Making an Advertisement!
Language arts learners practice using commas in a series while designing their own advertisement! This creative assignment calls for learners to create their own visual advertisement describing a product of their choice. Their poster...
EngageNY
Publishing Historical Fiction Narratives
Class members discover what it means to publish their works. Working on a computer, young writers use an online dictionary to edit their spellings and conventions based on the information added to the rubric. From here, and most of the...
Curated OER
Conventions: Quotation Marks
Fifth graders determine the difference between indirect and direct quotations. In this grammar lesson, 5th graders recognize that direct quotations have quotation marks and understand what the rules are for using quotation marks.
Curated OER
A Pilgrim Conversation
Learners place quotation marks in the correct place in a conversation. They review correct placement with students copying down sentences from the board. They write their own conversation between two pilgrims to complete the activity.
Curated OER
Parody Hilarity
Upper grade and middle school writers study the art of parody. In this language arts instructional activity, learners study the work of Lewis Carroll, read and discuss parodies from the book, Alice in Wonderland, and construct their own...
Curated OER
Doctor DeSoto's Foxy Persuasion
Who is Doctor DeSoto? Start by playing a video clip (included). Discuss different methods of persuasion, and then analyze two different persuasive letter examples. What should your class be looking for? Send them off to work in groups...
Curated OER
Think of an Ending
Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final lesson in a six-part series devoted to study of the ingredients of a good story, focuses on crafting endings. Class members draft ideas about what should happen to each of their...
Curated OER
Marvelous Mysteries
Fifth graders explore mystery stories. In this reading and writing instructional activity, 5th graders complete a planning guide for an original mystery. Students use the writing process to create a mystery story.
Curated OER
Paul Revere's Ride
Third graders read and discuss the selection "Paul Revere's Ride" (included with the lesson). Students imagine they live in one of the villages that Paul Revere stopped. They are awakened by his knock on the door. Students write an essay...
Curated OER
Class Vacation Book
Students, utilizing technology and its avenues, create, produce and publish a variety of works. They generate a bubble map to brainstorm words that describe a specific vacation spot as well as create a pattern book with graphics about...
Curated OER
Twisting Versions of Little Red Riding Hood
Students read orally two versions of Little Red Riding Hood (Classic and Cajun) They compare and contrast the two Little Red Riding Hood versions. Students create a concept map to demonstrate the comparisons/contrasts. They could also...
Curated OER
What's Cooking
Third graders practice following and writing directions through the use of simple recipes. First they write directions for creating an ice cream sundae. Then they make the sundaes using the recipe written by their classmates.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Landforms Acrostic Poetry
Fourth graders apply scientific information about various landforms. They use the information to write and word process acrostic poems which they illustrate with clip art or pictures from magazines.
Curated OER
Titanic
Students conduct research with the purpose of writing a report about the Titanic. They use a variety of resources. The students produce a written document that has plenty of documented information. They also compare the information that...