Teacher's Corner
Tanka
The Tanka, another fix from of Japanese poetry, is featured in the final exercise in a 10-part series of poetry writing activities.
Curriculum Corner
Bugs and Flowers Math and Literacy Centers
The sun shines, flowers bloom, and bugs fly—it must be Spring! Add a cheerful theme of bugs and flowers to math and literacy centers. Scholars take part in an assortment of activities designed to reinforce concepts such as identifying...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Vocabulary: Morphemic Elements, Root-O!
Young readers get to the root of unfamiliar vocabulary with a collaborative learning activity. Given a deck of root word cards and copies of a graphic organizer, pairs of students take turns flipping over cards and brainstorming...
Roald Dahl
Matilda - Throwing the Hammer
Full truth, or an exaggeration? How can you tell when a storyteller is exaggerating a story? Readers analyze a story told by Hortensia, and identify the exaggerative language she uses. Then, learners write their own narrative story using...
EngageNY
Selecting Evidence and Partner Writing: Aligning “The Hero’s Journey” and The Lightning Thief (Chapter 5)
Around and around we go! Scholars work in groups to connect The Hero's Journey and The Lightning Thief with a Carousel of Quotes activity. They then independently reflect on the two texts and answer questions about how they connect to...
Curated OER
Final Papers: Writing Prompts for Evaluating Team and Individual Performance
To be used in connection with a group project or at the end of a unit, this handout contains two essay writing prompts. The first prompt asks a group of learners to work together to evaluate their groups' performance as well as each...
Curated OER
What Makes the Writer Write
Your 11th and 12th graders are ready to critique society! Channel that inclination by studying a novel that offers social criticism of other eras (book recommendations included). This resource presents a well-thought-out overview of such...
Scholastic
Lesson Two: The Earth, Introductory Activities
Determine what young pupils already know about earth science with a brainstorming activity. After class members work together to complete a KWL chart about the Earth, they craft an acrostic poem to demonstrate their understanding.
Curated OER
Things Fall Apart: Research, Writing & Presentation Project
A great resource for your unit on Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Small groups conduct research about related topics (list included), write papers, present PowerPoint slide shows, and take a student-created test. Fill in a few gaps to...
Ohio Department of Education
Writing and Comparing Numbers in Scientific Notation-Grade Eight
Explore scientific notation in this mathematics lesson. Young mathematicians explore multiple representations of large number in scientific notation through the use of models, visual representation and expanded form. The lesson provided...
Curated OER
Turn On, Tune In, and Write Down
Students locate, access and listen to a variety of radio and audio samples found on the Internet. They discuss the material in small groups and identify areas of interest for further discussion.
Scholastic
What Happened Next? (Grades K-4)
Explore the structure of narrative writing with this fun, collaborative lesson. Start by reading aloud a short story, asking small groups of learners to fill in key events on a large story board prepared on the class whiteboard....
School District of Palm Beach County
Framed Paragraphs characterization, problem and solution, symbolism, conflict
Support your learners as they work on writing paragraphs by providing graphic organizers, outlines, and frames. Sift through this packet to find the perfect organizers and templates to prepare pupils for writing. The resource...
Seussville
Hooray For Diffendoofer Day!
Eleven engaging activities make up a story guide that accompanies Dr. Seuss' Hooray For Diffendoofer Day! Scholars design a fictional classroom setting including scary face tests, writing job descriptions, adapting the book into a play,...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Franklin’s Fair Hand American Journalism
Scholars know him for his role in the American Revolution, but Ben Franklin was also a journalist and printer. Learners investigate his standards for what was fit to print using primary sources—including writings where Franklin explains...
EngageNY
Peer Critique: Historical Accuracy of Ideas and Vocabulary
Promote collaboration in the classroom with a historical fiction instructional activity. Fourth graders partner up and read the other's narrative to give feedback on vocabulary choice and the accuracy of historical information. After...
Curated OER
Getting Ready to Write
Students watch an online slideshow that shows Cornelia Funke's transition from an illustrator to a writer. They discuss her writing process from the way she gathers ideas to how and where she writes. Next, they work in groups to choose a...
Berkshire Museum
Nature Journaling: Experience the Outdoors Through Writing and Drawing
Step into the great outdoors and develop young scientists' skills of observation with a nature journaling lesson. Given a specific focus or goal, children practice making and recording observations of nature through written descriptions...
Teacher's Corner
Couplet
This, the fourth in a series of ten poetry writing activities, asks young poets to craft couplets.
Curated OER
Borrowing Narrative Skills from Mr. Fletcher: Using a "Prompts in Reverse" Technique to Inspire Your Writers
Help your class find their writing voices with this instructional activity which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher...
Curated OER
Anonymous Sources in the Media
When do people ask for anonymity? Why? After reading the New York Times article "For a Reporter and a Source, Echoes of Broken Promise," young readers participate in a roundtable discussion focusing on freedom of the press and the use of...
Curated OER
Rockefeller's Revenge: Exxon and Mobil Unite
Study the impact and possible outcomes of the Exxon-Mobil merger in your language arts, social studies, or economics class. Secondary learners evaluate a series of graphs, write a paragraph interpreting the data, and engage in class...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - The Furniture Goes Up
Work gets done faster when people work as a team. The ninth installment of an 11-lesson unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl combines character education with research skills and creative writing activities. The lesson ends...
Curated OER
Writing and Research with a Manatee Theme
Students use Internet research methods to find information about manatees. They write a story about a manatee, told through the manatee's eyes, and also a letter to an environmental group, thanking them for what they do to protect the...