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PPT
Curated OER

Wrap it up!

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Sometimes the conclusion of an essay can be the most important part. Whether your writers are ending with a proposition, lesson learned, or persuasive argument, teach them how to "end with a bang" with this helpful PowerPoint! This...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Working in your Cubicle: Critical Thinking and Writing

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Explore informative and explanatory writing with this lesson. Using a cube labeled with directives to describe, analyze, compare, associate, apply, and argue the topic, middle schoolers work individually or in groups to answer questions....
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Activity
2
2
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program

The Columnist Project

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Imagine a list that includes Alan Abelson of Baron's, Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, and Mother Jones. High schoolers select a national columnist, read and annotate five columns by this author, noting the rhetorical strategies,...
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Organizer
Santa Barbara City College

Structure of a General Expository Essay

For Students 7th - 10th
A great student reference tool and graphic organizer in one worksheet! Young writers can read a detailed description of each section of a standard five-paragraph essay before completing a graphic organized with their own writing. The...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reading a Comparison-Contrast Essay

For Students 4th - 6th Standards
Turn your passive readers into active readers with an engaging instructional activity on reading informational text. Focused on compare and contrast structured essays, the activity prompts elementary learners to jot down questions and...
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Worksheet
Clever Student Training Company

Eliminating Weak Essay Material

For Students 9th - 12th
A strong essay eliminates weak or unnecessary material. Determining what information contributes to an essay and what information should be deleted is a skill readers and writers of informational text must develop. Class members practice...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Organizing Evidence from Multiple Informational Texts to Prepare for Writing: What Makes an Earthquake a Natural Disaster?

For Teachers 5th Standards
Fifth graders prepare for their end of the unit essay assessment by continuing to look at what makes an earthquake a natural disaster. They complete a graphic organizer and write a topic sentence. To finish, they view a model essay and...
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Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

Developing a Research Strategy - Define Your Topic

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Your budding scholars spent the day in the library looking for a topic for their research essay, and now they are all in tears because there is too much information available on their topics. Wipe those tears away with the ideas and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creatively Creating Expository Essays

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students, after reading Fahrenheit 451, brainstorm inventions that could have been in the novel. They present their invention to the class and writing an expository essay about their creation.
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Assessment
1
1
New York State Education Department

Global History and Geography Examination: January 2014

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Scholars write an informational essay with a practice examination. The resource includes comprehensive multiple-choice questions dealing with everything from the creation of the European Union to changes in oil prices across the globe.
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Worksheet
1
1
Have Fun Teaching

Compare and Contrast (3)

For Students 2nd - 5th Standards
Sometimes the way a topic is presented in fiction can be very different from how it is in reality. Compare and contrast a topic from both a fiction and nonfiction source with a graphic organizer that prepares kids to write about what...
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Lesson Plan
Constitutional Rights Foundation

Issues of Asylum in the U.S.

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Who gets to come to the United States? Examine cases of individuals seeking asylum with an informative reading passage that includes examples, statistics, and representations of public opinion regarding asylum. Groups then go on to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing Formal and Informal Letters

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders write a thank-you note and a formal letter of request that included relevant information, such as a return address, date, inside address, proper salutation, body, closing, and signature. They write an imaginary letter to...
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Writing
2
2
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Writing Prompts for Middle School

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Scratching your head when it comes to engaging writing prompts? Check out a list of prompts designed for middle school classes, which includes topics for persuasive writing, expository writing, how-to essays, personal narratives, and...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Slanted Facts and Slippery Numbers

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Internet is known as the information superhighway, but sometimes it's hard to know when to hit the brakes on unreliable sources. Using a well-rounded lesson plan, pupils read and summarize articles about the gender pay gap and...
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Unit Plan
1
1
University of Delaware

Constructing Text-Based Arguments About Social Issues

For Teachers 8th Standards
Eighth graders take a stand on a variety of controversial topics with a lesson on argumentative writing. As they view an informative presentation and work with collaborative groups, they decide which side of each argument they want to...
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Website
University of North Carolina

Verb Tenses

For Students 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Twelve categories of verbs exist in the future tense, ranging from simple present to future perfect progressive, but only three have a place in academic writing. Those three tenses make up the content of an informational handout that...
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Writing
Teacher Created Resources

Angelina and Sarah Grimke: Sisters of Social Reform

For Students 4th - 6th Standards
Who are the Grimke sisters? Scholars find out with a worksheet that details the struggles and triumphs of the lives of Angelina and Sarah Grimke. After reading an informational text, class members have the opportunity to show what they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seventh Grade Essay Unit

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders write a five paragraph essay and then branch out from there.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tornado Brainstorming

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
While the focus of this instructional activity is on writing about tornadoes, any topic could be substituted. The instructional activity provides a well-thought out overview of the writing process. Learners come up with a thesis...
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PPT
Curated OER

Introductions: Definition and Writing Tips

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Using PowerShow.com, this presentation focuses on how to write basic introductions including four main points: create an opening sentence that sizzles, identify a clear, central idea, relate the topic's importance, and write a solid...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Basic Paragraph

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Explore basic paragraphs. Young writers compose a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. This lesson is intended for use with a SMART Board, a software technology web link is induced. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Truly Amazing Mammals

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Explore the world of amazing mammals with your kids with special needs. Each child identifies one mammal from a previous lesson and writes a short paragraph on that mammal. This lesson states that it is intended for all levels, but not...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Summarization

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Examine the process of summarizing a piece of text using the book So You Want to Be a President? Kids review the definitions for main idea, topic sentences, superordinate terms, and supporting details. Next, they work in small groups to...