Poetry4kids
How to Write a Concrete or “Shape” Poem
Writers compose an original shape poem. Scholars choose a subject to write about and create a visual representation by forming a corresponding picture using the poem's words.
Curated OER
The Personal Narrative
After writing a personal narrative, learners edit their work and that of their classmates. Using the imbedded link, pupils edit their paper. They form small groups and check each other's papers for spelling, grammar usage, sentence...
Biology Junction
Cell Structure and Function Crossword
In this biology activity, learners complete a crossword puzzle with 46 questions on cell structure and function. They identify different cell organelles.
Curated OER
Episodic Writing Using Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
Help your middle-schoolers expand their writing skills with this lesson on episodic writing, which focuses on story details, idea development, and organization. After reading "The Eighth Picture: End of Summer" from Patricia Reilly...
Education World
Take Five: Writing a Color-Coded Paragraph
Use a traffic light to model a very basic paragraph plan. The Go, or topic sentence, is written in green and expresses an opinion about the topic. Information that supports the opinion of the Go sentence is written in yellow and the...
Curated OER
Persuasive Writing II
Help your young writers use logic in their persuasive writing. Discuss the characteristics of a persuasive paper, and have pupils work together to explore and solve a syllogism. They will write a short persuasive paper which includes a...
Curated OER
Jeffrey and Sloth: Six Traits of Writing
Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the lesson. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of my favorites...
Curated OER
Persuasive/Argumentative Essay vs. Opinion writing
Reinforce persuasive and argumentative writing skills with this instructional activity, which utilizes SchoolNet News Network's website/SNN Monthly magazine. Young writers review journalism writing styles that help them explain that...
Curated OER
Write Right!
After watching part of a Club Write Kids video and discussing the editing process, each group of learners writes a letter to a favorite author. They ask for a copy of a page of manuscript that has gone through the editing process. Prior...
Curated OER
Writing Effective Thesis Statements and Introductory Paragraphs for Research Papers
After reading on the topic of their paper, high schoolers work in pairs to assess how to write powerful, precise thesis statements. The introduction contains three statements: a universal statement, a bridge statement, and a thesis...
Curated OER
Organizing by Writing
Middle schoolers analyze how to use writing for generating and organizing their thoughts before communicating them. They use the questions on the first handout to organize a three-minute introduction of themselves to their small group....
EngageNY
Paragraph Writing, Part II
Come up with a list of requirements for this expository essay on Esperanza's character in Esperanza Rising as a class and use the list to guide class writing. Here, learners will complete the first paragraph, discuss their notes for the...
EngageNY
Paragraph Writing, Part 1: How Esperanza Responds on the Train (Revisiting Chapter 5: "Las Guayabas/Guavas")
When your class members have completed the novel Esperanza Rising, they will be ready to write an expository essay on how Esperanza responds to events and what this says about her character. Set your pupils up for success by starting out...
Louisiana Department of Education
How to Write a Memoir
Who are we and what shapes our identities? Seventh graders work to answer this question as they learn how to write a memoir. Full of non-print resources and supplemental texts that range from fiction to non-fiction, scholars write their...
British Council
Unit 7: Organising Your Writing
Get energized by being organized! Budding business scholars construct professional letters in the seventh of nine career education and skills lessons. The resource covers proper greetings, writing requests, and explaining reasons for...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sentence Structure of Technical Writing
Most teachers and scholars look for a way to simplify information. Informational how-to slides simplify the process of technical writing into a step-by-step process. Learners gather information on what to do, as well as what to avoid....
Curated OER
What's My Point: Persuasive Writing
Why do readers need to know an author’s purpose? How do you figure out what that purpose is? Guide your pupils through a series of activities that show them how to identify various techniques and structures used in persuasive writing....
Curated OER
Unlocking the Secrets of a Persuasive Essay
Full of tips about structure, audience, and evidence in a persuasive essay, this presentation would be a great way to start a writing unit in your class. One slide advises young writers to make up quotes and statistics in their essays....
Curated OER
The Stuff of Stories: Using Museums to Inspire Student Writing
Middle schoolers write descriptions, narratives, and dialogues based on objects of art and time periods in a museum. They base several writing assignments on art objects and paintings, including a literal description and an emotional...
Curated OER
Writing a Letter of Complaint
Here is a very useful presentation on persuasive letter writing that's packed with great information. Learners discover when this type of letter is appropriate to write, then are shown a series of steps that would lead to a letter that...
Curated OER
Speech Writing
Looking for a thorough description of how to effectively write a speech? This presentation includes all sorts of good tips on how to construct and deliver a speech. Each student writes and delivers a speech about a state park of their...
Student Handouts
Four-Square Writing Method
Pupils produce paragraphs with planning and precision with the four-square writing method, which allows learners to organize the topic, supporting, and summary sentences of their paragraphs.
Curated OER
Make Your Writing More Interesting
Teach your class how to improve their writing. This resource walks learners through the keys to good writing. It addresses the need for complex sentences, the use of different ways to open a sentence, and the importance of varying the...
Curated OER
Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences in Your Writing
Have you ever graded a stack of essays that felt like a series of bland simple sentences? A helpful grammar presentation will help learners spice up their writing by varying their sentence style, making them stronger and more attentive...