Are video games sports? Pupils investigate this question as well as various nonfiction selections to learn more about claims and the support that defines them. All of the selections mimic the rigor on state tests and encourage close...

Thinking about signing up as a substitute teacher? Subbing is not for the faint of heart but with the help of the thoughtful advice in a detailed guide, you can develop the skills you need to be a great, professional substitute teacher.

This site describes how a 5W poem is a good way to teach children to identify and focus on the five W's of a story or an event. Lesson plan indicated for 1st grade and above.

Use the links on the right to get a better understanding of purpose in writing including the types of purposes and how audience affects purpose. Click on Purpose and Audience and Purpose and Strategies. W.9-10.4 Write/Audience/Purpose;...

Classroom teachers will learn how to use use the K-W-H-L research strategy. Teachers will find this activity that may be used as a pre-research, during-research, or post-research strategy.

[Free Registration/Login Required] A site with links to 5 worksheets that can be downloaded and printed for student use while building skills with standard W.4.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection,...

Full text of Oscar Wilde's short story, "The Portrait of Mr. W.H." Includes a link to other full texts of Wilde's work on Bibliomania.

This lesson focuses on strategies for moving essay writing beyond the five-paragraph essay structure to one whose structure is determined by the content. W.11-12.4 Clear/Coherent Writing

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Learn the basics of how to write about literature by asking subjective and objective questions; use tone, diction, and syntax; identify plot elements, and...

Provides a list of presidents of the United States from George Washington through George W. Bush with their term dates and party affiliation.

Tips on planning for the essay once the thesis has been formulated. Use the links on the right for other parts of the writing process. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.5

This is an online photocopy of the original text of the children's book The Christmas Angel, and Other Stories by Rossiter W. Raymond [1870], a collection of five stories.

"Five Little Pigs", written in 1903 by W. W. Denslow, has been digitized and made available by the Rosetta Project. This 15 page book is appropriate for pre-readers.

From David Letterman's emotional monologue to George W. Bush's World Series first pitch, these collective experiences helped the nation process its shock and grief.While the United States was still reeling after the September 11...

Information about the process of revision including three steps to keep in mind: play the role of the reader, think in terms of strength and weakness, and take advantage of computer capabilities. Use the links on the right for other...

This unit index contains links with to guide students through the process of planning a multi-paragraph argumentative essay. Students will learn how to interpret the essay question, develop a writing plan, thesis, writing the argument,...

Getting started on a paper or story always seems to be the greatest obstacle. Learn some simple prewriting strategies to overcome this common problem. Use the links on the left to work through each step of the writing process. W.9-10.5...

This intervention emphasizes the importance of metacognitive or active reading strategies to improve comprehension. It directs students' attention on story structure by teaching them to ask five "wh" questions about the settings and...

A five-part standards-based lesson in which young scholars learn to write a 20 word summary of an informational text by focusing on answering the questions who, what, when, where, why, and how. This strategy can be applied to any content...

This tutorial focuses on transition words. In text it defines transition words and how they improve writing; in PDF it provides a list of transition words and phrases by category with examples. Using a PowerPoint presentation, it...

Authored by the Tsehai Russell and Della Wright, CLR fellows, this resource provides a 5-day unit of informative writing lessons. Focus lessons related to facts and opinions and paragraph writing. This series is supported by the Academic...

This lesson plan engages students in analyzing word choices. Students will write descriptive paragraphs about interesting magazine pictures and ensure that they are using vivid words in their writings.

A clear guide to understanding the audience for your writing, this site leads you through steps to help you identify your audience, then structure your writing to meet that audience's needs and expectations. Use links on the right....

A printable graphic organizer for students to use when writing on opinion or persuasive essay. Directions on how to use this type of graphic organizer as well as lists of teaching ideas, lesson plans, and other resources are also...