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The World Around Me
Combining visual and language arts, here is a resource that prompts middle schoolers to write stories based on pictures of their surroundings. They use digital cameras to take pictures of favorite areas in the school. Next, they choose...
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Varied Beginnings: Research Process / Narrative Writing Techniques
What's the best way to start a story? Learners write a memoir using effective openings. They research the process and work through a list of hooks to use in their writing. They use at least two hooks to begin their personal memoir. A...
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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...
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The Personal Narrative - Part Two
Does your langauge arts class journal frequently? Extend one of your journaling activities by having your writers choose a journal entry and take it through the five stages of writing. They will use the attached graphic organizer to...
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How to Write A+ Essays!
This instructional activity, which promises to improve the essays of your middle schoolers, contains a list of characteristics an essay should include. It breaks it down into the introduction, thesis statement, body, etc. There's also a...
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Do Some Research: Reflection
Designed to provide learners with a quick research opportunity, this worksheet focuses on the idea of reflection. Learners are supposed to find the answer, write a short paragraph detailing their answer, and illustrate their written...
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Teacher of the Year
Now is the time to identify the great teachers in your school! Discuss the characteristics of persuasive writing and analyze an example. Then, each pupil chooses a teacher who they feel should be named teacher of the year. They plan and...
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Civil War Essay
Upper graders explore equality by writing an essay. They read the story Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco, and discuss the meaning of the story and its relevance to Civil War events. Learners investigate the five writing process steps and...
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Five Paragraph Essay
The components of a five-paragraph essay are outlined on these slides. Not much explanation is given, but you can use this as you lecture and help your learners write. Follow the outline for what each paragraph should contain, and...
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SATP Informative Essay I
Students explore the basic steps of writing an informative five paragraph essay. Using a hamburger as an analogy, students discuss the five part method of writing and, given blank hamburger sheets, they fill in the main parts of the...
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Personal/Social Development: Preparing for Scholarships
Prepare your class for applying to scholarships with this lesson. Although very bare-bones, this plan provides a writing prompt for learners that will surely get them thinking about how to present themselves to the outside world. The...
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Global Warming
This contains a writing prompt about global warming that could be adapted in a number of ways. The resource provides some information about global warming and possible effects. Learners explore the enhanced greenhouse effect and the...
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Narrowing a Topic & The Importance of Audience
Help your young writers through the sometimes difficult process of beginning to write. Direct them through how to choose a topic and write to a specific audience. Great refining statements guide them to writing focused, clear essays.
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The Structure of an Essay
Using the analogy of the human body, writing an essay is described in these slides. An overall look at writing, the analogy is meant to have writers consider how their paper functions as a whole. Details and instructions for writing are...
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Essay Modes: Different Kinds of Essays
Review many different types of essays with this presentation. Each slide gives a short description of an essay such as narrative or persuasive. Makes for a good overview of various formats.
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Visible Speech: A Short Course in the Fundamentals of Writing/Lesson 3
Focusing on writing an introduction, this presentation provides a variety of techniques for how to begin. Although the question marks on slide six obscure the writing, the other slides are clear and legible and display good examples for...
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Native American Crafts Worksheet
Deepen understanding of Native American craftspeople through biography and research. For this essay project, learners sift through online biographies about Native Americans in Louisiana. After looking through the given resources,...
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Visible Speech: A Short Course in the Fundamentals of Writing
Introduce your class to various forms of writing. As the title states, this is a short PowerPoint, giving brief, but accurate descriptions of what each type of writing is used for. Pictorial representations are also helpful.
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Visible Speech: A Short Course in the Fundamentals of Writing (Lesson 5)
Of these five slides, two consist of the title and directions; the other three list the parts of an essay and their purpose, as well as how to best begin an essay. In essence, this is a very brief PowerPoint that can be used as a...
San José State University
Comparing/Contrasting
Do your students love movies? Use Star Wars and Indiana Jones to introduce the use of Venn diagrams for comparing and contrasting. A list of words to indicate comparison or contrast are also included to help with the writing process.
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Directed and Undirected Free-writing: An Activity in Brainstorming
Eighth graders practice pre-writing skills using brainstorming methods. Using music and meditation, they examine the difference between directed and undirected free-writing, as well as how and when to apply them to the pre-writing process.
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Around the Room Short Story
Collective story writing is a great way to reinforce the concept of story elements and collaborative learning. Young writers discuss story elements such as, setting, character, action, climax, conclusion, foreshadowing, dialogue, and...
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Essay Prewriting Lesson Plan
Students explain the steps to making a sandwich to their teacher while he/she completes the steps. After the demonstration, they identify any part of the process that could use clarification. They are introduced to the practice of...
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Short Writing Paper
What an interesting resource to use as part of a writing activity! Learners discuss how to write an essay and tips to make it a rich experience. Included in the list of ways to improve writing are suggestions such as checking...