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...

Stop, thief! Do your pupils understand the consequences of plagiarism? Lesson three of six in a series of college and career readiness activities demonstrates the dangers of taking credit for someone else's work. Learners engage in...

The world is a stage, and so is your classroom! Hone the skills of the next generation of Tony® award winners with a set of exercises, reference pages, writing prompts, and excerpts from famous plays.

Promotes collaboration in the classroom with a historical fiction instructional activity. Fourth graders partner up and read the other's narrative, in order to give feedback on vocabulary choice and accuracy of historical information....

Some self-paced writing resources are just better than others. This one is great. The 205-page packet includes exercises on every aspect of the writing process, from crafting sentences and paragraphs, to proofreading, revising, and...

It's time to make a movie! Kids follow 15 steps to take their movie ideas from concept to script, following clear examples. The resource includes creative ways to guide learners into developing a few words and concepts into fully...

Explore the newspaper as a unique entity with a detailed and extended unit. The unit requires learners to consider the newspaper's role in democracy, think about ethics, practice writing and interviewing, and examine advertising and news...

If you're looking to start a unit based around narrative writing, make sure to consider this resource while you're planning. This book covers five topics: writing personal narratives, writing narratives about others, writing narratives...

Start your informational essay off right with a strong introduction, the focus of the sixth of nine videos on using text resources to write an essay. In particular, it discusses how to structure the paragraph around a great hook to make...

In an argumentative essay, the introductory paragraph is the primary opportunity to get your readers' attention and tell them why the issue you are discussing is important. Demonstrate to your young writers how to construct an organized...

"I love it when a plan comes together." Building on the previous activity in this unit, young writers use their graphic organizers to create a draft of their constitution explanatory paragraphs. The teacher models this process for the...

Lesson ten in this unit for the book Bullfrogs at Magnolia Circle, prepares third graders to begin writing an informational paragraph about the adaptations of bullfrogs. First, young writers work either independently or in pairs to...

Peer editing can be such an asset if it's done correctly! Help your kids provide constructive, meaningful feedback with this peer editing guide, designed for expository essays. The editor checks the format, introduction, body,...

Gather some information, print it onto sentence strips, and then have your class physically shuffle the cards to better understand the importance of organizational patterns in writing. Middle school learners examine information for a...

Now that your new novelists have finished their first draft, it's time for them to unleash their inner editors! As part of the National Novel Writing Month program, this worksheet is one of the last of a series guiding writers through...

Peer editing is a big part of the writing process, and this learning exercise will really help guide both editor and writer. Class members read brief editing tips and examine examples of helpful and not-so-helpful comments. (Consider...

A comprehensive and immersive series of lessons that examines various aspects of story development leads learners into writing a narrative of their own. Writers develop an understanding of the writing process as they use the learning...

Every good novel needs a solid beginning! Setting the stage can have your budding authors stumped, so use this lesson to get them thinking. After examining the plot rollercoaster image (included) they consider the four places their story...

Okay, your writers are ready to become authors - but how do they begin? This packet uses humor to keep kids entertained as they learn about first sentences. First, they get a brief introduction to the various types of beginnings they...

It's all about using peer resources in this writing process lesson, which includes a fantastic novel revision worksheet packet. Learners have read a partner's story draft the night before, and groups have a "lightning round of praise"...

Discuss the importance of a lead in writing with your upper graders. They examine several examples of leads from literature and practice writing leads for pieces of artwork. They then select a topic from a list and write an introductory...

Dissect the parts of an advertisement with your class. Middle schoolers discuss advertisements and locate the hook in them. Then, they create an advertisement for a business, in which they include the name of the business, an...

How does one hook a reader? Fourth graders will brainstorm ways to "hook" the reader into a story they wrote. They will view online examples of using figurative language in a story. This is a great "show" not "tell" activity. Resources...

New ReviewOver five days, scholars show their proficiency in cursive while writing a formal letter. Each day starts with an introduction and guided practice in preparation for writing their formal letter. Going through the writing process,...