A Six-Trait Writing instructional activity helps your middle schoolers liven up their word choice and shows them how to evaluate their own writing. Class members take a close look at the language used in poems by Shakespeare, Kipling,...

Reading a scientific article about cross-species synchronization may sound like a yawner. But "Monkey See, Monkey Do" is a fascinating tale that just happens to be about yawning, within and across species. After a close reading, class...

This St. Patrick's Day, young writers imagine they found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. After a class discussion and brainstorming, scholars compose a narrative essay making sure they incorporate transitions and at least three...

How do scholars prepare to take their next big step? The second in a series of six career and college readiness activities focuses on making a smooth transition from middle to high school. Groups research the resources available at their...

When it comes to comparing and contrasting in an essay, looking at a chart and picking a random transition word may not do the trick. As explained in an informational writing handout, the words writers use to move from one idea to...

Ideas don't naturally flow from one to another. They need transitions to help them connect. Part of a larger Writing the Paper series, the resource introduces writers to the concept of using transitions in their writing. Topics covered...

Can your class explain the changes in energy during a chemical reaction? Map them out with a video from JFR Science's playlist. The narrator discusses in detail how to create, manipulate, and use a potential energy diagram.

Adolescence and teenage years are very difficult in terms of emotions, primarily due to the amount of change going on in growing teens' lives. Guide middle schoolers through disruptive changes and transitions with a set of activities...

Every hopeful in your class has gone through some kind of life change, from parents' divorce to a death in the family to moving up into another grade. Encourage them to discuss these changes, the skills they used and acquired during...

Upper elementary and middle school writers learn how to craft an expository paragraph by following the six steps detailed in a 48-page instructional guide. Learners learn how to write six different types of informational paragraphs: to...

Print out this handy reference page double sided and distribute it to your class. Individuals can use the page to aid them as they work on their topic sentences, transitions, conclusions, and paragraph structure. There is plenty of...

Eighth graders might be intimidated about going to high school and they may not think they'll ever go to college. Ease those fears while making college readiness an eighth grade reality. In teams, pupils fill out several worksheets while...

If you're looking for a detailed lesson on event sequencing from informational text, you've found it. There is an entire script for you to draw from as you explore order of events and sequence words. Scaffolding is key here; learners...

Transitional words and phrases make writing smooth and ease oral fluency. This resource gives English  learners a chance to practice using common connecting words and phrases like above all, firstly (sic), instead, etc. Answers are...

Compare and contrast while challenging your class with this higher-level thinking and reading comprehension lesson. After observing the teacher model comparing and contrasting bats and birds, learners read passages about two towns. They...

Class members read example sentences using although, despite, or in spite of properly, use them to fill in the blanks to complete sentences, and create personal examples. Students answer 21 questions.

Use two of the most common signal words to teach your learners how to predict what might happen next while reading texts. Although there are many, but and because are the signal words selected for this sheet. Consider pointing out how...

Signal words are one way that authors make the relationships between their ideas clear. Allow your learners the chance to investigate cause and effect in texts by identifying signal words. They locate and analyze cause-and-effect...

Persuasion, when used effectively, is a powerful and effective tool. In groups, young writers develop a persuasive letter about something that they would like their parents to allow them to do. Then, independently, they use proper...

A series of lessons about dance would be a great addition to your physical education class. Straightforward as well as creative, it teaches the basic skills of dance movement. A rubric helps guide the dancers to let them know what steps...

Create a five-paragraph essay easily with the bing, the bang, and the bongo method! Learners write an introduction with the thesis containing three parts. Your three body paragraphs then expand upon each part of the thesis. An example is...

Young scholars practice their foreign language skills through the creation of film highlighting a visual tour through their school to be produced in the language that they are studying. The film can be sent to pen pals in another country.