Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...

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,...

Work on narrative writing with this lesson, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view of the...

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...

Bring social studies to life! This interdisciplinary lesson has young writers tell the story of the migration of diverse groups of people to the United States. Pupils view the work of selected choreographers and discuss how dance often...

How can you make a narrative writing piece more engaging? A lesson about narrative writing transition words and phrase prompts elementary writers to draft, peer edit, and revise writing based on feedback and expectations outlined in an...

In high school and college, most writing assignments go beyond simple questions such as "What is your favorite moment from childhood?" To help writers understand complex writing assignments, a short video from a larger series offers a...

Comparing and contrasting goes beyond beyond obvious differences—it includes critical thinking skills, too! Through a short video, writers learn how to organize ideas within a compare/contrast paper. The video highlights different styles...

Is a college education necessary for success in today's world? The class investigates the question, along with others at the end of the sixth workshop in a 15-part series. The lesson plan has four parts with multiple activities and...

An engaging and quick presentation on writing topic sentences is sure to grab the attention of your elementary writers. The PowerPoint can be modified and includes relevant visual examples.

Scholars plan out a personal narrative using a graphic organizer. They work on highlighting a story's setting, characters, feelings, details, the beginning, ending, and a hook. 

Whether you are teaching mainstream, advanced, or intervention language arts classes, you will find something helpful in a thorough writing packet. It includes prompts, rubrics, responses, helpful hints, graphic organizers, and many...

Picture books provide the impetus for a study of how authors make plots seem real and characters interesting. After reading several books, class members list the techniques the authors used to enliven their stories and then craft their...

Scholars expand short, nondescript sentences by adding descriptive words and phrases. In this Owl Moon lesson plan, sentence length and rhythmic language are identified and discussed. Authentic student samples are reviewed to identify...

Budding authors research a US President and persuade the National Park Service to add him to Mt. Rushmore. In addition to the persuasive essay, individuals are required to develop a visual presentation using a web-based software that...

Use the platforms of the 2004 presidential candidates to bring persuasive writing to your class. Young voters identify the three issues most important to them in the election and research the issues and candidates' positions. They write...

Children's picture books are a great resource for identifying and modeling components of narrative writing. A fun and interactive lesson about elements of a story prompts your class to use descriptive language as they analyze characters...

Middle schoolers identify writing techniques in example stories with this story structure lesson. After reading the book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, they find the differences between it and the original version....

Are you the oldest in your family? The youngest? The middlest? How do you feel about your place in your family? After reading such stories as My Rotten, Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by...

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...