Explore the structure of narrative writing with this fun, collaborative lesson. Start by reading aloud a short story, asking small groups of learners to fill in key events on a large story board prepared on the class whiteboard....

Youngsters write and construct their own autobiographies based on The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis. They engage in pre-writing steps, narrative writing, and peer editing. This is the second part of a two-part project activity.

Looking for suggestions on how to organize a creating writing workshop? For topic suggestions appropriate for various grade levels? Check out a resource packet, designed for English language arts instructors, that is packed with ideas...

A basic lesson on personal narrative writing is here for you. In it, learners are asked to imagine they're going to share an experience of their own with someone who did not participate in that experience. They verbally tell the story to...

The class discusses the different purposes an author has for writing. The focus of the discussion is on writing to tell a true story and writing to give information about a specific topic. There are writing purpose sorting cards embedded...

Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...

Walk young writers through the process of creating an initial writing sample for their portfolio. They determine their purpose, organize their ideas, and then create a draft. The lesson includes worksheets and online resources to...

A creative spin occurs when one pupil acts as author Ann M. Martin. Using a Q & A at the back of her book A Dog's Life, other classmates ask the "author" questions. They discuss the reasons why they know the book is from a...

Third graders participate in a pre-writing activity that reinforces organization in writing. They write a piece of narrative writing using the traits of organization.

Students brainstorm animals with unusual characteristics such as a giraffe with a short neck or a zebra without stripes. They write paragraphs about their animals and work in peer editing groups to refine their stories.

While this resource doesn't look like much at first glance, it has the potential to become anything your class can dream up. It is a blank story board template which you can print and use for a wide variety of lessons. Tip: Have learners...

Third graders read and discuss the selection "Paul Revere's Ride" (included with the instructional activity). Students imagine they live in one of the villages that Paul Revere stopped. They are awakened by his knock on the door....

Young scholars investigate Chinese culture by reading their folk tales.  In this creative writing instructional activity, students practice identifying the different elements in a folk tale and examine the related vocabulary....

Students interview staff members at their elementary school in order to get to know them better. They write interview questions, conduct an interview, write a paragraph about the staff member, and take digital pictures of that person....

Starting at the very beginning may be a very good place to start, but it can also be very difficult for emergent writers. Help them get started by providing them with a setting, a main character, and a basic plot.

Bring the drama of history to life in your class and give your learners the opportunity to illustrate their understanding of a historical situation through the medium of a dialogue and/or play. Your young historians will consider a...

Learners explore the trait of voice. In this language arts instructional activity, students focus on the writing trait of voice. Learners view a video and practice writing.

Learners create original short stories that feature distinctive weather phenomena, such as rainbows, snowstorms, tornadoes, thunder and/or lightning. They use a story map, imbedded in this plane, to help them organize their story.

Students analyze the writing process through the ten lessons of this unit. The expository lessons address topic and detail sentences, paragraph organization and development, note taking, reports and letter writing.

Students choose one topic to write about. They brainstorm ideas about their topic or incident. They use sensory details to visualize their topic. They answer a variety of teacher directored nudging question to help them describe their...

Through an informative WebQuest and group work, learners explore the human body and cell structure. They create a cell diagram, research a disease, write a letter explaining the causes of human disease, and work in small groups to create...

Students participate in a round-robin writing activity started from a single writing prompt. Different coins be worked into the story throughout the course of the activity.

The Common Core is intended to help all children meet high academic standards. Here is a Common Core designed lesson that is intended for learners with communication or language difficulties. The lesson is written in a narrative style...

Third graders go through the writing process but substitute paper and pencil with the computer to create a story about "The Time I Got Lost".