University of Kansas
Newspaper in the Classroom
Newspapers aren't only for reading—they're for learning skills, too! A journalism unit provides three lessons each for primary, intermediate, and secondary grades. Lessons include objectives, materials, vocabulary, and procedure, and...
Curated OER
Invent a Holiday
Who wouldn't want to create their own holiday? Use the 12 elements of a holiday to have learners of all ages create their own holiday. These days, it seems like we make any excuse for a holiday! Consider having some fun with your kids...
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Persuasive Writing: Creating Book Reviews
By reading and analyzing examples of persuasive text, students can get a better idea of how to form their own essays.
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Are You For Real?
Students try to find newspaper and magazine articles that are informative or persuasive. They practice determining the differences between the two types of articles. They identify the devices authors use to persuade the audience.
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Designing the New Silver Dollar
Learners create a design for a silver dollar based on a historical figure. In this historical instructional activity, students choose a person who impacted history to memorialize in a custom designed silver dollar. In addition, learners...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Newsletter
What does it take to develop and publish a newsletter? Young academics create a newsletter with original artwork for their school or community. They explore social justice themes and spread messages of tolerance and inclusion. Scholars...
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The Art of Persuasion
Students practice persuasive writing by creating a travel brochure. In this creative writing lesson, students research a popular tourist destination they would like to visit and create a brochure enticing readers to come. Students...
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Goal: Ending Child Labor
For this ending child labor worksheet, 4th graders read, evaluate and analyze an article on ending child labor and answer seven comprehension questions associated with the article. Students either write a letter to a company trying to...
Curriculum Corner
Guest Teacher Plans Grade 4
Creating substitute plans may not be the highlight of your workday. Make the task less daunting with a general, day-long plan covering math, reading, word work, and writing.
Museum of Tolerance
Family Role Model Activity
What does is take to be a role model? Through grand conversation, and the use of books and a graphic organizer, scholars find out and apply the requirements to identify a role model within their family. They then journey through the...
EngageNY
End of Unit 2 Assessment: Working with Two Texts - Reading, Listening, Summarizing, and Synthesizing
As a summative assessment for this unit on colonial trade, fourth graders listen to and read informational texts in order to demonstrate their ability to take notes, write summaries, and draw connections. Young scholars first listen as...
Curated OER
Writing a Political Leader
Students write a letter to a political leader. In this letter writing lesson, students also demonstrate their understanding of current political issues.
Core Knowledge Foundation
Unit 7: The United States Constitution
Fourth graders delve into the United States Constitution in a unit designed to boost reading comprehension, grammar, and writing. During each lesson, scholars read through and discuss a new chapter and work with prefixes and verbs....
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Write Your Own Cultural Connections
Learners write a cultural narrative. In this multicultural writing lesson, students create an expository narrative to teach others about their lives. Learners complete the narrative and use a buddy editing strategy to revise their papers.
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A Day at the Beach: How to Keep Our Planet Clean
Students write a persuasive essay based on cleaning up the coast and other philanthropic values. In this writing lesson, students determine what is needed in order to keep the planet clean, and offer solutions to the International...
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Wrap it up!
Sometimes the conclusion of an essay can be the most important part. Whether your writers are ending with a proposition, lesson learned, or persuasive argument, teach them how to "end with a bang" with this helpful PowerPoint! This...
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Journal Writing Idea - Pets
Carve out some time for your youngsters to write in their journal. Today, they write a story about pets. They learn the value of a journal and how to keep up with it, and they enhance story development by planning their story before...
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Middle Ages Writing Journal
Students create a Middle Ages writing journal with narrative, expository and persuasive prompts. In this creative writing lesson, students are given a list of Middle Ages topics and begin working in their journals. This is a long term...
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Writing with Writers
Learners participate in Writing with Writer's, a step-by-step set of directions aimed at improving different genres of student writing. They identify the characteristics of different genres and follow a specified writing process to...
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Commercials/Ads
Students write a persuasive commercial and advertisement. In this commercial lesson, students write a 20 second commercial that persuades people and shares the most important aspects of the company. They evaluate newspaper ads and create...
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Critical Literacy in the 21st Century: Sitti's Secrets
Fourth graders write persuasive letters. For this letter writing lesson, 4th graders read Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye and discuss their areas or topics of concern. Students select a person to write a letter to and how they could...
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Writing A Speech Lesson Plan
Pupils write persuasive speeches. In this speech lesson, students discuss the attributes of persuasive speeches and then write their own persuasive speeches regarding topics of their choosing.
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Persuasive and Emotive Language Lesson Plan
Students explore persuasive language. In this emotive language instructional activity, students consider the use of language that incites readers as they participate in reading and writing activities that require them to describe a...
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Writing a Political Leader
Students peer edit a letter. In this editing lesson, students peer edit a letter written to a political figure by another student. Students discuss edits and revisions needed for improvement. This is a continuation lesson that is part...