Curated OER
Sense Poetry
Access your young poets' senses and emotions with this activity, which guides them through the process of writing a "sense poem." After working on a sense poem as a class and modeling the procedure, individuals work on their own poems...
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Keeping verb tense consistent (Middle, Reading/Writing)
Students improve their personal and academic writing by use of one consistent verb tense.
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What Does Christmas Mean to Me?
Students write an essay entitled "What Does Christmas Mean to Me?" In this writing lesson, students express their feelings about Christmas in an essay. Students discuss ways they have given to others during the Christmas season, then...
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The Newspaper Article
Have your class participate in an interview activity using an informational text about the Amazon. After reading a Cultural Connections story about a person from the Amazon, middle schoolers write interview questions based on the text....
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Apples Personified
Students write a creative writing piece by personifying apples. In this creative writing lesson, students view a PowerPoint about the writing process and brainstorm about apples. Students write a rough draft about their apple and peer...
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Write a Myth
Students explore myths in ancient times. For this mythology lesson, students read or view a video production of a myth to determine specific characteristics of myths. Students work in groups to write a myth that explains an occurrence...
Teaching Tolerance
Journalism for Justice
Roll the presses! Or at least have your class members participate in the time-honored tradition of the student press by creating their own newspapers or journalist pieces on a social problem. After conducting research and collaborating...
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Can You Haiku?
Everyone loves haikus! They're short, quick, and fun to write! Analyze the rules and conventions of haiku. Readers interpret examples of haiku and develop a vocabulary for writing haiku. Then they compose a haiku based on a personal...
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Writing a How-To Paper
Middle schoolers discover that when writing a how-to paper, they are telling readers how to do something such as cook a particular recipe. They then choose one of the provided topics and write their own how-to paper.
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Writing - Story Ideas
Students write their story in first person as a non-fiction story, or they can write the story in third person as a fictional story and use different characters. They can choose an idea from one of the story starters provided.
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Practice Makes It Better
Use the Internet to expand the audience for portfolio writings and motivate young writers to edit their work. Have your class members select a piece of writing from their portfolios to be polished and published on the World Wide Web....
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Creative Characterization
Students write a character description journal in which they take on the voice of one of the character's made-up friends or relatives. They write a sketch of that character from the friend or relatives' point of view.
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Using Personal Pronouns Correctly
Complete personal pronoun practice activities. Pupils use correct personal pronoun form in sentences the teacher writes on the board. They review the function of a pronoun and the various cases and practice placing personal pronouns by...
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I Have a Dream Podcasts
Students write dream speeches and record them as Mp3's. In this speech lesson, students watch Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, "I Have Dream Speech." They use the writing process to develop a dream speech which they rehearse. They record their...
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The People's Design Award
Young scholars analyze, critique, and evaluate information from various sources and learn about the design process. In this design lesson, students critique work submitted to People's Design Award and create a design of their own to...
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Generating Power
Learners construct a working model of a turbine and explain how water generates power. By the end of the lesson, they list the effects of Kingsley Dam on people, plans, and animals -- both positive and negative.
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Sidewalks to Success in Middle School
Students write a brochure that educates incoming middle school students on how to succeed.
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Interview! Magazine
Middle schoolers interview a subject and write a biographical sketch for a fictional magazine. In this interview lesson, students choose a person to interview and create two sets of questions. Middle schoolers conduct the interview....
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Coast-to-Coast Book Design-Part 4: Let's Create the Pages!
Students work in groups to share their lists of A-B-C ideas they came up with from the previous activity. They review page layouts taught during lesson two. Students complete a rough draft of their page. They create a colored...
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Theatre: Meaningful Monologues
Students perform dramatic monologues. In this drama lesson, students write their own monologue and perform it in front of their peers.
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Guess the Author-Using Pseudonyms
Students study about descriptive writing. They write a descriptive paragraph about themselves without revealing their physical description and sign their writing with a pseudonym.
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Change of Perspective
After reading an example of a Cultural Connection about a particular person, class members are asked to think about what this person might experience on a daily basis. They then craft a narrative from the subject’s point of view.
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Student Autobiography
Students complete an organizer listing five important events in their lives, use the dates to create a timeline of their life using Timeliner program, print and save their timeline and write a paragraph based on the timeline too.
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Show You Care
Young scholars construct a four-line poem to be used on the inside of a Valentine's Day card. They use a digital camera to show themselves to their "buddies" (local nursing home patients) who receive the cards on Valentine's Day.