Explore expository writing and using precise language in this descriptive paragraph writing lesson. Learners brainstorm prior knowledge about the changing seasons in Ohio. They describe seasonal items, view seasonal pictures from...

Readers of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida place themselves in the story and craft a persuasive letter to a character in Victor Martinez's National Book Award-winning novel.

Middle schoolers work with themes in this activity, which is based on Fox by Margaret Wild. Because the book has multiple themes, it is a great way to transition into exploring literary analysis and writing stories. A Six Trait writing...

Practice expository and creative writing with your class. Pupils use magazines to find pictures, cut them out, and create a collage. This work of art is then used as a writing prompt. They describe the collage in either a creative or...

Bring environmental issues into your classroom! Practice writing and peer editing research reports on global warming and the greenhouse effect. Middle schoolers can work on their research skills, their writing skills, and how to...

Have your older middle schoolers assist young children with writing in this community service and literacy lesson. Middle schoolers become partners with a local elementary school. They assist the grade school children in writing a...

It's gameplan time! Journalism scholars create a social media plan based upon work completed in previous lessons. The activity, fifth in a 16-part Social Media Toolbox series, focuses on using data and consensus to create an effective...

Aesop's Fables are the focus of this language arts lesson. Young philosophers study and discuss the morals found in the most famous of Aesop's Fables. They write an original fable that teaches a common moral. A "Fable Listening Library"...

Students examine literature of emergent readers, categorize books into types of literature common for primary readers (wordless, pattern, alphabet, number, rhyme, etc.), and write a book about themselves to give as gifts to their new...

Sixth graders select a book from the Newbery list and read it. They write a short summary of the book without giving away the ending and then research the book's author. They write a book review and, finally, incorporate all of this onto...

Sixth graders describe the geography of Mesopotamia, explain the characteristics of Sumerian city-states, and identify the cultural practices of the ancient Sumerians. They then explain how empires formed in Mesopotamia.

A fun, modern twist on journaling! Instead of responding to prompts in their composition notebook, writers use the Internet to complete blog entries. A sample blog (with prompts) is shown here, and writers are assessed on conventions and...

Young authors write books about themselves using one of the identified types of literature and the writing process. They identify the common characteristics among the books in each group, edit, and gift their books to a younger student.

Using Movie Maker, sixth graders make an eight frame movie based on a story they have written. They choose music clips, select pictures from PowerPoint, and make their movie. The instructional activity should take about ten days to...

What items would you need to survive if you were stranded in a remote place? Using chapter 10 of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, middle-schoolers work through a Six Trait writing activity to create a story about their own survival in a similar...

Young scholars explore communication by participating in a role playing lesson. In this media analysis lesson, students answer surveys about their own television watching habits and compare them to the rest of the class. Young scholars...

Sixth graders learn to plan a story by using a story map. They analyze a detailed sample story map and answer 5 questions about it. Then, plan their own story using a story map template.

A lesson turns young historians into playwrights to understand and speak out against social injustice. Pupils work individually or in groups to write and perform monologues that deliver personal messages on social justice. Writers then...

The class works together to tackle easily confused words. Each learner receives a word and he or she must create a flashcard with the following things: the word, its definition, an original sentence that uses the word, and a picture...

This one-page sentence editing practice is a beast! Grammar masters make corrections in punctuation and capitalization in a lengthy paragraph that is about writing process (how post-modern). This efficient resource can be used as...

Students develop a working skill of using graphic organizers for writing. The lesson notes that the best kind of organizer is one that is engaging to the appropriate audience. The assessment follows the rubric given in the lesson.

In this Tanka poem worksheet, 6th graders analyze a Tanka poem for number of syllables and content parameters, then write one about a journey, real or imagined using the 6 step writing process.

Students, after brainstorming possible problem solving activities, choose from one of the many and write what the problem is and a solution to solve it.

Students research life in the Middle Ages. They write a historical fiction diary based on a character they create. Students use the six steps to process writing to complete their diary. They orally present their diaries to the class.