Museum of Tolerance
Oral History Activity
Oral history has brought a multitude of lessons, stories, and factoids to our current knowledge of the past. Let us continue to use oral history traditions through a lesson that encourages pupils to discover and appreciate...
Curated OER
Self-portraits: Integrating Arts And the Language Arts
Pupils look into a mirror and draw their own self-portraits. Then they write a descriptive essay, describing the portrait and the features of their face.
Curated OER
Theology…the Use of Silence in the Classroom
Immerse your class in the Middle Ages with a thorough history lesson. After viewing examples of illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells, they discuss how these were the mode of keeping and storing information...
Curated OER
Every Dog Has Its Day
Students explore the use of imagery in writing. In this writing instructional activity, students create a writing piece that features sensory images without resorting to the use of clichés.
Curated OER
Reporting Live From...
Students examine the many disasters in West Virginia. In this US history lesson, students write about and give an oral presentation of one of the disasters as if they were reporters.
Curated OER
The Great Migration: Two American Tales
Students compare and contrast experiences of European immigrants and African American migrants in U.S. cities. After examining the topic, they write essays evaluating the differences and similarities of the groups' experiences.
Museum of Tolerance
Artifact Research Activity
Artifacts give us the privilege of learning about the past, may it be family, culture, or traditions. Here, class members learn about their family's past with the help of an artifact, or family heirloom. Once an artifact is...
Curated OER
World Literature From Africa
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes twenty-four lessons from the World Literature series, each covering a different reading selection from Africa. Pre-reading and response activities are...
Curated OER
Cross-Cultural Dialogue Lesson
Students view situations from more than their own point of view. They use the incidents in the author's story to explore the concept of crossing cultures and reflect on what it is like to feel like an outsider (in the way that the author...
Curated OER
Creating a Pot: Repetition as a Unifying Design Element
Students use subjects, themes, and symbols that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, values, and aesthetics that communicate intended meaning in artworks.
Curated OER
Creating a Neighborhood Timeline
Students research information about their neighborhoods. Uncovering facts about geology and Native Americans, they examine how the neighborhood has evolved over time. They work together to create a timeline of specific events.
Curated OER
Transformations
Students identify the types of transformations in their lives. As a class, they determine the ones they have control over and which ones they do not. They practice solving problems in math and oral communication that they are faced with...
Curated OER
Causes of the American Revolution
Students answer the question of: How did England impose its political and economic control over the colonies? They create a comic strip depicting the event of the Boston Massacre. Students complete a Wordstoming activity to anticipate...
Curated OER
The Thrill of Big-Wave Surfing
Students view a PBS Nature program about big-wave surfing and participate in a class discussion about their experiences with surfing, body boarding, or body surfing. Students create a drawing based on a reading and post their art around...
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: 2.1: Narrative Essay
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Learn to write a narrative essay by identifying the differences between descriptive and narrative essays, knowing the difference between autobiographical and...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: How to Write a Personal Narrative (English 7 Writing)
[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, you will learn how to write an essay that has only one purpose: to tell a story about you. It's called a personal narrative, personal because it is all about...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Narrative Writing: The Autobiographical Incident
After organizing their thoughts using a graphic organizer, students write a narrative essay which relates an autobiographical incident. Students present their essays in a slideshow which allows their classmates to practice predicting an...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Exploring and Sharing Family Stories
Writing gets personal when students interview family members in order to write a personal narrative about that person.
Other
Gallaudet University: English Works: Guide to Different Types of Essays
English Works site has suggestions on how to write an essay to convey helpful information. This site offers examples of eight different types of essays and graphic organizers.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Holt, Rinehart and Winston: Writer's Model: Autobiographical Narrative Example
This four-page essay provides an example of an autobiographical narrative. Clicking on the "Writer's Guide" link in the upper right-hand corner of the page enables the user to get tips, directions, and explanations on the essay.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Fortune and Mis Fortune
In this RAFTS lesson students read W. W. Jacobs' "The Monkey's Paw" and then complete a grammar activity, or use the interactive fortune creator, to develop a writing prompt for a short essay about the fate or luck involved with their...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Iste Nets: Birthstone Project With a Multimedia Twist
This interdisciplinary project on birthstones, provided by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), focuses on research skills, writing skills, and the ability to put together an electronic presentation.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Expository vs Narrative Intros
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart gives examples of expository and narrative introductions. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.2.a
Other
Kim's Korner: Patterns of Organization
This resource from Kim's Korner for Teacher Talk defines various patterns of text organization and provides a brief essay example of each pattern.