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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan 8: Setting and Mood

For Teachers 6th - 9th
What mood does this story evoke? How are setting and mood linked? Young novelists explore the different emotions brought about by writing, starting by journaling things that inspire their own feelings. Examine the word mood, looking into...
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Handout
California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc

Poetic Devices

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Have everything you need to know about the elements of poetry with a nine-page handout. Split into four categories—word sounds, meanings, arrangement, and imagery—budding poets may reference terms, read definitions, descriptions, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Character Impressions

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Whether you are planning a unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, or simply want to improve your pupils' descriptive writing, this lesson could be a good addition to your class. Using the Six-Trait Writing process, pupils use...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Color My World Grey and Blue

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Can colors help to convey a mood in writing? Explore this question with your class using the songs "Grey Street" by the Dave Matthews Band and "Blu is a Mood" by Blu Cantrell. After analyzing the effect of the color words in these songs...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Is Perception Reality? Writing Paradoxes in Poetry

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Explore the paradox of the universe - or, at least, of popular music - with this lesson. Using the songs "Inaudible Melodies" by Jack Johnson and "She" by Green Day, your class will complete a graphic organizer to help them understand...
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Activity
Poetry4kids

Creativity Exercise - Describe the Sky

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Scholars stretch their writing muscles with an exercise that asks them to describe the sky using similes and metaphors. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Scripting The Great Train Robbery

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing About a Christmas Day Celebration

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students write about a Christmas Day Celebration they have experienced. For this personal narrative lesson, students use descriptive words to tell a story about their own family's Christmas. Students organize plot and develop the story...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Family

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Pupils use Microsoft Word to create the family newsletter which can be mailed out with the family Christmas cards.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson 8: Settings that Reinforce Characters

For Teachers 6th - 8th
The best way to be a good writer is to read good writing. Learners read and discuss an excerpt from a book that will help them comprehend the relationship between setting and character. They will use what they've gleaned from discussion...
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PPT
Curated OER

Show, Don't Tell: The First Rule of Writing

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Model for young writers how to create pictures in the minds of readers with a series of slides that demonstrate how sensory appeals enliven writing. The presentation includes opportunities for viewers to practice showing writing.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Postcards to Rembrandt

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students "read" a work of art and infer meaning by analyzing its elements of art and principles of design. They practice creative writing by composing a postcard to an imaginary person.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Quatrain

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Learners write quatrains based on themes recently heard in songs.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Every Dog Has Its Day

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars explore the use of imagery in writing. In this writing lesson, students create a writing piece that features sensory images without resorting to the use of clichés.