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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Write a Short Story

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Young scholars compare two paintings, depicting urban life in America in the 1940's, answering a series of questions, then create a short story about the paintings' characters. They compare 'Nighthawks' and 'Nightlife.'
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Curated OER

Mapping Your Identity: A Back-To-School Ice Breaker

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Identify the unique personal attributes of your class members. Begin by viewing the Visual Thesaurus and discussing displayed attributes associated with famous American leaders. Using these identity maps as models, pupils generate nouns...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Image as Metaphor

For Teachers 6th - 12th
A Dorothea Lange photograph launches this study of metaphors. Using the questions provided, the class examines the image and the title to consider how Lange uses her photo as a metaphor. Class members then select an object they can use...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Oakland Writes

Exploring Thematic Motifs in The House on Mango Street

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
Explore identity and community through an expository essay based on The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. This two-week unit on writing an essay provides a brief description of each day and all of the worksheets and materials you...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Review Steps in the Writing Process and Explore a Poem

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Students practice their persuasive writing skills. In this writing process instructional activity, students write essays that meet the requirements of the included text element worksheets and analyze poetry of their choosing.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Story Ideas

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Need some story ideas? Young writers are often at a lost when it comes to selecting an idea for story. Jumpstart the discussion by giving them a list of possible topics.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Vivid Verbs

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Spice up your writing! Your amateur writers will benefit from concentrating on understanding and improving verb use in writing. An introductory activity addresses weak verbs. A second exercise helps them see the importance of strong...
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Organizer
1
1
Curated OER

Character Analysis Chart

For Students 3rd - 12th
This versatile graphic organizer could be used alongside any novel, poem, play, or story through which your class in studying character. Class members can get characters straight or describe particular characters in more detail with this...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bucket List Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 10th
What is on your pupils' "Bucket Lists" - the list of things they want to do before they die? Their choices of activities for this list could be very revealing, and is a great source of inspiration for a personal poem. The lesson prompts...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Write Some Dialogue

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students write dialogue. For this character development lesson students use direct or indirect speech to include a confrontation between two characters in their story. Students portray the emotions of the characters in addition to what...
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Lesson Plan
Pulitzer Center

Writing About the "Arab Spring"

For Teachers 6th - 12th
An information-rich resource, this webpage will provide your class with all the information they need to explore a relevant real-world and little understood topic: the Middle East and the people's revolutions that shook it in the spring...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Showdown in the New Wild West

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What is the root of the conflict between ranchers and environmentalists? Middle schoolers write their impressions of what an environmentalist is and does. They read the New York Times article "In New Wild West, It's Cowboys vs. Radical...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Digital Storytelling

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Scholars of all ages can use the various tools of technology to construct and illustrate a story. Utilizing this resource, learners work with a partner to brainstorm and draft a story based on personal experience. They use computer...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Lawd! Lawd! Lawd!"

For Teachers 7th - 10th
From British accents to Texan drawls, a character's dialect can be an important part of the reading experience. A Six-Trait writing activity guides learners through the analysis of a character's dialect (Daniel Keyes's Flowers for...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"I Never Knew That!"

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Incorporating To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, narrative writing, and friendly letters, this lesson is ideal for any number of units in your classroom. First, read chapter 10 of the novel, noting Scout and Jem's reactions to their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pizza Biography

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
A biography writing lesson plan with a tasty twist! Kids create a "visual biography" in which each pizza slice represents a paragraph, and toppings represent supporting details. They learn research techniques, note-taking skills, and how...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Presidential Quotation Report

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Famous quotations by American Presidents are the focus of this Six Trait writing activity, which could be used in a U.S. History class or in language arts. After reading the picture book Theodore by Frank Keating, have your 7th graders...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Boogie Woogie with a B: Using Alliteration while Exploring Patriotic Tunes

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Are you looking for a way to bring writing into your history lesson plan - or history into your writing lesson plan? This cross-curricular activity is helpful and fun, no matter what class you're teaching! Using "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Foreshadowing and Making Predictions

For Teachers 7th - 9th
"What happens next?" Using real-life scenarios, movies, images, and other prompts, pupils practice making predictions based on inferences from clues. A SMART board activity takes them from making predictions to writing a prediction...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make a Memory with Movie Maker

For Teachers 8th - 12th
There is nothing more exciting than allowing learners to express themselves through a creative medium. In groups, they write narrative stories, focusing on building a strong storyline and dialogue. Next, they transform their stories into...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Counting Up/Down Stories

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Mirroring Jerry Spinelli's style in Wringer, chapter 5, pupils use the "counting up/down technique" to recall an important moment in their lives. In the book, the character is being punched, and between blows he remembers details that...
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Assessment
Fluence Learning

Writing About Literature: What Is Happiness?

For Students 8th Standards
Jack London's heart for adventure has come to define the spirit of America and its frontier. Selected passages from the foreword The Cruise of the Snark take eighth graders through London's construction and voyage of his ship before...
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PPT
Curated OER

How to Write a Five Paragraph Essay

For Teachers 7th - 9th
What are the necessary components of a five paragraph essay? How does one interest their reader? These questions are answered with this 12-slide PowerPoint which details components of the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion....
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PPT
Curated OER

The Paragraph

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Review the components of a well-written paragraph with your class. Be sure your writers include a topic sentence supported with main ideas and followed by a conclusion. Unity, coherence, and transition words are emphasized. Experiment...