Curated OER
Objective: Clear Writing
This short presentation could be used as a warm-up for students who are studying the Roman Empire. A few vocabulary words are reviewed, then a writing task is presented: students must write a clear paragraph of a non-chronological report...
Curated OER
Character Impressions
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...
Curated OER
Beautiful Noise Poetry
"What a beautiful noise comin' up from the street; got a beautiful sound, it's got a beautiful beat..." Use Neil Diamond's "Beautiful Noise" to guide your class through a Six Trait writing activity, in which they write an original poem...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Poems vs. Lyrics
Combine your pupils' love of music with their growing knowledge of poetry! First, have them bring in their favorite songs for a discussion on word choice and literary devices. Then, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Essay Checklist
Are you looking for a basic checklist your writers can use as they edit a peer's compare/contrast essay? Reviewers simply check yes or no for each of the criteria listed in three categories, and then use the space at the bottom of the...
Curated OER
Bringing the Line to Life
Students use different types and lengths of sentences. They write with an insight of the stylistic aspects of composition. Students use precise language including adjectives, adverbs, action verbs and specific details that convey the...
TV411
Avoid Mushy Writing: Be Specific
Replacing, bland, inexact generalizations with specific statement and precise information is the focus of a worksheet that models how to transform general statements into specific ones. After examining four models, learners have an...
Curated OER
Show, Don't Tell: Details to Make Writing Come Alive
After each of three viewings of a 45-second video, aspiring writers employ vivid adjectives and precise, strong verbs to "show, don't tell." First they compose a single sentence, then three, and finally a five-sentence paragraph. Repeat...
Virginia Department of Education
Adding Specific Vocabulary
An exercise and activity tackle the struggles young writers have in expressing and adding details and specific vocabulary to their writing. The instructor guides the class with an example paragraph, where the learners discuss what the...
Curated OER
Every Dog Has Its Day
Students 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.
Curated OER
A Moment in Time
Eighth graders study poems to see how punctuation, line length, rhythm and word choice can be used to create a memorable moment. They read and discuss poems by Shel Silverstein.
Curated OER
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (Letter 24)
In this The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis worksheet, students read the story, define six key terms using only one or two words and answer ten comprehension questions.
Curated OER
Building Believable Characters
Students use descriptive strategies such as physical descriptions, background, and comparison of characters when writing narratives. They develop the topic with supporting details and precise diction to paint a visual image in the...
Curated OER
I See and I Think (It's A Wonderful World)
Students analyze song lyrics (by listening to the song) to pick-out descriptive vocabulary. They use this descriptive vocabulary to create a drawing of the images they "see" in the song. They compare their drawings to find similarities...
Curated OER
Getway to More Descriptive Writing
Middle schoolers use more precise descriptive words in their writing.
Curated OER
Said Is Dead
Young scholars revise writing to improve organization and word choice. They check for logic, order of ideas and precision of vocabulary. Students list different verbs for the word "said." They write dialogue in which the speakers tell a...
Curated OER
Crazy Critters Teach Parts of Speech
Students create pieces of writing about a creature they have created. They examine the parts of speech and how they are used in their writing to see how they can write more specifically.
Curated OER
PhotoStory 3 Lesson Plan
In this lesson, PhotoStory 3, young scholars create a story board of an original poem through the use of PhotoStory 3 presentation. Students write a poem and use it to develop their storyboard. Young scholars publish and share their...
Curated OER
Creatively Creating Expository Essays
Students, after reading Fahrenheit 451, brainstorm inventions that could have been in the novel. They present their invention to the class and writing an expository essay about their creation.
Curated OER
What Do You Think of Obama's Oval Office Speech on the Oil Spill?
Kids age 13 and older are asked to read the provided Times article and background information in order to construct a thoughtful blog response to Obama's first Oval Office speech. They work to address each of the related critical...
Curated OER
My Wilderness Adventure
Middle schoolers use a story starter and given questions to continue their adventure. They use the Internet and books to research about winter survival skills, how to find food, water and shelter in the snowy mountains and discover...
Curated OER
I'm A Poet and Now I Know It
Eighth graders gather ideas generated from other poems and their own inspiration, to create original poetry. A celebration is included as students bind and submit poems for publication.
Curated OER
Haiku Poems
Eighth graders study haiku poems. In this poetry lesson, 8th graders write two haikus containing the standard 5-7-5 syllables content about things they enjoy within nature.
Curated OER
What's the Story?
Students write a group continuation story after reading the novel, The Giver. They write a continuation of the story of Jonas' and Gabe's adventures in Elsewhere, then share their story with the class.