Bermingham City Schools
Opinion Writing
It's no secret that children can be very opinionated, but rather than fight against this natural tendency, embrace it with this primary grade writing project. After a shared reading of a children's book about...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: Step by Step
Young authors examine a clay figure in order to learn about the 6+1 Trait writing process. They consider how the art was made or buit up step-by-step, they then write about a process in their own lives that occurs in a similar way.
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Getting to Know You
After going over the five steps of the writing process, pupils fill out "Getting to Know You" worksheets. They trade papers with each other, and have the task of writing a descriptive paragraph about the person whose worksheet they...
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A Research Project and Article For the Natural Inquirer
Get your class to use the scientific process to solve a scientific problem. They utilize the Natural Inquirer magazine to identify a research question which they write an introduction to and collect data to answer. They use graphs,...
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Macbeth News Broadcast
Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...
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Creating an Original Opera
This may be a lot to ask of a high schooler, but then again, who knows? Pupils work in groups to explore, write, and then perform an original opera. They view versions of The Magic Flute and La Traviata, then compose a plot, characters,...
Carnegie Mellon University
Lab Report
A set of instructions and a 100-point grading rubric have been designed for writing lab reports. Appropriate for middle schoolers, this lays out what to include for each of the six steps in the scientific method: title, hypothesis,...
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Technical Writing
High schoolers discuss technical writing and its importance in the work place and review the definition of technical writing They evaluate technical writing examples and look for characteristics of effective technical writing. They...
Houston Independent School District
Creating a Successful Project
Guide your learners step by step through the process of designing an original, independent student project. This resource includes a wealth of worksheets and materials, including student project checklists, timelines, primary and...
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Process This
Students chart the steps, including the problem-solving tangent, and discuss the idea of procedures serving to give us a "road map" or guide to help tackle tasks with preparation and forethought.
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Design a New Dollar Coin
Students create a design for a new coin after researching people who have impacted history. Students must write a persuasive essay about why this person should be memorialized on the dollar coin and present their person to the class.
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New York City Delights: The Taxi Cab
You set the rate! Step into the shoes of a taxi driver in New York City, and also pretend to be a person who uses taxis to get around town. The class will conduct collaborative research to learn about the history of taxis. Then, they...
Annenberg Foundation
Service Learning in the Social Studies
Active Citizenship Today (ACT) is a "unique social studies service learning program" that requires young scholars to learn about the public policy associated with community issues they identify in their local community. This web...
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All About Me Books
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...
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My Digital Story
Students write and direct digital stories to be presented to their classmates. In this digital stories lesson plan, students can use camcorders, microphones, headphones, storyboards, and more. Students edit their story and present it to...
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Character Bust: Ceramics Lesson
Whether it is a protagonist, antagonist, hero or heroine, characters are a must in any story. Learners analyze a character from a narrative they are reading, then use that character as inspiration. They create a ceramic bust depicting...
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Symphonic Poetry
Middle schoolers interpret the themes in Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, create a 6-line poem based on the themes in the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and define musical terms related to the study of programmatic...
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Natural Twig Journals
Artists of all ages participate in a very basic bookbinding technique incorporating a dimensional object and simple fastening method. They create their own book to use as a sketchbook, writing surface or scrapbook. The results are...
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Biography
Transform a written biography into a video biography! Introduce your learners to the biography format by reading them a few examples (some suggestions are included). Then discuss the factors that make a good biography. What information...
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Language Arts: Writing Diamante Poems
Third graders discover how to write diamante poems and review the parts of speech contained in them. After writing poems about their teacher, they create ones about themselves. The poems, assessed for creativity and handwriting, are then...
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Creative Writing with Images
Learners take digital pictures and write creative stories around them in an electronic storybook. Using WebBlender, they publish their final project as a Website. They also present their stories to students, parents, and community members.
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How an Idea Becomes a Law
Students explore how a bill becomes a law and the actions the President may take. They create a poster illustrating the steps.
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Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf
Students discuss the differences between a storybook and an information book. Students use various materials found in nature to make a nature collage. Students make a nature dictionary using pictures and their own definitions from the...
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A Sentence for Life
What is a sentence? Second graders will explore the components of a sentence in the ten lessons of this unit. The subject, predicate, the process of proofreading, punctuation, and sentence sequence are analyzed in this unit. Handouts and...