Begin this activity by asking third graders to bring from home pieces of cloth that represent something important to them. (Have extras for students who need them.) They reflect on important events in their lives, compose narrative...

Explore the writing process by reviewing previously written work. First, middle schoolers analyze a handout in which they must read the text and correct the mistakes with an editing checklist. They proofread their editing and share their...

Support your writers! Clear procedures and appropriate support make this a superb resource for elementary writing instruction. Ready your class to compose original descriptive paragraphs inspired by the episode in Roald Dahl's James and...

Monsters take center stage! Elementary schoolers are assigned to write a descriptive paragraph by a toy company to help in designing a new monster for their toy line. One student composes the paragraph, another uses that to create a...

Students explore language arts by correcting grammatical errors. In this proofreading lesson, students identify the importance of editing their own writing and demonstrate their proofreading abilities by correcting several incorrect...

Students use an editor's checklist to help them proofread examples of other students writing, then edit a worksheet embedded in the plan. For this writing and editing lesson, students look for capitalization, spelling, and grammatical...

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...

Students create Valentine's for soldiers in Iraq. They review how to write a friendly paragraph and discuss the military and duties of soldiers in Iraq. They create postcards and write reasons why they are rpoud of the military and how...

Students use a "spider web" graphic organizer to record information about different types of masks they are familiar with. They write a paragraph about masks. Students read about Native American cultures and compare/contrast the...

Students become familiar with perspective, composition and framing of pictures. In this photographing nature lesson, students photograph and then describe their pictures in a paragraph. Students build pictures to tell a story about their...

Students write letters to e-mail pals and respond to letters received. Students describe the geography of their community to their pals.

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,...

Students create pages to be published into a eBook. Students read a story and identify nouns and attributes that describe the noun. Using a creative writing process, students write paragraphs and combine them for their eBook. Students...

Students conduct a review of famous Americans for both grade levels. They practice cooperative writing and editing. Students use a word processing program and available editing tools. They use their knowledge of biographies and the...

Students review and use the information from previous lessons about their county. In groups, they write articles for various sections of a class newspaper. They review and edit each others work and publish their newspaper using a desktop...

Students create an alien and write a descriptive paragraph about it using all five senses.

Students interview a brick sculptor and aid in building a brick wall. They write expository paragraphs explaining the sequential process of building a reading wall. They create reading wall sketch designs. Students carve their names and...

Pairs use desktop publishing software, as well as digital video and camera equipment, to craft a book review. These reviews are then shared with others in the school community through the class or school website.

Fourth graders answer the question, Where in America did history take place? Through investigation as a travel agent, they discover that history is not an isolated event. They use a wide variety of technological resources to create their...

Learners perform an "autopsy" on a dill pickle to determine its' cause of death. After finding "clues" inside the "body," students organize facts and use their imagination to write an epitaph. As an alternative, learners may view a...

Young scholars visit Florida Governor's mansion online, and create class book about interesting facts and trivia.

Students construct a four-line poem to be used on the inside of a Valentine's Day card. They use a digital camera to show themselves to their "buddies" (local nursing home patients) who receive the cards on Valentine's Day.

Young scholars participate in learning proper interview techniques to interview people in our community. They engage in this project in order to develop interviewing skills, to develop a better understanding of various jobs in our...

Students examine the history of the Labor Day holiday and write a newspaper article about it. They practice using new vocabulary words and discover the layout of a newspaper.