Writing a paragraph from details found directly in a text is the central focus of this thorough and explicit lesson plan. Using the stories Nasreen's Secret School and Rain School, third graders are lead step-by-step...

Encourage your young writers to thoughtfully plan and organize their work. First, model how this is done and vocalize your thought process as you work. Next, create a class list of strategies that they can use during independent writing...

Use this lesson to focus on a compare and contrast writing structure in your middle school language arts class. Here, young writers compare and contrast two texts using graphic organizers. They use a double bubble format for their...

Seventh graders access an organizer from an earlier lesson and transition sentences to begin a new essay.  For this organization and composing lesson, 7th graders work in small groups to create a draft of an article about...

High schoolers review writing process, prepare cluster maps, organize events of their lives on an outline, and utilize graphic organizers to write autobiographical essays.

Review story elements with your class. They will use examples from a story to develop critical-thinking questions. Then they use a graphic organizer to describe the setting, character, and plot of the story, focusing on how they...

Learners recognize flags as a symbol through writing and imagery. In this artifact lesson, students investigate Tibetan prayer flags and their significance. Learners create personal prayer flags and write about their life experience of...

Character development, setting, and plot? Sounds like the makings of a good narrative story. Young authors read and analyze several narrative examples, and then they use what they know to pen an original composition. They work both in...

Show a Powerpoint presentation about descriptive writing. Fourth graders brainstorm a list of writing topics and place them in graphic organizers. Then they write their own paragraphs describing topics of their choice and create...

As the culminating activity in a unit study of science fiction, young writers demonstrate their understanding of the genre by producing their own graphic novel. After deciding on the main elements of their story, individuals use a comic...

Get the scoop with a fun, engaging newspaper project. After analyzing the parts of a newspaper, including the headline, subtitles, and pictures or images, young journalists get to work by writing their own stories in a newspaper article...

Get your language arts class moving, build community, and strengthen writing skills with this kinesthetic activity. The class brainstorms interview questions from which each chooses three. Individuals then collect information about six...

Young scholars design book covers. In this graphic design lesson, students are introduced to designing book covers. Young scholars develop skills on how to promote their designs to clients. Students then create their own book covers.

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.

Students employ information literacy skills to research topics. They develop topics using a graphic organizer. They draft, revise and edit research projects. They write an expository essay. They create a web page in Microsoft Publisher.

Third graders use a variety of resources to do research on an animal. Their final project is a graphic organizer for display and an informative multimedia slide show.

High schoolers read given information and identify the main ideas and specific detail of the story. In groups, they read a historical title and create a "book talk" for each one, summarizing the story. In addition, students create a...

Compare and contrast two topics with your class. They will pick a topic of their choosing, create color-coded Venn diagram to visually organize their information, share diagrams with classmates, and write well-organized essay on...

Fifth graders write a paragraph titled "All About Me" in the computer lab after they have drawn graphic organizers to fill in background information about themselves and used a "10-Point Writing Checklist" to do peer editing.

Students discuss the essay, Kumara From the Farmer's Field and examine strategies for organizing facts for future reference. In this reading comprehension lesson, students pretend they are advertising executives who must create a grocery...

Fifth graders give a presentation about one of the explorers. In this explorers lesson, 5th graders research an explorer and give a presentation to the class. While students are presenting the others are taking notes on a graphic organizer.

Middle schoolers create holiday story while working in cooperative learning groups, using Chris Van Allsburg's Polar Express as a writing prompt.

Students write their own version of "Peter and the Wolf". They explore the characters and the instruments that represent the characters. They use graphic organizing software to brainstorm ideas for characters and story lines for...

Seventh graders embark in discovery of basic facts about an assigned continent and are asked to organize their information into categories. The Five Themes model is taught and students reshuffle their information appropriately.