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...

How can you interest your reader? Here is a great lesson on reading and discussing the characteristics of a narrative. Elementary schoolers explore writing techniques to hook the reader. They identify their hook and share their...

What's the best way to start a story? Learners write a memoir using effective openings. They research the process and work through a list of hooks to use in their writing. They use at least two hooks to begin their personal memoir. A...

Improve your youngsters' descriptive writing. They study an object and write about what they see as a warm-up, then they read an excerpt from Paul Guest's memoir, One More Theory about Happiness. The next part of the...

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...

Honk if you love bumper stickers! Long used as a persuasive tool, bumper stickers are used to launch this study of persuasive writing. Each class member is given a bumper sticker and asked to formulate three questions the strip might...

Emerging writers identify an informational piece of writing. They are provided with examples of informational writing and view a PowerPoint on narrative writing. Then, they design their own informational writing with a brochure,...

A reading of a New York Times review of the movie Beloved launches research into how the Civil War affected the lives of people living during this period. Creative thinkers select a person from an included list of historical figures and...

Do your young authors suffer from writer's block when they try to write short stories? Access their natural creativity with C-Gor, the writing monster! The instructional activity takes aspiring authors through a new writing process...

Students create an art project and write a process paper  as a response to literature.  In this literature response lesson, students listen to Lynn Ehlert's, Snowballs before decorating a construction paper snowman. They write...

Students work in pairs to create a creature and its habitat out of construction paper. Then students write a narrative to describe the animal and its habitat.

A woven rug depicting birds and cornstalks becomes the inspiration for a lesson on critical thinking and creative writing. Learners analyze the symbolism found in the rug and then compose a descriptive paragraph or poem that embodies the...

Sixth graders write descriptive narratives about animals. In this descriptive writing lesson, the teacher models how to write a paragraph with interesting sensory words and exciting verbs. Students choose a picture of an animal they want...

One photograph can represent so much more than the images on the film. Eighth graders select a photograph from the Civil War era and conduct additional research based on the subject matter from the picture. Once they complete the...

Students analyze narrative passages in order to improve their writing skills. In this narrative writing lesson students use the same style of writing that they have analyzed in their own narrative passage.

Young scholars assume the personality of a pioneer on a wagon train and create daily journals.  In this journal writing lesson, students read excerpts from The Way West:  Journal of a Pioneer Woman.  Young scholars...

Fifth grade reader/writers create an alternate ending to an episode in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach in which our protagonist "loses" the chance to magically solve all his problems. Prompts students not only to write creatively...

Class members use e-mail and the merry-go-round story format to create a science fiction story. Each writer begins by selecting one of three prompts, crafting the introductory paragraph and sending the paragraph to the next person on the...

Second graders interact with the story of Alexander's horrible day by connecting it to their lives. They practice predicting, writing paragraphs, reading aloud, discussing his problems, making a card to cheer him up, and designing a pair...

Students create a personal life timeline to better explain how a historical timeline is effective in studying history. They also write a poem about themselves.

Learners examine the procedures that writers utilize to obtain and develop ideas for writing. Journal writing is fostered as a primary step in the writing process. Learners are encouraged to pay careful attention to using complete...

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 improve their' writing by incorporating photography into descriptive and narrative writing exercises. They write descriptions of various professional photographic collections. Later they use their own and other classmates'.

Learners create brochures about the humor of Mark Twain. In this literature-analysis lesson plan, students read "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and other short stories by Twain. Learners write analytical paragraphs and...