Use an article about an Orca killing a trainer to help writers complete a persuasive essay. The article, other templates, and models are attached. Scholars divide up into groups of three where each person takes a different role,...

Although this lesson plan was written to use Express Magazine, it could easily be done with a different source. Pupils write on topics of their choosing, using vocabulary and phrases selected by the teacher. They then create their own...

Upper graders listen to the blues. They discuss blues scale, read a description of the blues, and work together to write an original piece. A lesson like this ties into American history and African-American musical contributions very...

Teach your upper graders how to use an idea web to develop a topic for writing. After reading a variety of stories about friendship (a list of stories with the theme of friendship is included), model using an idea web. Class members...

High schoolers evaluate several works by Edgar Allen Poe based on the criteria in his essay, "The Philosophy of Composotion" Their analysis is documented using a graphic organizer. Learners begin the pre-writing process for their own...

Combining art, music, dance, and reading comprehension, this lesson is geared to reach all ability levels. After reading a variety of fables and discussing story elements and character traits, class members select a moral to use as the...

First graders practice their letter writing skills by writing to a fictional character.  In this formal writing instructional activity, 1st graders read the books The Jolly Postman and Frog and Toad are Friends to examine the...

Ninth graders, while looking and examining a photograph provided to them, write a composition that exemplifies the photograph with at least three of the five composition rules illustrated with 100% accuracy. The composition is the start...

Students select an instrument and create a musical composition. In this musical composition lesson, students invent an original piece of music that is 16 measures long. Students hum and record their pieces.

Third graders create a rap using basic AB form composition. Evaluation of performances are based on rubric formed during the first lesson by all students. This three to four day lesson culminates in student performances and evaluation.

Students write an original song using music composition software such as Music Time. By doing this, students identify another use for the computer besides word processing and games.

Second graders use the writing process and submit a story to www.kids.com.  In this story writing instructional activity, 2nd graders choose a topic for a story contest.  Students develop their stories. ...

Second graders use the writing process and create a silly story.  In this silly story lesson, 2nd graders will review person, event and setting and complete a chart for each.  Students will put a person, event and setting...

Students create poems and sound compositions using instruments, sounds, and pictograph notation. After listening Debussy's Children's corner suite, they brainstorm a list of snow vocabulary words. Students write poems and in groups...

Look at life from a bug's perspective, and create a wonderful image based on what you think it sees. Learners use the crayon resist painting technique to draw and paint and picture of a bug's world from its point of view. Tip: This would...

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,...

Students create a finished drawing with a dynamic, asymmetrical composition. Pencil sketches are encouraged for final projects. Students assess their own work prior to submitting the artwork.

Looking for a lesson about differing sentence types? Use this lesson on compound and complex sentences in your grammar unit. After composing simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences individually and as part of a group,...

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...

Use hypertext to make a multimedia choose-your-own adventure story! Young writers incorporate knowledge of story writing elements to write their own stories, and rewrite the adventure with various scenarios and endings. Use technology to...

Students compose music with musical instruments, and write the proper notation for the songs they have created.

Use photography as a tool to improve writing skills. Provide pupil pairs with a digital camera and challenge them to capture images of the classroom they find visually striking. Each class member then composes a descriptive piece about...

Second graders analyze descriptive writing. In this writing lesson, 2nd graders read a story with a villain, describe the villain in words, and create a Wanted Poster describing him on paper.

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.