How can you get others to agree with your point of view? This packet focuses on employing persuasive strategies and how to write descriptively. There's a writing sample provided, and a great graphic organizer. Use these tools to help...

Design an informational brochure to urge people to move to a specific community. The purpose of this activity is to expose pupils to expository writing. After creating the brochure, they write a three-paragraph persuasive or...

Useful in an Of Mice and Men unit, or in a unit that focuses on descriptive writing, this lesson prompts young authors to impersonate John Steinbeck's writing style in the opening passages of the novel. A Six Trait writing activity...

After listening to the story, The Best Part of Me, learners will identify a positive physical feature of themselves, and create a descriptive poem about their favorite feature. Photographs are taken, and a nice final draft of the poem is...

Young scholars review previously written essays, draw pictures of shapes, and write descriptive essays.

Students read the story I Know a Lady by Charlotte Zolotow. They discuss the details from the story. Students draw an illustration of what they expect their Thanksgiving dinner table will look like. They list details that describe their...

Young scholars demonstrate their knowledge of geography with this fun, collaborative social studies project. Working in small groups, students develop their very own countries, writing descriptions...

Learners identify geographical features of different regions encountered by migrants on the Oregon trail. Students research how the Oregon landscape may have affected life and 19th century westward migration. Learners write a narrative...

High schoolers investigate a decade of American history when the civil rights movement was a focus of national attention. They create a video essay about a person or event that played an important role in shaping the civil rights movement.

Second graders write as essay describing the cooperative group drawing they made or describing the process to draw a group picture.

Writing a persuasive argument starts with a clear thesis. Using this resource, your class will write a persuasive paper on a conservation issue. They will then transform their argument into a 30-second public service announcement. If...

What happened to a murder case when the police eat the murder weapon? After reading Roald Dahl's dark and ironic short story "Lamb to the Slaughter," students write a persuasive essay to convince a jury that the wife who killed her...

 Students describe the sensory experience of a character's journey in an essay.  In this precise details writing instructional activity, students explain the effects on the senses of weather, time of day, landscape, and other...

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'.

Young writers identify the characteristics of a bat and write an essay about bats. They construct a book about bats that includes information that they have learned through print materials and online resources.

Through casual talk and structured interviews, 6th graders tap into the wealth of their senior pals' experiences. They write descriptive essays and narratives based on conversations with relatives or neighbors. They read selected...

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...

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...

It's wonderful to see a lesson that incorporates art, movement, and writing. These three forms of creative expression are explored as learners dance to music from the Gullah people of West Africa. They analyze several paintings, listen...

It's easy to criticize those in power until you're sitting at their desk, faced with the same decisions. A history lesson plan prompts secondary learners to research the Roosevelt presidencies through the lens of leadership and...

Junior designers brainstorm the elements that a bedroom might have, such as a bed, television, and dresser. They identify which items are needs and which are desires. They practice measurement skills in the classroom by determining its...

Young scholars study how to create a compost heap. In this composting instructional activity, students create a compost heap. Young scholars write an essay describing the process.

Students create an expository essay. In this writing lesson Students are assigned a country and must conduct research surrounding a historic event that occurred in that country at the time of their birth.

Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...