Curated OER
Monster Descriptions
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...
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Strong Descriptive Writing: James and the Giant Peach
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...
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Writing Descriptive Paragraphs
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...
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Expository Writing (Informational Brochure)
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...
Curated OER
Writing Short Stories: The Fun Way
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...
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Description Paragraphs
Young writers use the provided Halloween-themed template to record information gathered after researching a topic related to the October holiday. Six different expository text structures are suggested as a guide; however, information on...
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Geography of Canada
All about Canada! Learners explore the geography and providences of Canada by watching videos, studying maps and conducting internet research. By the end of this lesson, your class should be able to locate major areas and compare and...
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Writing Expository Paragraphs
Learners read Arthur's Pet Business and complete a pre-writing worksheet for expository writing. In this paragraph writing lesson, students gather and organize material for a paragraph about pets.
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Our Dinopals with WordArt
Elementary schoolers use the writing process steps to write a descriptive paragraph about a fictional dinosaur. Using a tech tool lesson, they create a graphic title for the paragraph. A nice blending of technology with "old-fashioned"...
University of Arizona
Fusing Firecrackers with Narrative
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...
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Descriptive Paragraphs
Third graders gain the necessary skills to write a descriptive paragraph. They see the evaluation and decision making process that are used in good wriitng. The bible is used to see illustrations and then used to paint a picture in...
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Discovering Saturn, The Real "Lord of the Rings"
Reading, writing, and rings! A lesson plan from NASA combines space science with authentic reading and writing tasks. Included in this lesson plan are pre-reading activities, four mini informational booklets on Saturn, a...
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Writing a Television Advertisement
Pupils choose their favorite television show, craft and illustrate an advertisement for this show, and then write a short paragraph about why the show appeals to them. No provisions are made for children with limited or no viewing...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Informational Writing
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,...
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Getting to Know You
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...
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Show, Don't Tell: Details to Make Writing Come Alive
After each of three viewings of a 45-second video, aspiring writers employ vivid adjectives and precise, strong verbs to "show, don't tell." First they compose a single sentence, then three, and finally a five-sentence paragraph. Repeat...
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Awesome Animals
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...
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Vivid Verbs
Spice up your writing! Your amateur writers will benefit from concentrating on understanding and improving verb use in writing. An introductory activity addresses weak verbs. A second exercise helps them see the importance of strong...
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Combining with Participial Phrases
Combine participial phrases and creative writing with this lesson, which is equally helpful for writing skills and conventions. After a mini-lesson on participial phrases and reading the picture book Dancing in the Wings, pupils use a...
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Lesson: Weaving Words
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...
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Writing Descriptions of "My Favorite Place"
Students write a descriptive writing piece. In this writing activity, students use a visualization exercise to add more descriptions to their writing.
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Painting Places with Words Using John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
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...
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Topic Sentence
Students write a topic sentence to a paragraph and explain that it introduces the main idea. After a whole-class demonstration, students write a complete paragraph with their topic sentence and supporting sentences. There are some...
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Don't Let the Earth Down
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...