Curated OER
From Graphic Organizer to Composition - Grade Six
How does one use a graphic organizer to plan writing? Introduce your writers to different types of graphic organizers by dividing the class into groups and assigning each group a particular organizer. Then, as they research chocolate...
Student Handouts
Graphic Organizer: Reference Citations
Pupils practice researching sources and logging citation information with this graphic organizer. After posing a general topic, groups of students are asked to devise general questions about that topic, and to research sources that they...
Curated OER
Developing a Topic for Writing Using an Idea Web
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...
Curated OER
Using Word Processing to Create Graphic Organizers
Middle schoolers create a graphic organizer and instructional rubric using word processing software. They conduct Internet research at the History Alive website, and publish an essay.
Curated OER
Night Compare Contrast
Using a constructivist approach and a graphic organizer, small groups work together to begin a paper, comparing and contrasting the novella Night and the movie Life is Beautiful. Assuming that your learners have studied both of these...
Curated OER
Zoo's Clues!
Students determine the difference between major and minor details after researching animals and completing graphic organizers. They write descriptive paragraphs for classmates to guess what animal is being described.
Curated OER
Graphic Organizer: Research Note Taking Made Easy
What do you wonder about bats? Use an open-ended question like this to engage your class and interest them in an upcoming research project. There's a list of example questions to offer or suggest regarding bats, but see what they can...
Curated OER
Tell It to the Judge - Persuasive Essay
Students write a persuasive essay that compares and contrasts a classic fairy tales with a fractured one. They use the writing process to complete and publish the essay.
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Night to Life is Beautiful
After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...
Curated OER
Unit 3: Scientific Writing
Write-on! Demonstrate a writing model and support learners as they write an informational essay on a water resource issue of your (or their) choosing. The lesson plan provides a well-scaffolded summative writing experience that wraps up...
Curated OER
SATP Informative Essay I
Young scholars explore the basic steps of writing an informative five paragraph essay. Using a hamburger as an analogy, students discuss the five part method of writing and, given blank hamburger sheets, they fill in the main parts of...
Crabtree Publishing
State Your Case Series
Four lessons make up a unit focused on writing persuasive essays. Each unit builds on the last, ultimately taking pupils through the writing process. Scholars make a claim, create an argument, debate both sides, then state their opinion....
Curated OER
Telling Our Stories of Giving - Writing to Persuade
After identifying the parts of a persuasive piece of writing, young writers explore different prewriting activities for the persuasive essay. They have the option to write a news article, personal narrative, or persuasive essay to...
K12 Reader
A Planet in the Solar System
Take young scientists on an exploration of the cosmos with this cross-curricular writing exercise. Tasked with producing an expository composition describing a planet of their choosing, students perform research and present their...
Curated OER
The Personal Narrative - Part Two
Does your langauge arts class journal frequently? Extend one of your journaling activities by having your writers choose a journal entry and take it through the five stages of writing. They will use the attached graphic organizer to...
Curated OER
The Last Word: Using Critical Thinking and Analysis to Reach a Decision
Want to explore the process of writing a persuasive essay and tie it in with the upcoming elections? Class members use Venn diagrams and the hamburger model of persuasive writing to write a five-paragraph essay on elections and...
Alabama Learning Exchange
The Big Bang Theory: An Evidence-Based Argument
What evidence supports the big bang theory? Individuals analyze scholarly resources about the the theory and develop arguments backed by evidence. They brainstorm, share ideas, watch a video, and read articles to complete a graphic...
Channel Islands Film
Magic Isle: Lesson Plan 4
After watching West of the West's documentary on Catalina Island, The Magic Isle, class members research how Walt Disney's and William Wrigley's different visions impacted the island.
Curated OER
Thankful Writing
Students go through the entire writing process to create an expository essay about what they are thankful for. They use graphic organizers to guide them through the process.
Curated OER
The Hamburger Essay - AKA The Sandwich Essay
Students discuss how a five paragraph essay has five basic parts. They compare this to a well-made hamburger. They create a mind map of a five paragraph essay using the graphic of a tasty hamburger sandwich.
Curated OER
Edgar Allen Poe And The Art Of Composition
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...
Bright Hub Education
Find Future Employment Ideas by Writing a Career Essay
Use the constructive ideas in this resource to assist in developing your own career writing project for your junior high or young high school scholars. The resource provides step-by-step plans for the educator and learners, as well as...
Curated OER
Why Do Authors Write?
Sixth graders use short reading passages to identify, explain, and discuss the author's purpose for writing. After a lecture/demo, they utilize a graphic organizer embedded in this plan to organize their writing ideas.
Turabian Teacher Collaborative
Introductions: Formulating Problem Statements
Describing a problem efficiently doesn't solve it, but a well-crafted argument can move readers to action. High schoolers focus on structuring problem statements by reading examples of strong essays and working in groups to create their...