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...

Fourth graders discuss who likes hamburgers. Students listen as the teacher compares the hamburger to a paragraph, and the hamburger patty to the topic sentence. The class works together to write a paragraph. The teacher provides gummy...

Eighth graders study persuasive writing. They analzye an editorial for introductory,body, and concluding sentences. They develop arguments for and against various topics in small groups.

Let’s learn about frogs! Young readers are led through “Freaky Frogs,” a non-fiction article. Teach learners how to edit an article so there are fewer details to sift through. After talking through the article, they learn the six steps...

Students improve writing skills by expanding their self-perceptions. Next, they develop idea lists for writing topics. Their ideas become the basis for a class newspaper. following the creation of a group composition, students write...

Third graders observe the procedure for writing a single paragraph. They listen to a story and write a single paragraph response including a topic sentence, with supporting sentences.

Here's a resource that provides debaters with the background information and worksheets they will need when planning a policy debate. Templates and sentence frames, as well as a rationale for using debates in the classroom, are...

Students complete a unit to learn sayings and phrases that help them understand language art concepts. In this sayings and phrases lesson, students complete 11 lessons that use common sayings and phrases to teach language art concepts...

Explore connections within and between informational texts with this lesson about encyclopedia articles. Middle schoolers write encyclopedia articles focusing on topics in American history. They discuss how to determine credibility...

Students examine how to skim textual material. They read an article, and identify the main ideas by reading first and last paragraphs, topic sentences, and other organizational clues.

Students summarize a piece of literature using the technique "mapping" in this lesson. The technique involves 6 main steps: delete unimportant information, delete repeated information, substitute easy terms, add a series of event with...

Fifth graders research a topic of their choice using the internet, magazines, and books. In this research lesson plan, 5th graders are graded on their research and delivery skills of their presentation.

Sensitive material is discussed in this lesson. Please review to ensure that the content is suitable for your class. The topic is the Eighth Amendment and how the U.S. Supreme Court makes determinations about what constitutes cruel and...

Students practice essay skills. In this essay skills lesson, students select an essay subject and take notes for their topic. Students create a web for their essays. Students organize, write, revise, and publish their essays.

Students identify and interpret that non-fiction books have features like a table of contents, a glossary, and an index, which can efficiently help them find information. They also identify how to narrow the search for information by...

Students brainstorm ideas for a teacher selected writing topic. They demonstrate seven steps for writing an academic essay. They jot down words or phrases using different colored pens. They write a thesis statement and create an outline...

Capitalism, socialism, communism ... these may seem like a whole bunch of isms to your scholars. High schoolers won't  confuse them after completing an informative resource. Your class masters how to use primary sources to...

Learners write animal riddles. They write three or more sentences describing a selected animal, and draw a picture to go with their descriptive sentences. Students then create a three slide slideshow using Kid Pix 3 computer software.

Students explore parts of speech by collaborating in groups. In this verbs lesson, students examine several boring sentences with their class and define verbs which can spice the sentence up. Students collaborate in pairs to enhance...

Students write sentences using different writing styles. Through peer editing, they hone their writing to create effective thesis statements. They create a glossary of text messaging terms.

Fifth graders use the Internet to research a topic.  In this expeditions lesson plan, 5th graders answer questions about Lewis and Clark based on the movie they watched previously, use the Internet to research Lewis and Clark, write...

Fourth graders complete a writing project and tutorial using word processing on a computer. They focus on voice, word choice, details, sentence variety, staying on topic, supporting details and connecting sentences. They edit, save and...

Students read articles about various scientific topics from a variety of science disciplines and a variety of sources including newspapers, the internet, scientific journals and magazines for students. They review the articles...

Who named the shapes, or the days of the week? Should words be removed from the dictionary if they're no longer commonly used? Are there too many words in the English language? Language arts students explore these and additional...