Work on using transition words in context by prompting elementary and middle schoolers to write their own persuasive essays using transition words. They explore new forms of transition words and examine how they are used in an editorial...

A Six-Trait Writing instructional activity helps your middle schoolers liven up their word choice and shows them how to evaluate their own writing. Class members take a close look at the language used in poems by Shakespeare, Kipling,...

Compare two versions of "The Three Little Pigs" (traditional and Jon Scieszka's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, told from the wolf's point of view). As your 4th graders recount the familiar version of the story, emphasize the...

Does your language arts class have a hard time with writing transitions? Use this organizational writing lesson to create three effective transition sentences that middle schoolers will use in their research of renewable resources.

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...

Use details and transition words to enhance writing. Sixth graders examine their own writing and insert more details and transition words provided by their teacher. There is a list of 11 "Terrific Transitions," but brainstorm several...

Students identify what types of items are grown on a farm. They discuss how those items are processed and turned into food they everyday. They are to write a paragraph using transition words.

Cut magazine pictures into three sections, having your youngsters piece the pictures back together. With this fun activity, they discover the importance of sequencing a story. Then they use a fun template (shaped like a burger) to write...

The words of Henry David Thoreau on Civil Disobedience seem particularly relevant today, as are his writings and those of other transcendental thinkers who ask what it mean to live deliberately and what are the responsibilities of...

As guided practice, class members work together to revise a model persuasive paragraph. Then they practice independently with their own writing. The included rubric looks at prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, nonfiction text...

What is the missing link? Provide your class with this incomplete essay (it's missing transition words), and have writers place words from the transition word bank into the essay. Also, since only three of the five paragraphs are...

What is a signal word? Recognizing these words is an important step in both reading and writing formal text. Review a list of signal words (provided and organized into specific categories), and then have your class play a game to...

Fourth graders analyze the use of transitions in text. In this transitions instructional activity, 4th graders determine how and why a transition is used at a specific time in a piece of writing. They show transitions by using movements...

Sixth graders discuss their likes, dislikes, hobbies, goals, and special events in their lives. They write a five paragraph autobiography focusing on style, transitions, and details. This is well-suited for either explanatory or...

Research was very different in the past. Pupils once had difficulty finding sufficient information, but now they have the opposite problem. Show your class how to pick the best resources out of the millions of sites an online search will...

Learning to craft quality questions is a skill that can be taught. Class members use the Question Formulation Technique to learn how to create and refine both closed-ended and open-ended questions. They then view West of the West's...

Students plan and write paragraphs while integrating other core subject areas. In this paragraph writing lesson, students complete 5 lessons to practice writing paragraphs. Students incorporate various core subjects into their paragraph...

Students discover the grammatical rules regarding articles. In this grammar lesson, students study the rule regarding the use of "a" and "an" in writing. Students are encouraged to discover the rule on their own and apply the rule while...

Explore grammar rules by completing a worksheet. In this sentence structure lesson, kids define run-on sentences and read sample sentences to determine whether they are complete or incomplete. There is also a space for the writer to edit...

Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...

Eighth graders investigate varous writing skills as part of larger course of study. The activity is essentially a rough guide for conducting a class for writing. The main focus of the plan is organizing ideas using various strategies...

Students write a cultural narrative. In this multicultural writing lesson plan, students create an expository narrative to teach others about their lives. Students complete the narrative and use a buddy editing strategy to revise their...

Students, after reading Fahrenheit 451, brainstorm inventions that could have been in the novel. They present their invention to the class and writing an expository essay about their creation.

Let's peer edit! Have your writers exchange their personal narratives with another learner! While peer editing, they will look for any missing information and identify strong details. They can practice literary analysis skills using a...