All good essays must come to an end. Pupils write the final drafts of their position papers about the best food chain from Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. Next, they share their favorite part of their papers with their partners.

Young writers have written, revised, and peer-edited their historical fiction narratives by the 10th lesson plan in a language arts unit. Fourth graders finally combine their revision notes to create a second draft. The double-spaced...

Young historians use their planning graphic organizer to prepare a personal narrative draft on expert trades. Since the instructional activity is considered the mid-unit assessment, learners respond to a writing prompt related to the...

Should kids under the age of 18 be given access to credit cards? Learners identify pros and cons of using credit, develop claims based on evidence, and finally argue reasons for or against credit for minors.

Should schools impose community service graduation requirements? In the final lesson of the Drafting Board series, learners solidify their practice of crafting an argument supported by sound reason and evidence.

Young historians closely examine the words of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address with this primary source analysis worksheet.

After completing three body paragraphs of an argument essay about life's rules to live by from Bud, Not Buddy Christopher Paul Curtis, it's time to begin writing the introduction and conclusion. Independently, pupils draft the final two...

Learners write about main characters. In this dramatic writing lesson, students brainstorm character ideas. Learners create actions and give the character a voice. Students act out the scene in groups and create a final draft.

Using everything they have learned about writing paragraphs over the past few lessons of the unit, class members compose an informative paragraph independently. This is an authentic assessment of their ability, since learners have...

Is that your final answer? Scholars discuss the terms, edit, and revise. They then complete their final drafts as the end-of-unit assessment of Unbroken. Writers use their graded draft essays from a previous instructional activity to...

The concluding skills unit offers learning opportunities and reviews in preparation for assessments. Scholars participate in lessons that examine spelling patterns, prefixes, suffixes, pronouns, and adjectives, draft a letter, and listen...

Just how long did it take the framers to write the Constitution? What role did the drafting process play? Scholars examine various drafts from the Constitutional Convention to gain a better understanding of its formation. Interactive...

Put another set of eyes on your class's historical fiction narratives with one of the final lessons in the unit. Fourth graders use feedback from their peers to annotate their drafts for revision, particularly their bold beginnings and...

Fourth-grade writers applaud their historical narrative writing pieces through a Writer's Gallery. First, they read an assigned classmate's work and leave a positive comment on a sticky note. Once learners have read a couple of people's...

Class members discover what it means to publish their works. Working on a computer, young writers use an online dictionary to edit their spellings and conventions based on the information added to the rubric. From here, and most of the...

Sixth graders read the short story "Eleven". They write a narrative composition focusing on the use of voice. Students use a computer to create a pre-writing graphic organizer and type their final draft.

Copy all pages to create a book of poems during a poetry study. From alliteration to cinquain to acrostic poem, your class won't run out of templates for writing poems! Each sheet serves as a template for an entire book of poems. Other...

Build your own Spanish unit about family and friends with these assessments and activities! Included here are several summative assessments to choose from and many activity ideas, cross-curricular tasks, and formative assessments...

With the help of a prewriting activity, scholars reserach a topic and compose an expository essay to show what they know about a topic of their choice. 

What is an acrostic poem? It is one of the many forms of poetry that expresses a particular thought, idea, emotion, or feeling. Play with an interactive that allows young poets to craft a topical acrostic of their choice using an online...

Budding poets compose an original free verse poem. Encouraged to use personification and alliteration, scholars read over three tips and examples then try their hand at drafting a poem of their own style.  

Writers compose an original shape poem. Scholars choose a subject to write about and create a visual representation by forming a corresponding picture using the poem's words.  

Students discriminate initial sounds of words and categorize words based on the initial sound. They generate ideas and topics for writing and use prewriting and drafting strategies to formulate text.

Skim, reread, and then take notes. The step-by-step procedure outlined in this resource can be used to help pupils write a summary of a reading passage. Using their notes, class members then draft a summary focusing on the main idea and...