Novelinks
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Cubing Strategy
The toss of a die determines what questions your pupils will answer in this lesson. Learners respond to questions based on Bloom's taxonomy, discussing The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with classmates along the way. They finish by writing up...
Global Oneness Project
Bearing Witness
A controversial construction project in South America, the Belo Monte dam, is endangering local cultures, ecosystems, and communities. High schoolers create a concept map based on an online article they read before engaging in discussion...
NET Foundation for Television
1850-1874 Native Americans and Settlers
Did Western settlers receiving free land from the Homestead Act realize it wasn't really free at all? Scholars investigate the impact Western expansion had on Native American culture in the mid-1800s. They use documents, timelines, and...
Curated OER
A Photo Essay
Learners create a photo essay and present it to the class. The students bring photos to use for their essay and develop a story using the photos. The learners write captions including characters, setting, and plot for each photo. They...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Final Drafting
Young scholars are able to revise their own essays for greater clarity and fluency, adding explanation where needed and cutting extraneous information where appropriate. They are able to compose an academic essay with a complete...
Curated OER
How Are Boundaries Made, Kept, Broken?
Pupils write a first draft of an essay reflecting their opinions of Things Fall Apart. They complete their circle diagrams, have them approved by the teacher, and write their essays. They write in their dialectical journals as they...
Curated OER
How Are Boundaries Made, Kept, Broken?
Pupils complete essays reflecting themes in Things Fall Apart. They use Microsoft Word to revise, edit, and complete their essays. They complete their dialectical journals for Things Fall Apart.
Curated OER
Human Impacts on Sharks: Developing an Essay Through Peer-Review on a Discussion Board
Students develop a paper topic (in this case, the human impacts on sharks) that is peer reviewed by additional students answering guided questions. The original student must respond to the comments by the fellow classmates. All of the...
Curated OER
Context Clues, Plot Structure, Conflict, and Personal Narrative Essay
What are the elements of a personal narrative? Get your class talking by reading "The Necklace" and "A Dangerous Game." The lesson focuses primarily on defining certain vocabulary terms (like context clues, plot, conflict, climax, etc.)...
Curated OER
A New Deal for African Americans
Learners consider how New Deal programs impacted African Americans. In this New Deal lesson, students collaborate to research Internet and print sources regarding selected New Deal programs and African Americans. Learners write essays...
Alabama Learning Exchange
"Batty" About Bats!! (Writing)
Young writers identify the characteristics of a bat and write an essay about bats. They construct a book about bats that includes information that they have learned through print materials and online resources.
Curated OER
Best Part of Me
After listening to the story, The Best Part of Me, learners will identify a positive physical feature of themselves, and create a descriptive poem about their favorite feature. Photographs are taken, and a nice final draft of the poem is...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Boxing and Analysis
Model for your high schoolers how to prepare for the essay portion of the AP Literature exam. For guided practice, pairs analyze metaphor, simile, tone or syntax in Norman Mailer’s “The Death of Benny Paret,” and then work independently...
Curated OER
What A Tangled Web We Weave
Learners of many ages discuss how all organisms rely on other organisms for their survival. They construct a food web and energy pyramids, and write an informative essay about the food web that they have designed.
Curated OER
Free Enterprise System
What are the benefits of a having a free enterprise system. In groups, your young entrepreneurs create a new business concept and brochure, then work independently to write a brief essay on business freedoms. This a fun and motivating...
Virginia Department of Education
Writing Counterarguments
This activity is better utilized as a peer-editing exercise and not as an activity on how to write counterarguments. Writers take their argumentative rough drafts, peer edit in groups of four, and review the author on common essay...
Curated OER
Michelle Kwan: Heart of a Champion
Who is a champion to your class? Elementary and middle schoolers think of a role-model from their lives. Then, in their journals, they write evidence of that person's perseverance. They identify the character trait of perseverance with...
Curated OER
Geographically Speaking
Students play a matching game to reinforce the retention of vocabulary words. In this geography lesson, students watch a PowerPoint to define vocabulary words associated with geography, play a memory game with the words, and write an...
Curated OER
The Embodied Presidency Wilson
Students take a closer look at U.S. intervention in Mexico. In this 20th century history lesson plan, students examine primary documents to consider why the United States entered the Mexican War and then write DBQ essays on the topic.
Curated OER
Paragraph Unity
Your class can construct a well-written paragraph. They utilize a sequential method which assists them in formulating a concise expository piece. The paragraph must contain a topic sentence, five supporting sentences, and a conclusion.
Curated OER
Writing: Barn Raising
Young writers compare writing a paper to building a barn. They write a thesis statement using parallel construction and use transitions to hold the paper (walls of the barn) together. A barn raising video link is included; great for...
Curated OER
Aerosol Lesson: Language Arts
Pupils construct a model of a volcano. They read "NASA Facts Atmospheric Aerosols" and discuss the impacts of volcanic eruptions. They write informative essays about how aerosols impact the Earth.
Novelinks
The Book Thief: Cubing Strategy
Whether used to review prior to a reading assessment or as a way to generate ideas for an essay, this activity is sure to encourage critical thinking about Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. Kids create a six-sided question cube with each...
Curated OER
Three Reasons Why I Want To Be...
Learners investigate the process of writing an expository paper. The purpose of the paper is established in the introduction and the supporting details are sequenced in a logical order. The paper possesses punctuation and grammatical...