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

Use drawings as inspiration. Have learners doodle for 10 minutes before beginning the instructional activity. Then, have them use their doodles to inspire a story. Several writing activities are included here to play with writing. One of...

It seems that this presentation was designed for future educators, particularly those teaching a foreign language. Basic reading, writing, and organizational skills are presented, encouraging a discussion of strategies amongst your...

Dictionaries, thesauruses, word walls, oh my! Pupils use several resources to revise their position papers to include appropriate vocabulary. Then, after peer editing, scholars write the final drafts of their essays and self-assess using...

Challenge your class to connect to the text of "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros with this activity, which prompts them to write a personal letter from the main character's point of view. The story, prompt, and letter template are all included...

Mail me a postcard. Individuals design a postcard to show what Meg Lowman from The Most Beautiful Roof in the World might have written to her friends at home. They then continue to work on writing a science journal entry.

Words matter, particularly in academic writing. Issues such as vague language, wordiness, and cliches make it difficult to get a point across. Part of a larger series to improve writing skills, the handout on word choice shows writers...

Young historians delve into the world of teenage refugees during WWII to understand their experiences. The activity focuses on a writing assignment from a teen staying at a US refugee camp to explore the struggles they faced, such as...

Just like you choose your clothes to ensure they fit the occasion, you should choose your words deliberately while writing. Style, the main topic of one handout in a series on writing skills, involves choosing words carefully and paying...

Use the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin to teach your third grade class about descriptive writing. Following a teacher read-aloud of the story, the class brainstorms a list of adjectives describing the main character. Young scholars use this...

Follow the leader for better writing! Scholars analyze a model position paper, "Changing Our Water Ways." During the first pass, they listen as the teacher reads the paper aloud. They then do a second read of the paper and complete a...

Despite the formal nature of academic writing, personal pronouns frequently appear in high school and college papers. While your first instinct may be to cross them out, sometimes it's okay to use them, an idea covered in a handout that...

What are the effects of competition in an academic environment? The competition between the main characters in A Separate Peace motivates a series of activities that asks readers to take a stance on competition, and then to develop a...

Challenging pupils' perspectives by having them walk in the shoes of the reader. An informative resource discusses how to identify an audience and anticipate their needs before writing an upcoming argumentative essay. 

Students discover effective writing techniques to create persuasive essays. In this writing lesson, students investigate ways to express facts and points of view through persuasive essays. Finally, the students write their own persuasive...

Second graders discuss what antonyms are and read the book, Quick as a Cricket.  In this antonym lesson, 2nd graders write a short story by describing themselves. 

Fifth graders write poetry using imagery and practice poetry presentation. In this poetry instructional activity, 5th graders listen as the teacher reads a humorous poem using different voice modulations and presentation techniques. They...

Although unlikely in today's English classroom, this lesson focuses on introducing research papers to seniors in high school. It briefly reviews the parts of an essay, and mentions showing learners example essays, but no examples are...

Encourage your pupils to set and meet goals by incorporating regular goal setting sessions. They can fill out this chart, which provides space for writing in six goals, dates by which learners would like to achieve these goals, a...

Set up your learners for success by requiring them to write goals at the beginning of the year. Pupils fill out their goals for math, reading, handwriting, science, social studies, and writing as well as goals for friend and family...

All the tools (and directions) you’ll need  to build an essay are included in a resource designed for learners and educators. The packet can be given to class members or divided into sections and used as part of a series of lesson...

Aspiring artists and budding writers combine their skills in an interactive lesson. Young scholars become authors when they create their own picture books focused on social justice. The resource guides learners through the writing and...

Some of the best information to include when writing a research paper doesn't come from books, magazine articles, or informational websites—it comes from dissertations. However, reading an entire dissertation is often a daunting task....

Historians follow FDR's Infamy speech from rough draft to the official address to the Senate. An intriguing activity compares and contrasts FDR's original speech to the official version. Academics also listen to FDR address the Senate....