Teach class members how to use comparison in their writing to clarify and enrich ideas. Referring back to the brief description and the sample paragraph, writers develop a paragraph that uses comparison effectively. More scaffolding and...

Apply analogy to paragraph writing. After reviewing what an analogy is and how it can be used, show your class the example. Writers can use the sample as a model as they compose their own paragraph that explains an idea through an analogy.

Authors use many strategies when writing stories. A series of extra support lessons breaks down those strategies, as well as key grammatical and phonics-based concepts to support struggling learners. The last of three lessons offers...

N.B.. cit., n.b., viz., sc., inf. e,g,—these abbreviations frequently appear in academic papers and on works cited lists, but what do they mean? Part of a larger series to improve writing skills, the handout on Latin terms and...

Making goals is easy, but how do you achieve them? Guide young decision makers into reaching setting and reaching their goals with a step-by-step guide. After answering questions about what they'd wish for or accomplish, learners write...

A three-day assessment challenges scholars to read a passage from an informational text then complete two activities that lead to a writing assignment. Day one and two begin as readers independently read a passage and tag the most...

What does it take to develop and publish a newsletter? Young academics create a newsletter with original artwork for their school or community. They explore social justice themes and spread messages of tolerance and inclusion. Scholars...

Ever come across an unfamiliar word while reading and can't decipher its meaning? Use a worksheet and graphic organizer that tracks and helps bring meaning to unknown words as learners read a text. A worksheet and graphic organizer come...

Encourage your class members to take the time to reflect on significant events and people from the school year. While originally designed for an AVID class, the writing prompts in this worksheet will inspire self-reflection for...

This lesson is so beneficial it makes any teacher's heart skip a beat! After readers identify words from Words by Heart, they break down unknown vocabulary with a handout detailing various prefixes and suffixes. Once they finish...

As many unfortunate journalists have learned, taking someone else's ideas and passing them off as your own is never a good idea. It's called plagiarism—and it's a big deal. Thankfully, a handout helps writers learn how to avoid...

How to paraphrase, when to paraphrase, and the difference between paraphrasing and quoting is the focus of a 23-slide, color-coded presentation that not only instructs viewers but also asks them to demonstrate their understanding of the...

Explore ways to make research and writing more interesting. The first in a series of three challenge activities designed to accompany Theme 2: Give It All You've Got involve creating sports cards, designing cereal boxes, and using other...

Students are given an obscure topic and told to generate six related questions they think a reader might be interested in knowing. They switch papers and answer each other's questions as 'fraud' experts in their best technical writing...

Seventh graders write, revise, and edit a letter and a story. In this revising and editing lesson plan, 7th graders learn the differences between revising and editing by doing the two to a letter and eventually a story.

Eighth graders analyze the conveyance of honesty in written products. For this writing skills lesson, 8th graders discuss bias and fabrication in writing. Students practice sincere writing as they write statements regarding the common...

Third graders write a letter from one character to another in a story they are reading. For this writing lesson plan, 3rd graders demonstrate their understanding of perspective.

Second graders investigate the proper mechanics of a letter by writing to fictional characters. In this friendly letter lesson, 2nd graders read the book Stars in the Darkness, analyzing the story and characters with classmates. Students...

Prepare your class for applying to scholarships with this lesson. Although very bare-bones, this plan provides a writing prompt for learners that will surely get them thinking about how to present themselves to the outside world. The...

Use artwork to illicit responses in a writing journal, and then present your class with the short list of key terms provided. Can your learners add any of their own key terms? Segue for a second, and read tales such as Peter Pan or...

Third graders practice word recognition and vocabulary building. They find word cards in the classroom. Then they practice reading the words and using them in sentences. Additional practice is gained by writing the words and using them...

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...

Summary writing is tough for native English speakers, let alone English language learners! In this plan, high school English learners examine how to annotate online articles and write a one-page summary. They can post this summary on...

As a prequel to a research assignment, class members explore writing citations in the modern Language Association (MLA) and American Psychological Association (APA) formats. In pairs, or individually, researchers use books and magazines...