Present the class with a slide show that will give them a great head start in writing expository and narrative texts. The information is highlighted for easy note taking, well organized, and presented in a kid-friendly manner. It...

Looking for a instructional activity about differing sentence types? Use this instructional activity on compound and complex sentences in your grammar unit. After composing simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences...

Keep the art of letter writing alive in this age of Tweet and Twitter! The 10 activities detailed in this resource lead pupils through the process of crafting classic forms. A list of and links to famous letters is also included as part...

Investigate adjectives with writers. They define adjectives and create their own sentences describing objects found at home using adjectives correctly. Focus on the five senses and sensory details.

What is the difference between an adjective and an adverb? Encourages scholars to explore the answer to this question while building a foundation of the English language. The instructional activity comes complete with an attention...

Help your learners get a good grasp on grammar. An insightful pre-test allows teachers to learn about their young writers' knowledge of the building blocks of grammar, so they can begin building a unit of study. It includes a...

High schoolers examine the New York Times review of the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the elements of scriptwriting. They read the article about the film adaptation screenplay and examine a...

Learners engage in a role-playing situation to illustrate the kinds of compromised that were made a teh Constitutional Convention. They write three short 1-2 paragraph arguments and then present their arguments to the class at the...

What better way to practice employing the different parts of speech than through a song? Young scholars color code different parts of speech in song lyrics, working first as a whole group and then individually. The parts of speech...

A reading of Patrick Henry's "Speech in the Virginia Convention," Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" launch a discussion about the price one is willing to pay to...

Is there such a thing as fate/luck? Can one fight destiny? As part of their study of Chinua Achebe's purpose in writing Things Fall Apart, class members answer these questions from Achebe's point of view and then from William...

Howdy, partner! Scholars partner up to look at the last two rows in the writing rubric. After discussing the details in the rubric about organization and conventions, learners use colored writing tools to circle feedback in their...

Time to revise! Scholars revise their argument essays based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream using feedback from their teacher and peers. They begin their revisions after reviewing a mini-lesson on proper writing conventions.

Learners get in groups, take a list of words, put them into story form, and punctuate them. They present their story to the class and consider how punctuation changes meaning. Great excercise. 

Are your learners working towards their GED? First they study the GED essay rubric, and then they read a sample essay as a group. After studying the basic elements, they write an essay of their own. After peer editing, they revise their...

If you're looking for a presentation that highlights important things to check when writing, then this PowerPoint is for you! The slides include reminders of how to properly open a paragraph, how to use punctuation, to use good...

Create to learn! Your class can create posters of transitional words and phrases to help them compose an explanatory text. They work in groups and focus on one type of transition (time, place, importance, etc.). They also create a poster...

Don't be fooled by the size of the resource: these few pages provide the blueprint for a substantial, thoughtful unit on children's rights and the different philosophies and approaches that the United States and other countries have...

Does the lens of history portray George Washington as a good leader? A three-lesson unit looks at Washington's early military career as the commander of the Virginia Regiment, his role in the fight for independence...

Students explore early 20th century steel making.  In this U.S. history steel making lesson plan, students view and describe a postcard and a picture depicting exaggerated aspects of the steel industry.  Students listen to a...

Verbs are the most exciting words because they describe action. Kids can get excited about verbs too! Once they are provided with a solid description of what they are, how they are used, and what they look like in sentences, verbs will...

Happy Pi Day! This collection of games, experiments, and activities leads participants through an exploration of the many aspects and attributes of that mysterious quantity, pi. Activities range from using statistical...

It is not what you say but how you say it. Class members prepare for writing their A Long Walk to Water essays by analyzing row four in the writing rubric. Learners discuss the words used and talk about the importance of correct grammar...

Young grammarians as well as language learners can benefit from a short presentation about using appositives to combine short, related sentences. After a brief definition of terms, pairs share their ideas and combine model sentences.