Alabama Learning Exchange
The Big Bang Theory: An Evidence-Based Argument
What evidence supports the big bang theory? Individuals analyze scholarly resources about the the theory and develop arguments backed by evidence. They brainstorm, share ideas, watch a video, and read articles to complete a graphic...
Social Media Toolbox
Social Media Roles
Social media has changed the news publishing process, so how does it affect school news publications? Lesson nine in a 16-part series titled The Social Media Toolbox explores the traditional publishing roles through the lens of social...
Curated OER
Pourquoi Tales
Lead a web search for information on writers and discuss the craft of purposeful writing as a class. Your students investigate "pourquoi tales" which are "why" stories. and then write their own examples of pourquoi stories to share in a...
Curated OER
Maniac Magee: Found Poem
Instruct your readers to scrounge through the pages of Maniac Magee in search for descriptive passages or words they may use to write poetry. As they look for meaningful, sensory descriptors in Jerry Spinelli's novel, readers...
Roald Dahl
The Twits - Mrs Twit Gets a Stretching
A cork, a rubber snake, and a bucket of mud may not seem like the best materials for washing a car, but they are in The Twits. The fifth instructional activity in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl has...
Curated OER
Summer Shorts
Want to use sequence maps in your narrative writing unit? Young writers work to create personal narratives about their summer vacation. They write a narrative of their vacation and create a display using summer clothing shapes made from...
California Academy of Science
What Kind of Geologist Am I?
Transform your class into young geologists as they learn about six different branches of geology. Using the included geology career descriptions and picture cards, learners work in small groups deciding which tools and locations fit...
Education Outside
Plant, This Is Your Life!
Individuals select a plant, illustrate it in their journal, record observations, and create a life story for their plant that accounts for its features and any unique properties. Using these descriptions, a partner attempts to locate...
Curated OER
Writing Newsletters!
A reading of Gail Gibbons’ Deadline! leads to a discussion of the differences between newspapers and newsletters. Class members then choose a favorite topic and create the front page for their own newsletter.
American Chemical Society
Setting the Standards of Excellence
A number doesn't have much meaning without a standard of reference. Learners read about the history of developing standards to measure chemical and physical properties and complete reading guides to process the information. They focus on...
Curated OER
Teaching Writing on a Computer
Walk your young writers through the basics of typing and saving their work on a computer. Step-by-step instructions not only help you prepare classroom computers for this exercise but also provide specific instructions so that class...
Curated OER
Flag Language Arts
Learners write a description of a flag. In this writing lesson, students pick a flag and write a description of it. Learners should include colors and symbols present on the flag. Students share their descriptions and the class must...
Curated OER
Revising Character Descriptions
Students effectively revise character descriptions. In this revising character descriptions instructional activity, students work with a partner to give and receive constructive criticism to improve their character descriptions.
Curated OER
Writing Lesson
Fourth graders connect oral language to written language. They practice strategies for overcoming the fear of writing. They practice prewriting strategies and practice writing descriptive paragraphs.
Curated OER
Reviewing Proper Writing Techniques
Students use proper writing techniques to write an effective description of the best or worst meal they have ever eaten. For this proper writing techniques lesson, students review the parts of a composition and discuss was to...
Curated OER
Show! Don't Tell!
Students write a descriptive paragraph. In this writing lesson, students define elaboration and discuss the characteristics of an elaborate paragraph. Students write a paragraph that contains vivid adjectives, strong verbs and exact nouns.
Curated OER
Our Poetic Planet : Writing Poems about the Earth
Pupils share their thoughts regarding nature. In this poetry instructional activity, students compose poems in different formats that feature weather and clouds.
Curated OER
PhotoStory 3 Lesson Plan
In this lesson, PhotoStory 3, students create a story board of an original poem through the use of PhotoStory 3 presentation. Students write a poem and use it to develop their storyboard. Students publish and share their storyboard. ...
Curated OER
Continue the Writing Process: Drafting
Students draft . For this writing skills writing selections. In this writing process lesson, students plan and draft persuasive and expository pieces following the provided guidelines.
Curated OER
Writing a Reflective Paper
Learners write about literature. In this writing skills lesson, students discuss recurring literature themes and then write reflective essays that about the themes in pieces of literature they have read.
Curated OER
Writing a Persuasive Essay
Students consider the attributes of persuasive essays. In this written communication lesson students examine sample persuasive essays and discuss their impressions of the essays by completing the provided post-reading strategy.
Curated OER
Identify and Write About Cause and Effect Relationships
Students write news reports about current issues. In this writing skills activity, students report about the weight epidemic in the United States as they focus on fast food consumption and how it relates to poor health.
Curated OER
Review Steps in the Writing Process and Explore a Poem
Students practice their persuasive writing skills. In this writing process lesson, students write essays that meet the requirements of the included text element worksheets and analyze poetry of their choosing.
Curated OER
Writing to Learn History: Annotations and Mini-Writes
Students use their critical thinking skills to write about historical events. In this historical perspectives instructional activity, students read documents about historical events and make annotations and marginal notes. Students then...