Curated OER
Find the Main Idea
Can your class find the main idea for the short passages provided here? Not only do they identify the main idea out of four selections, but they must also write a supporting idea for their choice. The answer sheet provides example...
Curated OER
Find the Main Idea
It's important for learners to be able to identify the main point in an article, paper, or essay. Start by having them identify the main idea in a short paragraph. There are three short paragraphs (each with four multiple choice options)...
EngageNY
Summarizing and Synthesizing: Planning for Writing an Apprentice Wanted Ad
In instructional activity 13 of this unit on colonial trade, young researchers learn about apprentices as they prepare to write help-wanted ads for the specific trade they have been researching. To begin, the class listens closely as the...
Curated OER
Writing - Combining Ideas to Write Descriptive Paragraphs
Pupils develop a strategy for combining various ideas into well formed sentences which then combine to produce effective descriptive paragraphs.
Curated OER
Space Food
What do astronauts eat in outer space? Kids can read an informational passage to learn about space food. The passage includes prompts that have learners identify the main idea and key details, then write a paragraph summarizing the text....
Curated OER
Development of the Atomic Theory
In this atomic theory instructional activity, high schoolers complete a paragraph describing the development of the atomic theory by filling in the blank with 21 terms.
Curated OER
Paragraph Writing
Third graders receive Gummi hamburgers. They discuss parts and structure of a (real) hamburger. Students dissect the gummi hamburger and rearrange the pieces. Students discuss the problems that would be caused by this with a real...
Anchorage School District
Hints for Writing a Conclusion
Writing the conclusion of an essay can often seem like a superfluous or daunting task. Support your young writers in understanding the various types and purposes of a conclusion paragraph, such as summarizing key points of a paper or...
Curated OER
The Outsiders Project Guide
Hand out these project ideas when working with The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Pupils can choose from six different options or propose their own. The idea is that they will complete more than one project to meet the point requirement. The...
EngageNY
Close Reading of Thank You, Mr. Falker: Identifying the Superpowers of Reading
Third graders read excepts from the story, Thank You, Mr. Falker in order to gain practice in understanding an unfamiliar story by focusing on the details. They use a worksheet, embedded in the plan, which directs them to certain...
Curated OER
Finding Main Ideas
What is the main idea? Previewing a text is a great way to identify the main idea without even reading, but what areas of a text do you preview? Teach your third, fourth, and fifth graders the most important areas to preview before...
Curated OER
Paragraph Proofs
Students explore the concept of paragraph proofs. In this paragraph proofs lesson, students make flow charts of the process of getting ready for school. Students convert the flow chart to a paragraph proof. Students use geometric...
Curated OER
Writing a Descriptive Paragraph
Students discuss the definition of a descriptive paragraph with the class. They read an example of a descriptive paragraph and then write one of their own using one of the included ideas.
Curated OER
English and Literacy: Children's Rights - Expanded Paragraphs
Learners write expanded paragraphs about children's rights. In this writing and children's rights lesson, students listen to Caroline Castle's, For Every Child, noting the points about children's rights on each page. They discuss each of...
Curated OER
Developing a Paragraph
For this paragraph worksheet, students read about the 3 parts of a paragraph, then cut out sentence strips and put them together, forming a topic sentence, details, and conclusion.
Curated OER
Transportation Workers
Summarizing a text means being able to identify supporting details. Your class can learn about transportation workers in Chicago as they read a one-page informational passage. When they are finished reading they'll explain what they've...
Curated OER
Organizing Ideas
Eighth graders investigate varous writing skills as part of larger course of study. The lesson is essentially a rough guide for conducting a class for writing. The main focus of the plan is organizing ideas using various strategies that...
Curated OER
Supporting Ideas
In this supporting ideas worksheet, students read a few sentences about a girl going to the zoo and fill in the blanks about what she saw there. Students fill in the blanks for 9 sentences.
Curated OER
Rule of 3 Web
Students create a web with the writing topic in the center of the web. They extend three branches from the center of the web, write the main ideas that support and develop the topic. They draw three branches that extend from each main...
Curated OER
A River, Dead or Alive: Native Americans and European Colonists' Treatment of a River
Students write an expository paragraph about the uses of the Nashua River for the Native Americans and the European Colonists. In this river uses lesson plan, students determine the causes and effects of both parties using the river.
Curated OER
Transcendentalism and Epiphany in Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine
Twelfth graders examine the characteristics of transcendentalism. In this transcendentalism lesson, 12th graders determine what this type of writing entails before reading a passage from, Ray Bradbury's, Dandelion Wine. They cite three...
Curated OER
Harriet Tubman Integrated Unit
Students organize facts about Harriet Tubman. For this writing lesson, students research Harriet Tubman, sort facts about her into two categories, and use the information they have found to write about her life in complete paragraphs.
Curated OER
Paragraph Writing
In this paragraph writing learning exercise, students read a short paragraph and then answer 3 short answer questions about sentence fluency. Next, students choose from 6 different main ideas and write a paragraph with a mixture of...
Curated OER
Rachel's Life is in a Hole
Explore how lack of access to water impacts peoples' lives in poor countries. Through text reading and discussion, middle schoolers are presented with the story of a young girl who lives and functions with limited water resources. They...