Bring this lesson plan into your unit about creative writing and precise language. First, middle schoolers create a piece of writing with the help of their classmates. In the second part of this workshop, they edit their own piece of...

Third graders analyze the importance of characters in fiction writing and performances.  In this theatre lesson plan, 3rd graders identify the important characteristics of a fictional character and how to portray a character through...

As the saying goes, art often imitates life ... and literature! A series of activities designed to accompany a visit to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art encourage writers to find inspiration in various landscapes. The lesson includes a...

To better understand early American literature, which was usually written by Puritans coming to the new world, learners pretend they have just landed on Mars. They compose a letter home describing their experiences, the new landscape,...

Students read Arthur's Pet Business and  complete a pre-writing worksheet for expository writing.  In this paragraph writing lesson, students gather and organize material for a paragraph about pets.

How do you write an interesting beginning, middle, and end of a story? With this lesson, young writers look to other stories as examples. Then, they use some of the attached graphic organizers to help them create their own story. Note:...

Complete the steps of the writing process. Emerging writers present final drafts of essays that include thesis statements, appropriate paragraphing, elaboration, and style. They participate in a peer editing activity that requires them...

Use the accompanying assessment to determine your class's prior knowledge on Martin Luther King, Jr. before beginning a lesson plan on the famous civil rights movement leader. The resource has young historians thinking about life for...

Writers examine the elements of an informational essay, identify them in several essay snapshots, and then craft their own to demonstrate what they have learned.

At the beginning of the lesson, the class discusses the central idea of a poem. After that, the teacher reads a poem, embedded in the plan, to the class. In groups of two or three, learners create their own poem in response to the...

Explore fantasy as a genre. After working in small groups to identify literary elements in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, class members share their work and then use the presentations to help them prepare to write...

Want to explore the process of writing a persuasive essay and tie it in with the upcoming elections? Class members use Venn diagrams and the hamburger model of persuasive writing to write a five-paragraph essay on elections and...

Students write a cultural narrative. For this multicultural writing lesson, students create an expository narrative to teach others about their lives. Students complete the narrative and use a buddy editing strategy to revise their papers.

Students are walked through an outline (Power Writing) and shown how to elaborate on a main idea in their writing.

The practice of developing lyrics by elaborating with sensory details and examples continues in the third lesson on songwriting. This time class members examine Jesse McCartney's "How Do You Sleep?" Using procedures established in the...

Students create stories using only pictures.  In this visual storytelling lesson plan, students read Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie de Paola and analyze the wordless story.  Students create new text for the book by writing on...

Personal narrative writing is usually a favorite form of writing for youngsters because they get to write about a personal experience. The lesson here asks pupils to take a piece of narrative writing and improve it by following...

Junior high writers investigate other student’s sample writing and critique on how it could be improved. Skill emphasis is place on elaboration, voice, and sentence variety. The student writing is provided, but the checklist for revision...

A desk is used as a visual analogy to construct the main idea and supporting details in a story. The top of the desk is the main idea, and each of the four legs provides supporting details. The legs of the desk provide support for the...

This engaging activity is a great change of pace for the classroom. The activity starts with a simple message on the board “The teacher is angry.”  The instructor is to stomp around, drop books and glare—anything to show anger. The...

Struggling on what steps to take in your expository essay lesson plan? Or confused on what to include for your scribes? This exercise in the process of expository writing provides concepts and structure for the educator on what the...

Students use proper writing techniques to write an effective description of the best or worst meal they have ever eaten.  In this proper writing techniques lesson, students review the parts of a composition and discuss was to...

Read a tale for your class as they unravel patterns presented in the story using manipulatives. Pause to allow time for discussion and explanation of solutions throughout the story. They write equations or expressions with order of...

Upper graders explore equality by writing an essay. They read the story Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco, and discuss the meaning of the story and its relevance to Civil War events. Learners investigate the five writing process steps and...