Fourth graders discuss who likes hamburgers. Students listen as the teacher compares the hamburger to a paragraph, and the hamburger patty to the topic sentence. The class works together to write a paragraph. The teacher provides gummy...

Students compare and contrast an academic and Impressionist portrait. For this art history lesson, students look at two different styles of painting and write a paragraph as if they are the subject in the painting. They compare and...

This PowerPoint includes text describing the key elements of a community, as well as the unique features of a suburb, a city, and a town.  Illustrations and clip art are included depicting each type of community. Instructions for...

Walk your class through each step in writing an informal letter. This fabulous PowerPoint provides a great example for all parts of an informal, or personal, letter. After reviewing this presentation, your class will be ready to write...

Students write paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details. In this paragraph writing lesson, students fix sentences and paragraphs. Students also write a paragraph that includes an introduction, supporting details, and a...

In this structure of a paragraph instructional activity, students read a paragraph entitled "Why I Want to Learn English" and identify the parts of the paragraph, including the topic sentence, the main points, the supporting details, and...

Evaluate the use of vocabulary in written paragraphs to make the determination of its appropriateness for a particular audience. As a class, seventh graders develop a fictional team and write three paragraphs to different audiences based...

Pupils combine sentences to create compound sentences. They write about creating their own soda, then make their own soda, comparing and contrasting it with a national brand. They write a paragraph containing compound sentences.

Fifth graders write a paragraph titled "All About Me" in the computer lab after they have drawn graphic organizers to fill in background information about themselves and used a "10-Point Writing Checklist" to do peer editing.

In these paragraph writing worksheets, students study the definitions and example sentences for the topic sentence, the body, and the concluding sentence in a paragraph. Students then read a sample paragraph and answer several review...

Explore expository writing and using precise language in this descriptive paragraph writing lesson. Learners brainstorm prior knowledge about the changing seasons in Ohio. They describe seasonal items, view seasonal pictures from...

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...

Create a five-paragraph essay easily with the bing, the bang, and the bongo method! Learners write an introduction with the thesis containing three parts. Your three body paragraphs then expand upon each part of the thesis. An example is...

The great thing about this presentation on the traditional five-paragraph essay is the color coding. Each aspect of the essay is followed by a concise description and an example. Then a complete paragraph is presented with the key...

Working in pairs, class members use the provided narrative writing rubric to assess the effectiveness of dialogue, pacing, and description in two model paragraphs with similar content. Writers then use the insights they have gained from...

How many of the pupils in your language arts class can differentiate between a colon and a semicolon? Clarify common conventions, including end punctuation, proper capitalization, and sentence structure, with a series of helpful grammar...

Examine informational text with a three-page activity that focuses on taking notes, identifying the main idea, and locating supporting details in order to form a summary paragraph. 

Suggested to accompany a class reading of The Great Gatsby, this plan begins with a discussion emphasizing the reputation of Vanderbilt University. Then, after the class has a working knowledge of the wealth associated with the school,...

The opening exercise in this instructional unit introduces class members to the writing process they will follow to craft an informative, expository research paper that addresses their research question. To begin, writers are asked to...

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...

Rafael Trujillo was president of the Dominican Republic in the 1930s. Pupils read and analyze the first six paragraphs of Julia Alvarez's autobiographical essay "A Genetics of Justice," in which the author describes Trujillo's impact on...

Can you please clarify? Scholars continue to work on their argumentative essays about selling human tissue by clarifying and adding cohesion. Writers begin by looking at model paragraphs and then begin improving their writing. They...

Whether preparing your second graders for an expository writing proficiency assessment or just planning on introducing the writing process, this 37-page packet is for you. The unit has everything you need from scripted lessons to...

After a peer review of their outlines, class members examine a model of an effective, engaging introduction and then craft the first draft of the introduction to their research paper.