What a fantastic resource to guide youngsters in persuasive letter writing. They read a brief letter to the editor and answer question about the author's purpose, word choice, and structure. Next, scholars draft their own letter by...

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...

Second graders use 'Read Kansas' cards to learn about the daily life activities of an Osage boy and a pioneer girl. In this similarities and differences lesson plan, 2nd graders write a paragraph and draw a picture...

Twelfth graders examine the characteristics of transcendentalism. In this transcendentalism lesson plan, 12th graders determine what this type of writing entails before reading a passage from, Ray Bradbury's, Dandelion Wine. They cite...

In conclusion ... Scholars analyze the model essay Adversity Faced by Townspeople in the Middle Ages to gain a better understanding of introductory and concluding paragraphs. After studying the author's strategies, learners begin...

Dander from the show Twisted Whiskers and characters from My Little Pony are featured in this three part lesson that explores using story pyramids to scaffold ideas, adding sensory details to enrich writing, and editing using common...

Just like you choose your clothes to ensure they fit the occasion, you should choose your words deliberately while writing. Style, the main topic of one handout in a series on writing skills, involves choosing words carefully and paying...

Set up your writers for writing strong introductions with a formula for putting together supported thesis statements. This reference page breaks the process down and provides an example of how to compose a thesis statement, develop a...

Walking in nature is the theme of a unit designed to support English language development lessons. Scholars look, write, speak, and move to explore topics such as camping, woodland animals, instruments,...

Full truth, or an exaggeration? How can you tell when a storyteller is exaggerating a story? Readers analyze a story told by Hortensia, and identify the exaggerative language she uses. Then, learners write their own narrative story using...

What are some universal aspects of refugees' experiences worldwide and throughout history? Scholars read the text "Refugees: Who, Where, Why" and create two class anchor charts. Finally, they each write a paragraph that provides an...

Writers near the end of the unit and begin working on the end-of-unit assessment. They analyze the prompt and a model performance task. The class then begins creating a rubric for the assessment by writing bullet points from their think...

What factors make adaptation successful for refugee and immigrant children? The class explores the topic by reading two paragraphs from "Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison." Next, they engage in a think-pair-share to discuss...

Sometimes words aren't the best way to get information across to the reader. The eighth handout in the 24-part Writing the Paper series describes different type of figures and charts to display complex information in a paper....

Fifth graders study how to form paragraphs. In this writing instructional activity, 5th graders discuss why it is important to have paragraphs in their writing. Students also explore the rules writers use to know where to begin a new...

Young scholars create a standard outline, using a word processing tool, while they are learning about the basic writing device of the 5 paragraph essay.

Young scientists develop their observation and writing skills as they craft and then post a detailed description of a plant or animal they have spotted and photographed.

Transition words in writing are the focus of the language arts lesson presented here. In it, learners cut out the word-sort cards (embedded in the plan), and put them into four categories: time, examples, space, and summary. They find a...

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...

Plagiarism is the theft of intellectual property. To avoid this crime, class members learn how to create a works cited page and how to craft in-text citations. After examining a high-performance model paragraph and an example of a works...

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...

What is a megalomaniac? Scholars discover the word's meaning as they read and analyze paragraphs seven and eight from Julia Alvarez's essay "A Genetics of Justice." They also read Mark Memmott's article "Remembering to Never Forget" and...

Explore the different symbols of grammar. Middle schoolers write two sentences using different symbols, including asterisks, apostrophes, and ellipses. They also read and answer guided questions.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. According to the 11th handout in the 24-part Writing the Paper series, that's why writing a strong introduction is so important. The handout offers strategies for crafting...