Hi, what do you want to do?
Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: Everybody Can Bike
A three-part assessment challenges scholars to read informational texts in order to complete three tasks. Following a brief reading, class members take part in grand conversations, complete charts, and work in small groups to research...
Curated OER
Writing Exercises: The Byzantine Empire III
Three wonderful questions will help your middle schoolers better understand the Byzantine Empire. They construct short essay responses to each of the three prompts, discuss the schism between the Greek and Roman Catholic church, the...
Curated OER
Writing Exercises: Early Peoples
Human prehistory is an exciting topic for many learners! Engage your social studies class in critical thinking by having them answer the three short essay questions on this activity. They need to know why prehistoric people migrate, how...
Student Handouts
Writing Exercises: Early Japan I
Consider the factors and outcomes of societal changes that occurred during the Japanese Feudal period. Critical thinkers use what they know to answer three short essay questions. This helpful worksheet is a great tool for building...
Student Handouts
Writing Exercises: Early Japan II
Did your class finish reading about Feudal Japan and the Tokugawa Shogunate period? Reinforce their understanding with three essay questions focused on comprehension and critical thinking.
Student Handouts
Writing Exercises: Russian Revolution, #1
What were the roles of the Reds and Whites in the Russian Civil War? What were the causes and reactions to the Russian Revolution? These intriguing questions need answers, and your class has just the people to do it! They can answer...
Student Handouts
Writing Exercises: Chinese Communist Revolution, #3
The Chinese Communist Revolution, the massacre at Tiananmen Square, and the market economy under Deng Xiaoping are the focus of this writing prompt. The class will respond to three short-answer prompts related to the Communist Revolution.
Student Handouts
Writing Exercises: Conflicts and Change in the Middle East, #2
A lot has been going on in the Middle East over the past 20 years. Your class can read and then write to describe the US and Soviet involvement in the Iran-Iraq War, the impact of Islamic fundamentalism on world politics, and Egypt's...
Student Handouts
Writing Exercises: Change in Latin America, #1
Political change in Latin America is the topic of these writing prompts. Critical thinkers will use what they know about Latin American history and politics. They'll respond to three prompts focused on the role of Juan and Eva Peron in...
Student Handouts
Writing Exercises: Change in Latin America, #2
The effects of changes in the Latin American government are the topic of this writing exercise. Challenge your class to read and respond to three prompts that describe the Sandinistas of Nicaragua, Latin American immigration to the US,...
Curated OER
The Battle for Derby Bus Station
Ever heard of the battle to save the Derby Bus Station? Built in 1933 by Charles Herbert Aslin, its art deco design was unique and The Beatles once dined at the café. The station closed in October 2005 and was scheduled for demolition...
Scholastic
Super Sentences & Perfect Paragraphs
An extensive collection of lessons and activities includes many writing, grammar, and proofreading exercises. With templates and worksheets that cover several steps in the writing process, from sentence to paragraph to essay, this...
Curated OER
Essay Project Syllabus
A traditional syllabus for a traditional expository writing course that produces the traditional five paragraph essay.
Learning to Give
Create a Volunteer Spirit
Motivate young citizens to make a positive difference through volunteering. Scholars examine the local and school community to discover ways the class, as a whole, can volunteer their time to help one or the other, then reflect on their...
Curated OER
Researching African Americans Who Made a Difference
Celebrate Black History Month with this lesson, in which middle schoolers create an essay about a famous African-American. Writers conduct research online, take notes to write an essay in proper format, and use ideas, text, and graphics...
Clever Student Training Company
Eliminating Weak Essay Material
A strong essay eliminates weak or unnecessary material. Determining what information contributes to an essay and what information should be deleted is a skill readers and writers of informational text must develop. Class members practice...
K20 LEARN
Let Us Start The Lettuce Club (Or Not): Writing A Thesis Statement
Let us be frank! Writers learn that crafting a thesis statement is not that difficult if one peals back the layers. After watching several videos about the elements of a thesis, class members read the article "Lettuce Club helps students...
Curated OER
Writing Exercise: Economic and Social Revolution I
Learners take a critical look at the economic and social changes that stemmed from the industrial revolution. There are three short essay questions for them to answer regarding suffrage, changes in women's rights, and urbanization as a...
Curated OER
Expository Writing
In this expository writing practice worksheet, students explain three reasons why the person they nominate to be placed on a stamp should be selected. Students write 1 expository essay.
Virginia Department of Education
The Writing Process for Expository Writing
Struggling on what steps to take in your expository essay lesson? 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 writers...
EngageNY
Performance Task Preparation: Peer Critique and Mini-Lesson Addressing Common Errors: Revising Draft Essay to Inform
Time to revise! Using a writing evaluation rubric, scholars participate in a peer editing process to provide feedback on each others' informative essays. Next, pupils begin revising their drafts based on the feedback they receive.
Fluence Learning
Writing Informative Text: School Days
A three-part writing assessment challenges scholars to think critically about schools of the past and present. Learners read informative texts, answer questions to prepare for a discussion, research in small groups, complete a Venn...
EngageNY
Writing to Inform: Colonial Trades
Fourth graders who are studying life in colonial America engage in an instructional activity that has them create a "Help Wanted" ad that would have been written by a master craftsperson from back in the day. They utilize a graphic...
Curated OER
It’s Your Birthday! – Conventions: Revision and Proofreading
Happy birthday! Celebrate everyone's birthday with this writing activity, which prompts seventh graders to research historical events in a country at the time of their birth to create an essay. Working in pairs, they proofread each...