Curated OER
Living Biographies
Third graders create a multimedia slide presentation containing facts, graphics, and sounds relating to a biographical figure based on their reading of a biography or an autobiography. They present their slide presentations before the...
Curated OER
Famous Peacemakers ~ Creating a Declaration of Peace
Students read about famous peacemakers and identify their characteristics. They reseach a peacemaker they are interested in. They create a Declaration of Peace to share with the community.
Curated OER
Identifying Clouds
Students work in groups to research and prepare a report on cloud types. They present their findings to the class and take a group quiz competing for points. Students go outside and determine which type of clouds are visible on that day.
Curated OER
American Literature, The Earliest Days
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes eleven lessons from the American Literature, The Earliest Days: Prehistory to 1750 each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and response...
Curated OER
I Am What I Think I Am!
Pupils study conative and cognitive strengths through characters in literature. For this conative and cognitive strength lesson, students read about a favorite character or historical person. They make a chart of the difficulties the...
Curated OER
The Necklace Of Teeth Comic Strip
Pupils create a comic strip which identifies the major events in a story of the teacher's choosing in this upper-elementary classroom language arts instructional activity. The instructional activity is highly adaptable and can be used...
Curated OER
Who Me?
Students examine their place in society by looking closely at themselves as well as their role in their family and community. Students also examine the origin of the National Parks system and how it contributes to National Identity.
Curated OER
Memories
Fifth graders collect artifacts of their fifth grade school year and make a technology based Memory Book.
Curated OER
Tasmanian Time Travel
Sixth graders perform research using the Internet about the Tasmanian Devil. The project can be presented in a variety of ways. The use of computer software is important for students to know, specifically Hyperstudio.
Curated OER
Silent Spring
Students read background information about Rachel Carson found on the listed website links. They analyze and answer questions about her work and how it is linked to science then they research pesticide usage and alternative methods.
Curated OER
Cloud Databases
Students complete a unit on clouds and a report about one type of cloud. They collect data through observation about different types of cloud cover and then create a spreadsheet to reflect their observations over a 2 week period.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Blending Fiction and Nonfiction
Contains plans for four class periods that ask students to blend narrative and expository writing after reading fiction and nonfiction selections. In addition to student objectives and standards, these instructional plans contains links...
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: How to Write Descriptively
The point of fiction is to cast a spell, a momentary illusion that you are living in the world of the story. But how do writers suck readers into stories in this way? Nalo Hopkinson shares some tips for how to use language to make your...
Other
Writing World: Four Ways to Bring Settings to Life
A great resource outlining four major ways to make settings appear more real and genuine in fiction. Deals with themes such as motion, experience, mood, and the senses. W.11-12.3d Sensory/precise lang narratives
Daily Teaching Tools
Daily Teaching Tools: Graphic Organizers for Teaching Writing
This Daily Teaching Tools collection provides graphic organizers for writing. Elaborate graphic organizers for the following areas are provided: persuasive essays, expository essays, paragraph writing, fiction pieces, narrative writing,...
Other
Fiction Writing Tips: Creating a Vivid Setting
Some excellent guidelines to consider when evaluating your setting in a short story or novel. Discusses the importance of setting, some examples, as well as practical advice in setting your story. W.11-12.3d Sensory/precise lang narratives
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Just the Facts, Ma'am
Students read The Web Files by Margie Palatini and use the format to write three-scene detective stories of their own. Teacher instructions, student instructions, and student writing samples are provided, as well as an interactive...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Choose Your Own Adventure: A Hypertext Writing Experience
This series of lessons involves student collaboration, writing and analytical skills, technology and imagination. While the lesson suggests use of FrontPage, it would also be possible to use a number of other authoring tools.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: A Magical Animal Encounter
This writing lesson is fashioned after Harry Potter's encounter with a communicative boa constrictor at the zoo. Inspired by Rowling's original idea, students will be asked to create a three-part story about an original magical animal...
Other
Re:fiction: Making Ends Meet: How to Write a Good Ending to a Story
This article from Re:Fiction magazine offers tips on different ways to end a piece of narrative writing.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Empowered Fiction Writers: Generating and Organizing Ideas
Do your young scholars' minds go blank when they confront a blank piece of paper? Speedwriting can help them get started with writing as well as come up with topics to write about. They can then incorporate their key ideas and phrases...
Online Writing Lab at Purdue University
Purdue University Owl: Fiction Writing Basics
This resource discusses some terms and techniques that are useful to the beginning and intermediate fiction writer, and to instructors who are teaching fiction at these levels. W.11-12.3a Narratives
Harold D. Underdown
The Purple Crayon: Writing Dazzling Dialogue
This site takes you through the process of writing dialogue in fiction, demonstrating when to omit, replace, or modify your original writing. Includes several examples and gives excellent advice for young writers. W.9-10.3b Narrative...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: A Chapter Book Writing Lesson: Creating a Parallel World
Inspired by the opening events in The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman, students are asked to create an original parallel world that is similar to ours but different in certain ways. They will focus on the similarities and differences...