Thse instructional practices use model or mentor sentences to help students learn how authors use conventions to clarify and convey meaning in their writing. These instructional practices are described in detail in Handout 14: Teaching...

This ReadWriteThink lesson features an opportunity for students to respond to literature through writing journals about "Corduroy," by Don Freeman. This idea could be used with other books as well.

This lesson focuses on audience analysis and recognizing rhetorical approaches to building common ground. A practice activity is provided.

Contains plans for three lessons designed to improve comprehension of nonfiction, especially nonfiction texts on the web. It focuses on identifying text features, locating specific information, and generalizing that information. In...

Contains plans for four 45-minute lessons that ask pupils to use their senses and focus their attention while writing descriptively and observing scientifically. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains...

Observe animal behavior patterns and their habitats using one of the many webcams broadcasting from zoos and aquariums around the United States and the world in this inquiry-based activity that focuses on observation logs, class...

This lesson focuses on how to find, evaluate, and use primary and secondary sources using printed and online sources. It provides practice writing activities such as examining the same topic through primary and secondary sources and...

Critical thinking, comprehension and analysis skills are the focus of this physical activity. Good beginning to teaching different ways of looking at things.

Sharpen your use of the formal conventions of English with this self-guided learning module. The module focuses on formal and informal language, making pronouns agree with their antecedents, and common spelling and grammar errors. At the...

This lesson focuses on defining rhetorical analysis and identifying and applying different types of analytic processes. It also provides a practice activity.

This lesson focuses on process analysis including processes by people, machines, and nature. They can be classified as descriptive and prescriptive. It also includes a practice activity.

Marianne Moore is the focus of this brief biography, remembered for her twentieth century poetry which embraced nature in a scientific sense as well as humanity. See "Marianne Moore Activities" for related materials.

In this instructional activity, students will enjoy different activities focusing on how animals adapt to their environments. They will begin by researching two animals, their environment, and the ways the animals adapt to this...

This lesson focuses on how the Bay of Pigs invasion influenced the attitude of Fidel Castro towards Kennedy and the United States. Includes role play, discussion, and research. Students then write a letter from Nikita Krushchev to Fidel...

Young scholars will identify clues and adjectives to describe Judith Leyster's personality and then develop and refine her characterizations through poetry writing. Using Leyster's monogram as their inspiration, they will then shift the...

This lesson focuses on adjectives and adverbs including their functions, differences, and common mistakes. It provides six videos to aid understanding, several short practice activities, and a self-check.

This lesson plan focuses on MLA documentation including MLA paper formatting, Works Cited citations, and in-text citations. It includes multiple videos and a slide show, a practice activity, and a self-check.

Lesson and activity on American enterprise and intervention with a focus on Theodore Roosevelt and the Pananma Canal. Includes class activity and questions for discussion and writing.

Sherwood Anderson is the focus of this biography drawing upon his manner of writing about small town Americans not actively involved in the modernization of the twentieth century. See "Sherwood Anderson Activities" for related resources.

Henry James is the focus of this biography for his ability to write about how people deal with problems with attention drawn to Europeans versus Americans in the early twentieth century. See "Henry James Activities" for more resources.

Sylvia Plath is featured in this brief biography for her writings which focused on her views of feminism. See "Sylvia Plath Activities" for related materials.