Curated OER
Writing the Essay
Relate the structure of the essay to the structure of a building. The class compares an essay to a building, with the writer being the architect, the introduction being the foundation, and so on. They use the visual representation of a...
Curated OER
Gandhi Speech Writing
Explore non-violent protest in this social values and world history lesson plan. After viewing the movie Gandhi, and discussing important events in Gandhi's life, young orators write a speech defending Gandhi's position on the value of...
Curated OER
Strong Descriptive Writing: James and the Giant Peach
Support your writers! Clear procedures and appropriate support make this a superb resource for elementary writing instruction. Ready your class to compose original descriptive paragraphs inspired by the episode in Roald Dahl's James and...
Teach Hub
Super Bowl Classroom Activities
Need some help getting young football fans to focus on something besides the Super Bowl? Use a list of football-themed activities for art, math, science, nutrition, language arts, and social studies to get their heads in the game!
Curated OER
Writing a Personal Narrative
Students complete a variety of computer file pre-writing activities to help them prepare for writing a personal narrative. They focus on including a beginning, middle and end to their narrative. They make a class book.
Curated OER
Writing a Letter to a Friend
First graders practice their letter writing skills by writing to a fictional character. In this formal writing lesson plan, 1st graders read the books The Jolly Postman and Frog and Toad are Friends to examine the different parts of a...
Curated OER
Vocabulary Building Activity
The four worksheets here are provided to introduce your learners to new vocabulary on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Each list contains seven vocabulary words focused on a specfic vowel pair. First the learner hears the word,...
Curated OER
BECOME A LOGOPHILE
It's time to write! First, lead your emerging writers in a power writing activity. It takes six minutes and focuses on creative brainstorming. The class is given two words (duck and apple are suggested, but alter the words for different...
Curated OER
Scene Writing: Literacy and Playwriting
Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The activities...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Newsletter
What does it take to develop and publish a newsletter? Young academics create a newsletter with original artwork for their school or community. They explore social justice themes and spread messages of tolerance and inclusion. Scholars...
National Gallery of Canada
To Canada with Love
Focus on line and color with a postcard project. Learners view various works of art and discuss line and color before moving on to creating their own work. Using nature as inspiration, pupils decorate postcards and mail them after...
Curated OER
Lesson: Possible Perspectives
Visual art is the inspiration for a creative writing activity focused on having learners write from different perspectives. They analyze the image Yellow Rain Jacket, picking out details to help their storytelling. They use the details...
Curated OER
Retelling Stella Louella's Runaway Book: Point of View
Stella Louella’s Runaway Book launches a study of point of view and storytelling. After reading the tale, class members retell the story from the point of view of another character. The scripted plan, developed by a teacher candidate,...
Curated OER
Scripting The Great Train Robbery
Take writing prompts to another level in this activity, which allows pupils to create scenes of dialogue based on the 1903 silent film, The Great Train Robbery. Useful for a language arts/history cross-curricular activity, the...
Curated OER
Lesson: Paul Chan: Tree of Life
Paul Chan's work has been known to show the cycle of change. Learners explore the concept of change by analyzing his work and reading the poem "For Which it Stands." They consider symbolism, communication, art, and society as they use...
Curated OER
Focus on Form
Young musicians discuss musical form found in the song, The Star Spangled Banner. They review their parts for the song then practice playing it as a group. Cross-curricular activity suggestions are included.
Curated OER
Seeing Art in Historical Context: An Activity to Promote Visual Literacy
Students consider works of art in their historical context. In this art in historical context activity, students are encouraged to think about and record their prior knowledge of the historical period and to make inferences about the...
Curated OER
Writing a Storybook
Students explore language arts by creating their own stories in class. In this book making lesson, students read the story City Pig in class and create storyboard illustrations in order to analyze the story. Students utilize these...
Curated OER
The Apprentice: A Study of Business and Technical Writing
Learners explore business practices by creating a portfolio in class. In this business writing lesson, students identify the causes for a businesses success and failure before deciding on a business they would like to create. Learners...
Curated OER
Monster Writings
Fourth graders practice descriptive writing by describing a fictitious monster they created. For this language arts lesson, 4th graders illustrate an image of a monster character they imagine and practice using their vocabulary to...
Curated OER
Acting as a Pre-write Tool
Second graders use acting to help them in a prewriting activity to develop a story. In this prewriting lesson plan, 2nd graders form a character map and brainstorm ideas for their story.
Candlewick Press
A Classroom Guide to Peter H. Reynolds's Creatrilogy
Help young readers find, identify, and use their voices with a set of empowering activities based on Peter H. Reynolds' trilogy of books. Sky Color, Ish, and The Dot focus on recognizing moods and treating each other kindly, and their...
Film English
Moments
Examine homelessness through a series of writing and discussion activities and a short film. Learners first come up with their own stories based on images of characters in the film. They then watch the film and respond to a series of...
Curated OER
Magical Creatures Land
The opening of J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit provides a model of how to use rich details to create a setting. After reading the description of Bilbo Baggins’ abode, young writers create their own magical home for a fantasy creature. The...