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Essay Writing
Are your learners working towards their GED? First they study the GED essay rubric, and then they read a sample essay as a group. After studying the basic elements, they write an essay of their own. After peer editing, they revise their...
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Learn the Steps to Clear Essay Writing!
Introduce your young writers to the five-paragraph expository essay format with a four-page worksheet that uses color codes to model for writers how to craft the essay. Although designed to prepare writers for the GED, the approach can...
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The Hamburger Essay - AKA The Sandwich Essay
Students discuss how a five paragraph essay has five basic parts. They compare this to a well-made hamburger. They create a mind map of a five paragraph essay using the graphic of a tasty hamburger sandwich.
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Descriptive Essay
Students review previously written essays, draw pictures of shapes, and write descriptive essays.
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Paragraph Building
Build the skills your budding authors need to develop to compose well-structured paragraphs. Give them the topic sheet (included here), and have them write a cohesive paragraph using the ideas listed. Consider having them include two...
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A City Council Meeting
Here is an interesting plan for introducing your pupils to the workings of the local city council. The teacher must go videotape a city council meeting in it's entirety. Learners watch the tape, and discuss what they observed from the...
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Who's Got Page 10?
Students participate in an activity that is aimed at increasing their organizational skills. They reorganize magazines that have been taken apart and scrambled.
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Can You Get the Signal?
What is a signal word? Recognizing these words is an important step in both reading and writing formal text. Review a list of signal words (provided and organized into specific categories), and then have your class play a game to...
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Dogs vs. Cats: Pet Ownership Essay
Learners analyze patterns of organization used in writing to determine how and when comparisons and contrasts can be effectively utilized to identify similarities and differences or pros and cons.
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Living to Eat, Eating to Live
Learners develop a five paragraph essay.They write their essays, review rules related to subject/verb agreement and the use of transition words or devices. They find examples of transition words or devices in newspaper or magazine...
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Rubric Rating
Learners develop a rubric or scoring guide to assess newpaper articles. They rate the story and write the reasons for the rating. An Essay Scoring Guide is attached for reference.
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Language Arts: Who Am I?
Twelfth graders write self-identity essays of three to five paragraphs in length. They include topic sentences, transition words, and concluding paragraphs in their essays, They read their essays to classmates.
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Organizing Paragraphs
Pupils brainstorm transition words, and utilize word list to order paragraphs and multi-paragraph essays.
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Writing - The Persuasive Essay
Young scholars, in groups, work together to develop a five-paragraph essay that defends the group's viewpoint on an assigned topic. Each student in the group writes one paragraph.
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Writing: Planning and Organizing
Twelfth graders examine the five step prewriting process used before writing essays. They select a common topic and determine the purpose,and audience for the essay. They list examples in daily life where planning and organizing are...
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Organizing Doesn't Have to Be a Puzzle
Learners review writing process, prepare cluster maps, organize events of their lives on an outline, and utilize graphic organizers to write autobiographical essays.
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An All American Success Story
Students read the All American Success Story and answer comprehension questions. They write an essay about a person they consider to be a successful person.
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Grammar-Active and Passive Voice
Use this lesson to reinforce the effect of passive and active voice in writing. First, middle schoolers write several sentences, and then use the attached worksheet to identify whether the sentences are written in active or passive voice.
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Combining and Rewriting Sentences
Learners practice combining sentences using the conjunction handout provided. They search magazines and newspapers to identify combined sentences that use conjunctions. Finally, these are rewritten again as two separate sentences.
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Graphic Writing Web
High schoolers discuss and develop graphic writing webs, writing supporting ideas for a given topic.
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A Song By Any Other Name Would Be a Poem
Learners examine the poetic elements of a piece of music. They discuss favorite songs, select a song, and write a persuasive essay identifying the poetic qualities of the song lyrics.
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Homonyms
Students brainstorm a list of words and identify a homonym for each. They write definitions for each of the words and a sentence that uses each word. A list of common homonyms is attached.
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Resume Writing - Workshop
High schoolers review basics of resume writing, and create their own resumes.
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Convey Ideas in Writing
Use the platforms of the 2004 presidential candidates to bring persuasive writing to your class. Young voters identify the three issues most important to them in the election and research the issues and candidates' positions. They write...