Curated OER
Leading into Good Writing
Discuss the importance of a lead in writing with your upper graders. They examine several examples of leads from literature and practice writing leads for pieces of artwork. They then select a topic from a list and write an introductory...
Curated OER
It's a Matter of Opinion
Dissect the parts of an advertisement with your class. Middle schoolers discuss advertisements and locate the hook in them. Then, they create an advertisement for a business, in which they include the name of the business, an...
Curated OER
Writer's Toolbox
Present the class with a slide show that will give them a great head start in writing expository and narrative texts. The information is highlighted for easy note taking, well organized, and presented in a kid-friendly manner. It...
Tech Coach Corner
The Hook
A fishing hook inspires this presentation about different methods for starting a composition. Have class members take notes or edit current drafts while viewing the slide show. The animation is entertaining, but gets repetitive by the...
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
Varied Beginnings: Research Process / Narrative Writing Techniques
What's the best way to start a story? Learners write a memoir using effective openings. They research the process and work through a list of hooks to use in their writing. They use at least two hooks to begin their personal memoir. A...
Curated OER
Write a Story
Elementary writers will create short stories with their classmates' help, publishing the books using computer programs. The first learner writes a sentence to start the story, and each classmate adds a sentence to the story. The original...
Teachers.net
How to Write a Movie Review from a Pet's Perspective
When would two paws up denote a blockbuster film in your classroom? Only when young writers create movie reviews from a pet's perspective in this imaginative expository writing practice. This engaging topic begins with a class discussion...
Curated OER
Great Expectations: Group Writing
Examine the differences between totalitarianism and democracy in this writing lesson. Using the same format and theme from Great Expectations, young writers work in pairs to compose their own short stories. They follow guidelines for the...
Curated OER
The Lead Paragraph - How to Hook the Reader in 25 Words or Less
For this reading and writing analysis worksheet, students read a sample letter that hooks the readers. The students then discuss and adjust three other writing samples to make them more interesting.
Curated OER
Writing the Five Paragraph Essay: Some basic rules for writing that you should always follow!
Need a quick review of the format of the five-paragraph essay? The strength of this presentation is in the color-highlighted examples used to illustrate the terms. Consider adding additional slides that provide a model of a complete essay.
EngageNY
Revising My Accessing Books Around the World Informative Paragraph for a Hook to Captivate My Reader
While this is considered optional within the unit it is designed for, pupils would benefit from the listed activities. Working on writing and revising a paragraph about librarians who travel to isolated areas, class members can add some...
Curated OER
Using Opening Lines as Writing Prompts
Help your writers get started with these hooks! Twenty-five opening lines from the "Lives" column in the New York Times Magazine act as prompts for creative writing. Have your learners choose one prompt and write an original essay....
Ereading Worksheets
Persuasive Essay Examples
Your young writers will practice identifying the hook, position statement, and main points of two examples of persuasive writing.
Virginia Department of Education
The Writing Process for Persuasive Writing
Get your junior high writers stimulated with the strategies and ideas available in this activity. Learners discuss and debate controversial subjects, and outline their reasons with an online graphic organizer (link included) that creates...
Nancy Fetzer's Literacy Connections
Expository Paragraph
Upper elementary and middle school writers learn how to craft an expository paragraph by following the six steps detailed in a 48-page instructional guide. Learners learn how to write six different types of informational paragraphs: to...
Curated OER
Student Opinion: How Far Would You Go for Fashion?
Is being uncomfortable worth it if you look good? Inspire discussion about fashion and culture with a brief New York Times article about painful fashion. Whether used as a persuasive essay prompt or as a discussion starter, class members...
Curated OER
Moving to the Five Paragraph Narrative Essay
Your class just completed a graphic organizer as a prewriting strategy, but how do they take what they've recorded on their sheet and turn it into a five-paragraph essay? Help your novice writers with this 23-slide PowerPoint. An example...
Curated OER
With Your Own Two Hands: Are You Changing the World or "Waiting for the World to Change"?
Can your pupils change the world? Explore this question with Ben Harper's song "With My Own Two Hands" and John Mayer's "Waiting for the World to Change." After listening to the songs, they discuss the tools at their disposal for...
Curated OER
Plot and Conflict in W.W. Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw"
Tenth graders analyze the use of literary elements in W.W. Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw." Literary analysis is accomplished by a review of the plot and order of events in the story. Learners work in pairs to match the events from the story...
Curated OER
Getting Hooked, Introduction for a Narrative
How can you interest your reader? Here is a great lesson on reading and discussing the characteristics of a narrative. Elementary schoolers explore writing techniques to hook the reader. They identify their hook and share their...
Hyperion Publishing
Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution
The language of the Constitution can feel quite ominous to young learners, but there are a variety of strategies you can utilize to help your class grasp the important concepts and ideals in our nation's founding document. This lesson...
Curated OER
Creating Bloggers
Blogs provide the motivation for this richly detailed writing lesson plan. After viewing blogs on various websites, class members pick topics, create a blog, and post an entry. Your bloggers then evaluate their work using evaluation...
Curated OER
Writing: A Lesson Plan on Beginnings
Students rewrite the beginning of a story. In this writing instructional activity, students read stories from Spooky South by S.E. Schlosser in order to gain exposure to different ways to begin a story. Then, students chose one of the...