University of North Carolina
Summary: Using it Wisely
Sometimes summarizing keeps a writer from going deeper into their analysis—don't fall into that trap. Learn the difference between summarizing and analyzing using an insightful resource. Focusing on introductions, the lesson shares...
Urban Ministry
Interactive Read Aloud
Learning how to deliver good literacy instruction is key to becoming a successful teacher. This resource isn't so much a activity as it is a guide to leading children in an interactive read-aloud session to increase fluency,...
Curated OER
Lesson 3: Writing a News Story
Start a writing lesson by examining a news video that explains writing clearly, concisely, and correctly. Learners consider the importance of writing news properly to avoid breaking the law, then write their own weekend news stories.
Curated OER
Reading Practice: Boris the Brainiest Baby
Boris is the smartest baby around! Beginning readers can use this short story excerpt to practice reading comprehension and fiction elements. They read the story and then discuss what they think he will do next. Scholars create an...
Road to Grammar
100 Ice-Breaker Questions
What if you could ease your English language learners into class with engaging questions? You can do just that with these questions. The questions, designed to prepare learners for working with English, are grouped by topics, such as...
Curated OER
Service Project Letter to the Principal
Students talk about being a good citizen and what it means to them. In this citizenship lesson, students read, Arthur Meets the President and discuss the aspects of the book as they go along. Students brainstorm a list of ideas on how...
Curated OER
Harmony and Expression in Writing Form
How do you write an interesting beginning, middle, and end of a story? With this instructional activity, young writers look to other stories as examples. Then, they use some of the attached graphic organizers to help them create their...
Curated OER
Transition Words for Better Writing
Improve learners' writing, comprehension, and analytical thinking by teaching the use of transition words.
Curated OER
Picture This
Elementary writers practice writing descriptive paragraphs by adding adjectives and sensory words to their writing. They use a picture of a monster for their descriptive paragraph. This 12-page lesson should increase your charges...
Curated OER
The Black Snowman
Sixth graders write a paper. In this writing and retelling lesson, 6th graders read the book The Black Snowman and answer comprehension questions. Students learn how to write good paragraphs and how to retell a story. Students write a 3...
Curated OER
Guidance for Creating Writing Lessons for Dyslexic Students
How do you help a child with dyslexia succeed as a writer? Here is a resource for those who need guidance in creating writing lessons for their young scholars with dyslexia. It discusses research-based strategies that can be used and...
Scholastic
My Favorite Activity (Grades K-2)
Scholars discuss the many ways they use persuasion in their everyday lives and brainstorm specific ideas for encouraging someone to do something. With the list of persuasive techniques they made, young writers complete a graphic...
British Council
Unit 8: Proofreading
Plagued by punctuation or stymied by spelling? Lesson eight in a nine-part series of career education and skills activities introduces the importance of proofreading. Learners categorize common writing errors and construct error-free...
Curated OER
Visible Speech: What is a Sentence?
Use this straightforward presentation as a basic guide to your grammar unit. With explanations of the parts of a simple sentence (subject, verb, direct object), the slideshow is a good way to reinforce students' prior knowledge about...
Curated OER
Look, I Can Build a Sentence
First graders practice writing colorful sentences. In this writing mechanics lesson plan, 1st graders use the SmartBoard to write sentences and draw illustrations next to their sentences. Students develop a rubric to help them understand...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Writing Lead Sentences
Sixth graders discover the importance of lead sentences and practice writing them. After reading lead sentences in books, they determine the qualities that attract and hold readers' attention. Finally, once they have identified the...
Curated OER
Writing Exercises: World War I, #2
In need of three good writing prompts focused on World War I? Learners respond to three prompts, each having them examine an aspect of World War I. They describe the role nationalism played in the war, the impact of the fall of the...
Curated OER
Writing Exercises: The Environment and Sustainability
Sometimes it's good to challenge our kids with thought-provoking topics. They'll have to think hard and use what they know to answer these essay questions. They'll discuss how and why developed nations put a strain on the world's...
Curated OER
An Overview of the THEA Writing Test
Prepare your class for the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) or any other upcoming writing test (such as the SAT) with this presentation. Complete with instructions on the composition and rubric of the test, as well as sample...
Curated OER
Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences
What kind of sentence is it? This can be a complex subject, so don't compound the difficulty by skipping over the topic! It's simple, just have your class read and go over the information here and then complete the included exercise.
Ms. McLaughlin's Homework Page
Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences
Find out just how much your pupils know about simple sentences, subjects and predicates, sentence fragments, coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, compound sentences, complex sentences, and more! This review page includes...
Curated OER
Thesis Statements
A good thesis is hard to craft. Model for your writers how to develop and refine thesis statements with a series of slides that discuss the purpose and format of this all-important sentence. Viewers following along as the process is...
Curated OER
Playing Math Fever
Pupils complete activities to learn notation and uses for positive and negative numbers. In this number system activity, learners play a game similar to Jeopardy to learn how to solve problems with positive and negative numbers.
Curated OER
Making an Argument: Effective use of Transition Words
Work on using transition words in context by prompting elementary and middle schoolers to write their own persuasive essays using transition words. They explore new forms of transition words and examine how they are used in an editorial...