Curated OER
Children Around The World
Students read a multicultural book called "This Is the Way We Go to School" by Edith Baer and Steve Bjorhman. They become culturally aware of the different nationalities around the world and different ways that they may do things on a...
Curated OER
Historical Travel Brochure
Fourth graders answer the question, Where in America did history take place? Through investigation as a travel agent, they discover that history is not an isolated event. They use a wide variety of technological resources to create their...
Curated OER
Problem Solution Writing
Students, after brainstorming possible problem solving activities, choose from one of the many and write what the problem is and a solution to solve it.
Curated OER
Kalahari Explorations
Students explore world geography by completing graphic organizers and researching the Internet. In this Kalahari desert instructional activity, students identify the geographic location, weather and creation of the Kalahari desert....
Curated OER
Create a City: An Urban Planning Exercise
Students explore the effects of population growth in Arizona. In this history instructional activity, students work in small groups to create a "perfect" city. Activities include examining the Arizona census results then discussing...
Curated OER
Have a Backone
Students create a visual organizer that describes different groups of vertebrates in this pre-writing activity. They view and discuss a video on descriptive writing and then form small groups to research vertebrate classes using the...
Curated OER
Just Plan It!
Fourth graders practice using a planning sheet for a well-known fairy tale or picture book.
Curated OER
An Exploration of Automotive Design
students research varied aspects of car design, and create a new design for the exterior body of a car. Students conduct Internet research, respond to writing prompts, and analyze, evaluate and synthesize information from multiple...
Curated OER
Practical Writing in the Intermediate Grades
Pupils discuss lists of interesting topics on which to write. They explore those things that interest them, excite them and express themselves freely. They organize the value of their own thoughts and use their individual lists that...
Curated OER
From Graphic Organizer to Comparison
Fifth graders brainstorm a variety of topics for writing. As a class, learners create four types of graphic organizers on selected topics. They discuss how to use graphic organizer in constructing a written paragraph.
Curated OER
"How To Build A Snowman" Expository Writing
Fourth graders write a "how to..." or an expository essay on building a snowman. They practice giving directions by explaining how to draw a person using shapes without mentioning that it's a person being drawn. They revise through the...
Curated OER
How the West Was One: A Layered Book
Students create a layered book about the information they learn about the Western region of the United States. In this Western states lesson plan, students create a book about the land, economy, and culture.
Curated OER
Flat Stanley Letter
Fourth graders write a letter requesting that the recipient assist the student in his/her Flat Stanley project.
Curated OER
PowerPoint Poetry Project
Seventh graders create PowerPoint poetry "books." They write five to seven autobiographical poems, select appropriate photos and music, and combine everything into a PowerPoint poetry presentation. They use many technological resources...
Curated OER
Owning a Pet
Fourth graders identify and use different forms of writing for various purposes. Using the internet, they read and gather information and write quesitons for their own investigations on the various pets they could own. They practice...
Curated OER
Where Am I? Determining Relative Location
Students use position words to describe where their teacher is sitting and read a story that makes use of position words. In this spatial lesson, students make a stick puppet and play Simon Says focusing on using position words in the...
Curated OER
Tell Me a Whopper!
Sixth graders investigate tall tales as a literary genre. They listen to a number of tall tales to discover how exaggeration is used as a story element. They write and publish a tall tale using word processing software. They illustrate...
SUNY Empire State College
Empire State College: Developing Ideas for Writing
Explains nine methods for developing ideas for writing, including freewriting, brainstorming, clustering/mapping, maintaining a personal journal, responding to a text, maintaining a response journal, responding to a specific assignment,...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Essay Map
A fillable essay map in PDF format with boxes for an introduction, main ideas, supporting details, and a conclusion. Directions on how to use this type of graphic organizer as well as lists of teaching ideas and related resources are...
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Story Writing With Arthur
This series of 12 downloadable activities teach students some basics of story writing, using books or videos from the PBS "Arthur" series as a springboard. Activities include creating story maps, asking questions about characters and...
Other
Brain dance.com: Three Step Creative Writing Process
This process seems very involved, but there are good ideas for getting started on your creative writing if you're stuck at the brainstorming stage.
SUNY Empire State College
Empire State College: Developing Ideas for Writing: Clustering
Explains clustering and its advantages as a pre-writing exercise.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Compare and Contrast Map
Use this graphic organizer to compare or contrast ideas, things, or texts. This is a great cross-curricular tool to use for both reading strategies and prewriting.