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That Is Not My Opinion!
Being an informed citizen requires distinguishing fact from opinion and understanding persuasion methods. Secondary learners evaluate newspaper editorials. They read opinion pieces, identify the writer's purpose and position on an issue,...
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Spooky Analysis
Focus on building suspense as well as evaluating web sites through creative writing. After introducing the idea of suspense and holding a discussion, class members complete a WebQuest, during which they find inspiration for their own...
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Tornado Brainstorming
While the focus of this instructional activity is on writing about tornadoes, any topic could be substituted. The instructional activity provides a well-thought out overview of the writing process. Learners come up with a thesis...
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Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman
Do your young readers know that poems can be performed as a team? They listen to a few examples from Paul Fleischman's book Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, paying attention to how the how readers work together....
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Car For Sale!
Car For sale! In this GED prep instructional activity, writers develop a classified advertisement to sell a car. After a discussion of precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language, sellers draft their ad for review,...
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Anno's Magic Seeds
Read a tale for your class as they unravel patterns presented in the story using manipulatives. Pause to allow time for discussion and explanation of solutions throughout the story. They write equations or expressions with order of...
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School Facilities: Setting the Mood for Education
Students watch the News Ohio video about Lincoln Junior High School. They write a reaction paper, explaining what effect the studying environment has on students. If the classroom was in a basement, perhaps a little dark and damp, would...
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Indigenous People Day
Do you know why we celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous People? Did you even know we celebrate this day? After reading a short passage about this international celebration, scholars answer true or false questions,...
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Who's Your Hero/Heroine?
Students use research skills on the Internet and write a biographical report and present it to the class. They utilize a worksheet that's imbedded in this plan to guide them in their research. students come to school dressed up as their...
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Categorizing Research Questions
Show learners of all ages the necessary steps to solid research. Before even looking at a computer screen, they need to generate research questions or topics. They then work together to categorize all of the proposed topics. This process...
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Message in a Bottle
Students acquire a pen pal in a foreign country and write letters at least twice a month throughout the year to exchange with them. At the end of the year, they write an essay that compares one important difference and one important...
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Email Buddies
Collaborate with another class (or school) and have your learners share ideas about their reading through the use of email. Perhaps you'll create a specific question or a few questions for writers to choose from. Not only will they...
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From Formal To Slang
Tenth graders define the term slang, explaining its various social, historical, and racial contexts, so as to articulate when it can be appropriately used as a means of effective communication. They use their own personal slang lexicon,...
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The Shape of Things
Fourth graders develop their writing skills. In this paragraph structure instructional activity, 4th graders research natural disasters, compile their findings, create mobiles and write stories based on the mobiles.
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Consumer Scams
Letter writing may be outdated but it's a great way to practice English conventions, grammar, and spelling. The class researches consumer scams, then writes a letter about them. They each choose a scam to write about paying close...
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Hands-On Outlining
In order to write an effective outline, children must be able to identify main ideas and supporting details, which is the aim of this fun and kinesthetic activity. The class works on the floor to organize sentence strips prepared by the...
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Central America and the Caribbean
Use the library or Internet to find resources on a chosen topic. The class will comprehend the collected information, structure the information with texts and graphics for a presentation. Each presentation focuses on Hispanic culture and...
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I'm Published! A Parts of Speech Book
Reinforce the importance of the writing process with this publication lesson. Elementary and middle schoolers compose a parts of speech book which includes one page each for nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,...
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Using a Magazine/Non-Fiction Texts
Working with magazine articles and other informational texts, students identify the parts of a non-fiction work. The learners use SMART board files to guide instruction, as well as a transition to writing their own non-fiction article in...
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The Missing Link
What is the missing link? Provide your class with this incomplete essay (it's missing transition words), and have writers place words from the transition word bank into the essay. Also, since only three of the five paragraphs are...
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Conversations about childhood
Encourage your class to discuss their childhood with other classmates using the six questions listed here. After sharing their answers, learners write a paragraph detailing general information about their childhood. This plan is designed...
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Native American Crafts Worksheet
Deepen understanding of Native American craftspeople through biography and research. For this essay project, learners sift through online biographies about Native Americans in Louisiana. After looking through the given resources,...
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Famous Poems and Poets: Enjoy the World of Words
Class members select a culture from a provided list and research the customs, beliefs, traditions, clothing, and environment of this group. They then create an idea web and craft this information into a poem. The lesson is short on...
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Write to the Author
Students orally present information about a favorite book to their classmates. They construct pop-up cards that depict a character in the author's book and include a question for the author written from the point of view of the character.