Students construct and analyze paragraphs. In groups, students place given sentences in order to form a paragraph. They determine the main idea of the paragraph. Students perform activities to determine the concept of topic sentence,...

Students study strategies that aid comprehension. They focus on the main ideas of a passage and eliminate unnecessary and repetitive information. They substitute super ordinate terms for a list of items and create a topic sentence.

Revising, as opposed to editing, is the focus of a presentation that details this essential part of the writing process. The author of this PowerPoint suggests outlining the draft to determine if all the necessary elements are included...

A great student reference tool and graphic organizer in one worksheet! Young writers can read a detailed description of each section of a standard five-paragraph essay before completing a graphic organized with their own writing. The...

Students engage in the writing of a magazine article. They focus upon the reading of a children's fiction book and create an informative narrative. They create main ideas and supporting details for the article. The supporting of main...

Students summarize a chapter from the book, "Sarah Plain and Tall. After reviewing the the formation of a topic sentence, they independently read a chapter from the book. Students write a summary paragraph using the checklist outlined by...

Students examine the steps of summarizing text. They silently read an article, then read and discuss the steps to summarizing a passage. Students then write a summary of the article they read, and as a class discuss the main idea,...

Middle schoolers observe the impact of natural disasters on humans, and become aware of the dangers of environmental hazards such as flash floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes.

Write in all three authorial purposes (persuasive, informational, entertaining) with this lesson. Young writers consider a time when a friend of theirs helped them out and gave them advice on something. They write a short paragraph (no...

Students explore the topic of summarizing. They read the book, Dolphins at Daybreak, to practice summarizing. They determine what information is important and choose sentences to summarize the passages they read. They write a summary...

Middle schoolers summarize a one to two page article of informational text. They compose a summary according to the guidelines on the "Five Rules for Writing a Summary" chart. They take turns reading their summary to the group, and...

Learners practice summarizing text using James E. Knight's, "Boston Tea Party, Rebellion in the Colonies." They read the story silently before summarizing it using main ideas and supporting details and deciding what type of information...

Learners give their book reports as oral "Meet the Press" type interviews. They team up with another student "reporter" and answer questions about main idea, details, and the point of view.

In this story web worksheet, learners answer multiple choice questions about how to make and use a story web. Students complete 10 questions total.

Students study the German language. They research in small groups and create a Power Point presentation, write an essay with 15 sentences in German, prepare a food or wear a costume, and give an oral presentation.

After brainstorming, middle schoolers write an expository essay for a writing project. They focus on supporting points, organization, and writing conventions to develop a well-integrated paper. In addition, they revise, proofread and...

Choosing a poet or a theme, eighth graders conduct research in the world of poetry. They conduct Internet research and select five poems that fit their poet or theme, and create a seven slide PowerPoint presentation on their selected...

Learners investigate the necessity of water for the survival of plants, animals, and people. They explore the affect that water has on human and natural environments through literature, field trips, and discussions.

Learners use context clues to define words with multiple meanings. After extensive practice with their teacher, learners read through six sentences, they then identify a word with a multiple meaning, and determine its meaning based on...

Tenth graders complete a course in basic skills in order to meet the standards for sophomore year. Using one of their classmates papers, they identify the main idea, topic sentence and theme. They also identify the transitional words...

Third graders summarize information.  In this Hall of Fame activity, 3rd graders gather information on inductees and paraphrase the information.  Students use this to create decorate and create a sample plaque.  

Students research what the exchange was between the various Native American groups and Lewis and Clark. They are able to write reflections after truly considering the issue with the help of research.

Fourth graders investigate the style of diary writing as its own genre of literature. They read Harriet The Spy in order to have a text for this literature study. Students use the skill of prediction to preview the story, and then...

Save time by downloading a template for peer editing. Included, you will find a one-form-per-page format and a four-forms-per-page format.