Elementary learners explore fiction storytelling through partcipating in a survey. They identify the characters, themes and plot of the Harry Potter series while discussing their opinions in class. Learners conduct a survey about their...

Models of and directions for how to write 20 different types of poems are featured in an NCTE resource. The introduction to each form highlights the embedded concepts. For example, tongue twisters encourage poets to use alliteration and...

Introduce your class to the narrative, descriptive and expository forms of writing. In groups, they discuss the personality of the author while graphing the characteristics after reading different examples from the same writer. To end...

Students examine and describe the four physical systems of the Earth. Using two of the systems, they practice their writing skills and use vocabulary associated with the different types of landforms. They predict the types of shelters...

Introduce your class to the techniques of proper writing. In groups, they brainstorm their ideas on family structures and discuss the importance of having a male figure in their lives. After listening to an African-American poem, they...

A perfect nonfiction writing activity for the beginning of the year, the Life Line helps you get to know your pupils better and helps the children get to know one another. Later in the year the Star of the Week writing activity...

Focus on logical paragraph writing and ask your class to write cause and effect paragraphs. To get started, learners read information about the format as well as an example. While there is some basic information about how to structure...

Expose young readers to a new genre of fiction with a short reading passage. After learning about fables, children identify the main idea and supporting details in preparation for writing a short summary. Read the text as a class,...

The country of Egypt is more than just big pyramids and ancient pharaohs. After reading a brief overview of this African nation, young learners will demonstrate their understanding of the text by identifying the main idea and supporting...

Let's practice substituting pronouns for nouns! In this writing sentences instructional activity, learners identify nouns and pronouns and replace the underlined examples. They complete a worksheet which are provided by grade level.

Tired of reading fragments in your pupils' writing? Assign the activity here to clarify the difference between a sentence and a fragment. Enrich the exercise with information about subject and verb and some more examples of fragments and...

Encourage your young writers to make their writing more interesting by varying their sentence structures. Each color-coded slide offers definitions and models of sentence forms. The final slide in the presentation presents viewers with...

Paragraphs need structure, and here is one possibility! Ask writers to begin their paragraph with a problem, explore several possibilities in the middle of the paragraph, and end the paragraph with the solution. A sample paragraph is...

Playing team sports is about more than just scoring the most goals or winning the most games. Read this passage with your class and learn how athletes build character as members of a team. When finished, individuals identify the main...

In this substitution and elimination reactions worksheet, students complete 11 reactions by writing the structural formulas for the products. If no reaction occurs, they write N.R. They also write structures of the products for 3...

Given the two-sentence skeleton of a news story about a car theft/joy ride, budding writers create their own version of the story varying diction and sentence structure to heighten interest and complexity in their writing. Resource...

After completing Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose, class members assume the voice of Gemma and craft a personal letter to her granddaughter telling Becca how she feels about Becca’s actions and the discoveries at Chelmno. Complete directions for...

If anyone suffers from metrophobia—the fear of poetry—the PowerPoint on the elements of poetry may help alleviate their worries. The presentation introduces learners to poetic elements, including simile, metaphor, and personification....

Lead a web search for information on writers and discuss the craft of purposeful writing as a class. Your students investigate "pourquoi tales" which are "why" stories. and then write their own examples of pourquoi stories to share in a...

The Grapes of Wrath. The Jungle. Native Son. The Things They Carried. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. To address a current social, political, economic, or environmental issue, class groups pair the reading of a...

Rid yourself of unsupported analytic writing forever with a mid-unit assessment focused on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." As ninth graders formulate an essay based on evidence from the first seven lessons in the unit, they...

Students use writing to show their understanding of parallel writing structures. In this ESL grammar lesson, students view PowerPoints, listen to short lectures and audio presentations. Students categorize phrases, write stories...

What ideas and philosophies guided the Transcendentalist movement in America? Scholars explore the topic, reading texts by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Additionally, they write essays comparing the authors' structural...

Human migration—often the result of push and pull factors—sometimes has dramatic outcomes for both those leaving their homelands and the host countries. Using a variety of case studies, learners consider those issues. Then, by completing...