Curated OER
Oral History: Park City Museum
Bring U.S. history to your language arts class with this lesson. Middle schoolers complete an interview for an oral history project, and discuss the importance of oral histories - and how they embellish written accounts. They write...
American Statistical Association
Tell it Like it is!
Scholars apply prior knowledge of statistics to write a conclusion. They summarize using correct academic language and tell the story of the data.
Penguin Books
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Young Readers Edition
As the saying goes, you are what you eat. A useful set of lesson plans encourage young readers to take a second look at their eating habits. Pre- and post-reading questions bring in reflective writing and discussion while extension...
EngageNY
Planning a Historical Fiction Narrative Based on Expert Trades
Pupils plan for a historical fiction narrative based on their previous research on expert trades from the Colonial Era. Individuals use the four-square graphic organizer to organize the information they want to be detailed in their four...
Curated OER
How to Combine Sentences
Students practice combining sentences. In this writing lesson, students view essays and discuss how it can be revised, using sentence combining. Students practice this skill in their own essays.
Curated OER
Natural Inquirer Lesson: Scientific Abstracts
Students practice scientific observation by writing abstracts. In this science reporting lesson, students identify the 4 segments of a scientific abstract, what the problem is, how it was studied, what was found and the importance...
Curated OER
Five Paragraph Essay
Eighth graders are introduced to the mechanics of writing a standard-form essay. They draft, edit and polish a five-paragraph essay about spending the day as an animal of their choice.
Curated OER
Penguin Paradise
Students read about penguins and communicate their information in a one paragraph summary. In this penguin writing lesson, students review sentence construction. Students complete a KWL about penguins and read the book Penguins Through...
Curated OER
Writing - Combining Ideas to Write Descriptive Paragraphs
Students develop a strategy for combining various ideas into well formed sentences which then combine to produce effective descriptive paragraphs.
Curated OER
Writing Example Paragraphs
Sixth graders write example paragraphs. The term "example paragraph" refers to a paragraph where the supporting sentences provide examples of the subject/idea described in the topic sentence. Students write a basic example paragraph...
Curated OER
Magical Creatures
Students investigate entertaining characters within stories. In this writing lesson, students review nouns and adjectives and discuss magical characters. Students ask themselves questions about their selected characters and write a...
Curated OER
Writing Descriptive Paragraphs
Show a Powerpoint presentation about descriptive writing. Fourth graders brainstorm a list of writing topics and place them in graphic organizers. Then they write their own paragraphs describing topics of their choice and create...
Curated OER
Voice - 6 + 1 Traits of Writing
Fourth graders combine listening and writing skills in this activity. After listening to Up North at the Cabin, Students are asked to write a piece from a specific viewpoint about a place that they like to visit.
Curated OER
Ant Writing
Students become effective writers. They need to practice strategies for working through the writing process. By presenting the students with a creative problem, they must choose a position and support it accordingly.
Curated OER
Map Me a Paragraph
There are so many great reading strategies. In this lesson, learners practice decoding. They break down two paragraphs to analyze and determine main ideas and details. They each observes ways to model as they map their paragraphs.
Curated OER
Dead Word Wall Lesson
Help your writers eliminate "dead words" (words that are overused) from their writing. This instructional activity includes a SMART board presentation that will guide them through identifying, eliminating, and substituting "dead words"...
Scholastic
Descriptive Writing Fortunes
What does your fortune say? Engage class members in writing complete sentences by first handing out fortune cookies and reading the messages. Pupils will practice writing complete sentences by composing fortunes to put in die cut fortune...
Curated OER
Stimulating Narrative Writing
Students create an art project and write a process paper as a response to literature. In this literature response instructional activity, students listen to Lynn Ehlert's, Snowballs before decorating a construction paper...
Curated OER
Texas Kid Writes Book About Presidents
Arranged into small groups, learners read a paragraph of the news story "Texas Kid Writes Book About Presidents." As one reads, others mark the text (underlining important information and writing notes in the margin of the story). After...
Curated OER
Illustrating Student Writing in Grades 1-3
Students depict story elements in a visual medium, exhibit creativity through the completion of the drawn image, and practice computer skills. They use Microsoft Word to write about who they would like to meet, using Microsoft Paint they...
Curated OER
Essay Writing
Learners complete essay writing activities. In this essay writing lesson, students use an outline activity to learn about the advantages and disadvantages for various essay writing types. Learners also break down the paragraphs into...
Curated OER
Heartsongs Poetry by Mattie Stepanek
Use Mattie Stepanek’s Heartsongs book of poetry to inspire young poets to write about their own lives, experiences, and feelings. After reading the introduction to Mattie’s book, in which he talks about himself and his reasons for...
Dream of a Nation
Writing Interdisciplinary Essay
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...
K20 LEARN
Identity: Characterization/Character Traits
"Who am I?" Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace," Julio Naboa Polanco's poem "Identity," and a clip from a Jason Bourne film provide learners with a context to consider the traits that makeup identity. Scholars create a...