Curated OER
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Letter writing may be outdated but it's a great way to practice English conventions, grammar, and spelling.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...
Curated OER
Original Children's Books
Bring the fun and creativity of children's stories to your language arts class. Middle schoolers write, revise, and publish an original student book which incorporates the elements of a short story. They put their story in the form of a...
EngageNY
End of Unit 2 Assessment: Final Draft of Literary Argument Essay
It's a common mistake. Scholars begin with a mini instructional activity about common errors in draft essays. They then complete a stars and steps peer critique of essay drafts. To finish, learners revise their essays and finalize their...
Curated OER
Man's Search For Meaning: Writing Assessment (Final Multi-Genre Project)
Conclude a study of Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning with a research project that asks readers to investigate what various religions and philosophies believe is the meaning of life. The resource packet includes a list of...
Project Noah
Writing Goes Wild
Young scientists develop their observation and writing skills as they craft and then post a detailed description of a plant or animal they have spotted and photographed.
Curated OER
Let Me Give You a Little Advice
Students use proper writing conventions to write two friendly letters. They use the steps of the writing process to draft, revise, and peer edit. Students publish their letters. They write the first letter to a person who is going to...
Curated OER
Word Choice in Writing
Sixth graders explore language arts by writing dialogue. In this vocabulary choice lesson, 6th graders identify synonyms and the importance of using a thesaurus while writing dialogue in their own original work. Students revise and edit...
Curated OER
Using Color as a Pre-Writing Tool
To better understand how to compose a clear and well-organized paper, learners read short passages, write summaries, and make colored graphic organizers. This is a fully developed three-day lesson with suggested assessments.
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 2, Unit 3, Lesson 6
As part of a mid-unit assessment, class members exchange their draft of a multi-paragraph essay with a classmate, review their partner's writing using the provided text analysis rubric, and evaluate the strength of evidence, the...
Curated OER
Rough Draft and Peer Edit of Oral Book Review
Pupils write a rough draft book review over a book they have finished recently. Using their peers, they revise and make suggestions to correct spelling and grammatical errors. In groups, they practice giving their book report to the...
Curated OER
Writing Folktales
Students consider the structure of folktales. In this writing skills lesson, students list the attributes of folktales that they read in class. Students then complete handouts based on the elements of the tales as well as types of tales...
Curated OER
Writing Persuasive Letters
Students write persuasive business letters to candy companies suggesting ways to change their products to make them more enjoyable and increase sales. Prior to writing their letters, they conduct Internet research about the companies and...
Curated OER
Letter Writing Basics
Learners write a business letter with information regarding specific writing mechanics. In this writing lesson, students learn to write a business letter and they focus on one area of concern. Learners follow a business letter...
Curated OER
Peer Editing Worksheet
The strength of this peer editing worksheet is that it addresses all the elements that should appear in a well-written essay. In addition, editors are encouraged to avoid one-word responses and instead, to make specific suggestions for...
Curated OER
Editing
Fourth graders edit their previously written essay rough drafts with a partner in this lesson. They apply the revision process using a revision checklist, then revise independently. They conference with the teacher about their needed...
Curated OER
Write Me a Mystery
Eleventh graders, in groups, pre-write, draft, edit and revise a murder mystery short story to hone their skills in short story drafting, editing and revision, group collaboration and computer usage. They also evaluate writing for both...
Curated OER
Spinning My Tale
Begin writing personal narratives in this writing activity. Junior high writers start by writing a journal about their favorite holiday. They read a book at their skill level and use graphic organizers to record their ideas for writing....
EngageNY
Forming a Research-Based Claim: Cascading Consequences Chart
Can you put that in writing? Scholars work with a partner to write a practice claim before writing their own claims. After writing their claims, learners share with class using a Concentric Circles activity.
Curated OER
The Editing Process
Students edit and critique essays. For this editing and critiquing lesson, students examine a sample essay and edit it. Students read the essay aloud to determine the areas that need to be revised. Students then write their own essay for...
Curated OER
Revising the Neoclassicism/Romanticism Project
High schoolers revise the in-depth project based on the suggestions they receive from their peer editors and their N/R expert contacts for publication on a class Web page.
Curated OER
Writing the Final Copy and Presenting a Research Paper
Learners finalize and polish a research paper. In this research writing lesson, students revise and double-check the corrected version of their first draft. Learners peer edit and create a final draft. Students create a...
Curated OER
Answering and Scoring Open-Ended Questions
Help learners respond in the best way possible to open-ended questions. Go through the ACE method with a text and question of your choice. Scholars work in groups to post their responses on the board. An attached rubric is used for...
Curated OER
Ratiocination
Writers use the four steps outlined here to edit their own or a peer’s paper. Using different colors of highlighters, editors note “to be” verbs, examine the length of sentences, box the first word in every sentence, and mark instances...
Curated OER
Same Theme, Different Story Using Fox by Margaret Wild
Middle schoolers work with themes in this lesson, which is based on Fox by Margaret Wild. Because the book has multiple themes, it is a great way to transition into exploring literary analysis and writing stories. A Six Trait writing...