Support your learners as they work on writing paragraphs by providing graphic organizers, outlines, and frames. Sift through this packet to find the perfect organizers and templates to prepare pupils for writing. The resource...

Through grand conversation, help scholars identify issues that harm the Earth and find solutions on how to solve them. After voting—on what your class deems the most important problem—stretch writing muscles with a problem-solution...

How do you catch a leprechaun? Let your writers decide with a resource that has them thinking about story elements and writing creatively. Learners plan their writing in two graphic organizers—one with setting, characters, problem, and...

Students use unfamiliar objects to make inferences. For this making inferences lesson, students make guesses about what an item does. Students brainstorm together and make lists of ideas and write them on index cards. The teacher gives...

Learners categorize information into a problem/solving chart and examine the value of using a diary. For this problem solving and diary lesson, students read portions of Dear Mr. Henshaw, while they investigate the importance of keeping...

Upper elementary and middle school writers learn how to craft an expository paragraph by following the six steps detailed in a 48-page instructional guide. Learners learn how to write six different types of informational paragraphs:...

The beauty in this resource is the lengthy list of highly charged, controversial-issue research topics. Categories include issues of race, politics, law, environment, education, athletics, gender, and technology. After selecting a topic,...

Help your class listen and respond to a fictional story by creating a story structure mobile illustrating the main characters, setting, plot, problem, story events, and solution. Using a coat hanger, they will create an artistic element...

Explore plot structure by analyzing text samples with writers. They define terms such as problem and solution, cause and effect, and story arc. They also identify the sequences used in modern stories by reading samples and determining...

Reading the news is fun, and that's a fact! With the lesson plan, scholars differentiate between fact and opinion as they read editorial articles. They complete a worksheet to analyze the information before writing their own editorials...

Students, after brainstorming possible problem solving activities, choose from one of the many and write what the problem is and a solution to solve it.

Print out this handy reference page double sided and distribute it to your class. Individuals can use the page to aid them as they work on their topic sentences, transitions, conclusions, and paragraph structure. There is plenty of...

Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth...

Encourage your young citizens to make a difference. Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a starting point, class members watch documentaries, investigate issues, and then write letters to...

Have your young writers speak their minds with a letter to the principal. Using a writing prompt at the top of the page, kids think about a change that they would like to see at their school. The prompt encourages them to consider...

Scratching your head when it comes to engaging writing prompts? Check out a list of prompts designed for middle school classes, which includes topics for persuasive writing, expository writing, how-to essays, personal narratives, and...

Students explore story structure. In this multicultural literacy lesson, students discuss common elements of folk tales and then listen to the story Tiger and the Big Wind: A Tale from Africa. Students identify the problem and solution...

Learners explore story structure. In this story structure literacy lesson, students listen to the story Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges, stopping at points to identify a problem and predict possible solutions which are then written on...

Your class will create a four section flip book and write titles for characters, setting, problem, and solution. They will also draw a picture to show what they wrote about.

Help your young writers use logic in their persuasive writing. Discuss the characteristics of a persuasive paper, and have pupils work together to explore and solve a syllogism. They will write a short persuasive paper which includes a...

Examine the characteristics of an effective persuasive paper. In a group, eighth graders discuss the analogy of a debate being like a persuasive paper. After brainstorming topics, they write an argument and then debate it. Secretly, the...

Your kids have probably heard these idioms before, but do they know what they mean? Help them learn that haste makes waste, an ill wind blows no good, and that ignorance is bliss with a list of popular expressions.

An excellent, in-depth resource would be an asset to your unit on writing an argument essay. It provides an explanation to each part of the essay as well as examples of transition words to strengthen your kids' writing. Additionally, the...

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...