What is special about summer (fall, winter, or spring)? Using a bag filled with season-related items (for summer items like sunglasses, a swimming suit, etc.) the class take turns taking out one item. A discussion of how each item might...

Young scholars create a diary of an animal. In this creative writing lesson plan, students read the book Diary of a Worm and conduct a brief research session on their animal. Young scholars fill in a template with facts and create an...

Students create a letter requesting information from a local vocational agency using word processing software. They send the finished letter to the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Write an unsent letter about a consumer scam, paying attention to the writing conventions of punctuation and spelling. This instructional activity could be adapted to fit a variety of social issues in which letter writing is appropriate. 4

Students review and brainstorm the signs of autumn through a PowerPoint presentation/ lesson with embedded video clips. After brainstorming ideas as a group, Students use Kidspiration to develop a graphic organizer and follow the writing...

With the Wordle ap in one hand, and their favorite writing piece in the other, 3rd graders analyze their verb usage. They select a piece they have written, type it into Wordle, then analyze their word choices and alter them using synonyms.

Incorporate technological fluency with a search for examples of active and passive voice in online resources. Discuss how use of active or passive voice influences mood or tone and contributes to author's purpose. List of...

Young readers select a book from a provided list to use as the basis for an intensive class study of Holocaust novels. After completing their novels, groups create a multimedia presentation highlighting the elements of literature...

Second graders use literature journals and discussion groups to summarize and improve their reading comprehension. In this reading skills lesson, 2nd graders discuss animals they've loved and read the story The Girl Who Loved Wild...

Practice is a great way to build skills in reading with fluency and intonation. In leveled pairs, learners read a simple passage pausing as indicated by the marks on the page. They take turns reading the passage until they are both...

A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...

Use this resource as an evaluation tool, or have your class assess their own letter writing skills. They will use a checklist that they create during some interactive writing sessions as criteria for their self-evaluation. Teachers can...

Print this sheet to give your English language learners some practice identifying synonyms. There are six questions listed, and each question has four options. For example, what is a synonym for attractive? The choices are appealing,...

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...

A desk is used as a visual analogy to construct the main idea and supporting details in a story. The top of the desk is the main idea, and each of the four legs provides supporting details. The legs of the desk provide support for the...

What would your dream house look like? A cottage? A medieval castle? High schoolers enrolled in Algebra design the perfect house while using slopes to write equations for various aspects of the project.

Young scholars use songs to analyze their sense of identity and self-worth. In groups, they discuss and explore their own character development and discover how far they have come in recent years. They also identify the positive and...

Sixth graders present a PowerPoint presentation on Greek columns. They realize that Greek culture is centered around religion. Students create a model of one of the columns. Also they find examples of Greek architecture in major Greek...

Work on using transition words in context by prompting elementary and middle schoolers to write their own persuasive essays using transition words. They explore new forms of transition words and examine how they are used in an editorial...

Encourage focus and organization in the writing of your second, third, and fourth grade classes. Learners are asked to select a room in their house and narrow in on how it looks, smells, or feels. After writing a short paragraph...

Emerging writers create a response to their reading. They read Notes from the Trail and discuss whose perspective the journal entry is written from. Then, they write a response to the journal entry in first person perspective as if...

Students create an art project and write a process paper  as a response to literature.  In this literature response lesson, students listen to Lynn Ehlert's, Snowballs before decorating a construction paper snowman. They write...

Use details and transition words to enhance writing. Sixth graders examine their own writing and insert more details and transition words provided by their teacher. There is a list of 11 "Terrific Transitions," but brainstorm several...

Refine the writing of your class members with this quick PowerPoint. Wordiness can kill effective writing, making it boring and indirect. Help your writers cut out some of the unneeded words by pairing this presentation with a piece of...