Hosseini Khaled's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns are the anchor texts in a semester-long course that explores Afghani culture and traditions.

Learners work in pairs to create a creature and its habitat out of construction paper. Then students write a narrative to describe the animal and its habitat.

Sixth graders write a paper. For this writing and retelling lesson, 6th graders read the book The Black Snowman and answer comprehension questions. Students learn how to write good paragraphs and how to retell a story. Students write a 3...

Young scholars discover how to write fables. In this writing skill lesson, students review the literary elements of fables and take all of the steps in the writing process to create their own fables.

Students distinguish between passive voice and nomialization.

Third graders read and discuss "The Hangman" by Maurice Ogden and answer questions about the poem. They list things they can do to combat prejudice using each of the letters in the word and create a small poster with a slogan against...

Sixth graders analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of the Ancient Hebrews, and write an essay.

Learners cut out nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs from newspapers and create poems using words they have found.

Sixth graders research Canadian geography - the land and the bodies of water. They then plan an imaginary canoe trip through six major water bodies in Canada. They conclude the unit of study with a creative story.

Third graders create a graphic organizer. They draw illustrations that show the beginning, middle and end of a trip they took to visit a friend or a relative. They write age-appropriate text to accompany each drawing. They tell...

Fifth graders examine how to write a story using comparative and superlative adjectives. They listen to the book "Pig Pigger Piggest" by Rick Walton and identify the comparative adjectives used in the story. Students then write a rough...

Students write original earthquake articles typically found on the front page of a newspaper. Each student has the freedom to write in a variety of writing styles (lead story, human interest story, editorials, etc.). They research...

Third graders research the different aspects of the human heart. Groups work through steps to create a multimedia slide presentation. The presentation must follow pre-set criteria.

Students complete autobiographical writing assignments throughout the school year that they save and rewrite to put into a published book during the last month of class. They include photographs, drawings and mementos of their lives in...

Young scholars reflect and explore their feelings and reactions to a segregation experiment through poetry. They discuss acceptable behavior during the experiment and the next day write journal entries reflecting their experiences.

Third graders discuss books that have been banned and the things that they have in common. They explore the concept of freedom of speech and write poems based on their discussion.

Students investigate their rights and responsibilities as juveniles in the Missouri legal system. After taking a poll on juvenile justice, they discuss their responses and suggest changes which they could send to the state legislature. ...

Young scholars locate and print samples of two different business letter formats. They write rough drafts of business letters inquiring when, where, and how math is used.

Students visit appropriate websites to discover quotes from Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac. Working in pairs, they choose three quotes on which to elaborate and then write two original quotes.

Fourth graders read a selection describing 13 virtues from "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin." They keep track of their behavior and whether or not they can keep up with 5 chosen virtues. They write a 5 paragraph essay on their...

Third graders create an autobiography on the computer. They write, design and illustrate using word processing and graphic tools on the computer.

Fourth graders study Chaucer as a master of details. Then, they create a short story linking unrelated details into a logical plot with a clear setting and established characters. This lesson has some excellent worksheets attached!

Learners watch the video Santa Claus is Coming to Town and create letters asking questions to Santa Claus. Other students answer the letters of their classmates.

High schoolers select a theme-related essay topic from Night, by Elie Wiesel, or The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, and develop an essay that relates the theme to modern-day personal experiences. The essay follows a preset rubric...