Virginia Department of Education
Researching and Narrowing Topics
Internet research is becoming more common, so why not conduct an online research project in your classroom? Use this resource to get you and your class started. The instructional activity includes basic instructions and a list of...
Do2Learn
Brainstorming Map Clusters
Get your class thinking with a graphic organizer made for brainstorming. Pupils note down a topic in the middle and then branch out to write down more ideas in each of the three circles that form the cluster around the topic.
Curated OER
Freewriting: Exploring Everybody's Favorite Topic
Students engage in the practice of freewriting to improve expressing written thoughts. Then the process of editing takes place to solidify the practice of the writing process.
Curated OER
A Sentence for Life
What is a sentence? Second graders will explore the components of a sentence in the ten lessons of this unit. The subject, predicate, the process of proofreading, punctuation, and sentence sequence are analyzed in this unit. Handouts and...
Curated OER
Expository Essay Topic: Peer Review
Class members use an expository essay instructional activity to review a peer’s paper. The focus here is on the thesis statement.
Curated OER
Animation Pre-Production
Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...
Curated OER
The Five-Paragraph Essay: Tips for Success!!
Need to review the five-paragraph format with your high schoolers? Although the presentation does not include a complete essay as a model, the concise definitions and explanations would serve as a good review before learners are assigned...
Curated OER
Writing to a Specific Topic
After a class discussion where learners make predictions about what will happen in a book based on its cover illustration, pupils are asked to compose a written response about an aspect of the story and include some of their own...
National Geographic
Spot Where You DON'T Get Your Seafood
When your class is examining the fishing industry or sustainable practices, you can use this brief activity to demonstrate the global impact our food choices have. Overharvesting, overfishing, and bycatch are important topics to address...
Pleasant Valley Community School District
Integumentary System
This document can be used as a slide show to introduce your human body systems class to the integumentary system, also know as skin. Topics outlined include the roles of skin, details about its its layers, and color (cause and...
Curated OER
The Kite Runner: What is Afghanistan Like Today?
After completing Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, readers research a topic of interest and prepare a five-minute presentation, and share their findings with the class.
Curated OER
Personal Narrative Paragraphs: Class Quilt
Begin this activity by asking third graders to bring from home pieces of cloth that represent something important to them. (Have extras for students who need them.) They reflect on important events in their lives, compose narrative...
Curated OER
How to Write an Essay: Secondary ed.
Whether introducing the structure of expository essays or reviewing the format with your high schoolers, take the time to check out this resource. Examples of seven common forms of introductory paragraphs and six types of conclusions, as...
Curated OER
Topic 3.5 & 3.6: Linear Programming
In this linear programming worksheet, high schoolers define variables and write a system of inequalities for the given situation. They model the solution through graphing. This two-page worksheet contains six multi-step word problems.
Curated OER
Five Paragraph Essay
The components of a five-paragraph essay are outlined on these slides. Not much explanation is given, but you can use this as you lecture and help your learners write. Follow the outline for what each paragraph should contain, and...
Curated OER
The 5 Paragraph Essay
The value in this PowerPoint about the five-paragraph expository essay comes from the clear explanations and specific examples provided to illustrate each aspect; however, a complete, model essay is not included. Beware the typos!
Polk Bros Foundation
Organize an Argument
Prepare your pupils for a debate or argumentative writing assignment. Students can use the two columns here to take notes on two different arguments about the same topics. They then note down their own positions and briefly explain their...
Pennington Publishing
Vocabulary Worksheet #1 & #2
These two worksheets cover several grammatical topics. Pupils work on words with multiple meanings, Greek and Latin word parts, word connotations, academic language, and more. The result is seven quick exercises that could be used...
EngageNY
Fraction Equivalence, Ordering, and Operations
Need a unit to teach fractions to fourth graders? Look no further than this well-developed and thorough set of lessons that takes teachers through all steps of planning, implementing, and assessing their lessons. Divided into eight...
Curated OER
Role Play Debate
Suggested topics for a role play debate include school uniforms and culpability for drunk driving, but any issue of interest to your class will work. What are the hot issues in your community or on the news right now? Class members...
Curated OER
Open-Ended Questions
Students identify a topic for an open-ended question and evaluate the question. After developing ideas that lead to inquire, they investigate and research this topic on the Internet, and then create an iMovie.
Curated OER
Introduction to Canada
Ninth graders investigate the country of Canada by examining their media in this geography lesson. They use the Internet to research Canadian newspapers and analyze a topic covered by both US and Canadian media sources. After comparing...
Curated OER
Teaching Controversial Science Issues Through Law Related Education
Discuss the differences in dialogue and debate when considering a controversial topic. Your class can work in small groups to complete a guided discussion of this controversial topic and then participate in a simulation of the Scopes...
Curated OER
Persuasive Writing
Fourth and fifth graders try their hand at persuasive writing. They listen to well-written persuasive articles so they can get a sense of what good persuasive writing is. Then, they brainstorm topics they'd like to write about and are...