Curated OER
A Sense of Place
Students read "Fish Tale: Falling For a Live One" from The New York Times and discuss the methods and techniques the writer uses to create a strong mental image. Students pick a place in their community they wish to write about and...
Curated OER
Planning a Story
Have your class write stories. Learners discuss how to create a great beginning, develop a list of characters, and provide a resoulution of a story. There are some aspects of this presentation that could be altered to provide clearer and...
Curated OER
Lesson: Beyond First Impressions
Just like the colors and techniques used to create a vivid image, learners will use exceptional language to create vivid stories. They examine the techniques used to tell a visual story in the painting, Road to Santa Fe. They then use...
Curated OER
Shakespeare: The Nature of Writing and the Writing of Nature
This lesson plan uses Shakespeare's writing as a model for elementary students, encouraging them use their imaginations to explore to the evocative powers of language. It gives them a manageable piece of text which they can master and...
Curated OER
Capturing the Reader With Vivid Images
Students examine how the author tries to capture the reader's imagination immediately, through imagery--and hold on to it. They locate Ukraine on a world map and understand Lenin's role in the establishment of Russian communism and the...
Curated OER
Interpreting Political Cartoons in the History Classroom
Students analyze political cartoons. For this historical perspectives lesson, students use the provided cartoon analysis worksheet to examine the political cartoons that their instructor shares with them.
Curated OER
Dead Word Wall Lesson
Help your writers eliminate "dead words" (words that are overused) from their writing. This instructional activity includes a SMART board presentation that will guide them through identifying, eliminating, and substituting "dead words"...
Curated OER
ADd IT-- ADjectives and ADverbs
Descriptive writing is a must for students to understand. Using adverbs and adjectives, they turn simple sentences into works of art. Each simple sentence gets a descriptive make-over. This lesson plan suggests using Laptops and SMART...
Curated OER
Poems in Sections: The Mosaic Format
Students explore poetry. They examine metaphors. Students discuss and write examples of "figurative" and "literal" language. They read mosaic poetry. Students write a poem in mosaic format.
Curated OER
A Moment in Time
Eighth graders study poems to see how punctuation, line length, rhythm and word choice can be used to create a memorable moment. They read and discuss poems by Shel Silverstein.
Scholastic
Presenting Persuasively (Grades 9-12)
As a review of persuasive techniques, groups develop a one-sentence slogan designed to entice others to purchase a produce or adopt a point of view. The group then craft a storyboard for a commercial for their product.
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Gayle Forman
Sometimes a novel is the best way to tackle a tough topic. A helpful educator's guide for the novels of Gayle Forman discuss tough topics such as teenage suicide. Discussion questions and writing activities encourage readers to think...
Curated OER
Rhythm, Verse and Rhyme: COMPOSING A LIST POEM
Students are provided an opportunity for self-expression. They collaborate with a partner and compose a list poem. Students practice reading and writing skills. They explore lists and catalogues--both elements of poetry and practical...
Tech Coach Corner
The Hook
A fishing hook inspires this presentation about different methods for starting a composition. Have class members take notes or edit current drafts while viewing the slide show. The animation is entertaining, but gets repetitive by the...
Curated OER
Sleuthing A Writer's Skills
Young scholars read The Train Ride Home by Robin Solomon. In this literature response lesson, students will inspect the writing of Solomon to determine how she established a certain tone through her word choice and...
Curated OER
Strategy Script #4
This lesson is designed for college pupils who are having anxiety regarding public speaking. In it, the speech givers go through a process of using imagery in order to reduce anxiety. The instructor guides the pupils in visualizing how...
Curated OER
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel
Jamie Ford’s historical novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, explores the relationship between a young Chinese American boy and a Japanese American girl set against the backdrop of Seattle during World War II. The teaching...
Curated OER
Hoops! There It Is!
Fifth graders view and discuss the use of voice in writing through the in-your-face, aggressive, powerful messages of the Nike advertisements and the book Hoops as examples of the intensity words can have and how voice is expressed. A...
Curated OER
Crafting Poetry: A Sensory Journey
Tenth graders experiment with poetry devices to write poems. In this poetry lesson, 10th graders participate in learning stations. Students create a word pool and select a word from the list to create a line of poetry. Students complete...
Curated OER
Persuasive Advertisement For A Novel
Sixth graders engage in a project to persuade classmates to read a certain novel. They create a poster using persuasive advertising language. Media can be included in the form of pictures and other graphics to make the visual...
Curated OER
Similes and Metaphors
Reward your class with tasty treats while teaching them about simile and metaphor. After a teacher demo and explanation of simile and metaphor, pupils read books, looking for examples of these literary devices and copying them down....
Bolton Healthy Schools
Deal with Poetry
The stated goal of this unit is to use poetry to "improve the emotional health of young people." Budding poets read and then supply their own lines for poems that deal with alienation, loneliness, and rejection.
Penguin Books
White Fang Teacher's Notes
If you're looking for a way to structure your unit on Jack London's White Fang, use a well-organized guide to bring the intrigue of the novel to your middle school classroom. Covering a biography of the author, main background and...
Curated OER
Use synonyms to make your writing vivid
Students examine synonyms and practice finding appropriate synonyms in a thesaurus. In this use synonyms to make your writing vivid lesson, students identify the correct usage of synonyms. Students replace incorrect synonyms in...