EngageNY
End of Unit 2 Assessment, Part 1: Best First Draft of an Informational Essay
Writers work to create drafts of their end-of-unit assessments relating to A Mighty Long Way and Little Rock Girl 1957. Using computers to create the first versions of their essays, writers emphasize ideas and evidence before focusing...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Literary Genres in “Moby-Dick”
Moby Dick is more than a whale of a tale narrated by Ishmael. A lesson studying Herman Melville's classic novel asks readers to examine the different genres the author weaves into his story. Instructors model how to conduct a stylistic...
University of North Carolina
Reading Aloud
Warning: reading your paper aloud may cause bystanders to think you're talking to yourself. However, as the 14th installment of 24 in the Writing the Paper series from UNC explains, it is one of the best strategies for revision. Through...
EngageNY
Analyzing Author’s Craft: Analyzing Hillenbrand’s Language Techniques
Young readers take a look at the conditional and subjunctive moods authors use. The Conditional and Subjunctive Mood handout defines the types of moods and gives them examples and practice. They then work with partners to identify...
ReadWriteThink
Persuasive Essay: Environmental Issues
Young environmentalists learn how to craft a persuasive essay about an environmental issue they consider important. After studying the components of a persuasive essay and examining a student model, writers brainstorm possible topics and...
PBS
Exploring Identity and Intersectionality in Poetry
Just as Kermit the Frog notes, "It isn't easy being green!" it isn't easy occupying "multiple Identity spaces." Class members read and discuss poems by writers detailing what it is like when their identities are "oppressed."
Curated OER
Persuasive Writers
Use the power of the pen to persuade others to get involved in community issues! Individuals reflect on personal service learning activities and the writing process. They compose essays regarding service to others. While designed for...
Curated OER
Tangerine: Writing Assignment: Paul’s Witness Account
As a final assignment in a unit study of Edward Bloor's Tangerine, individuals assume the voice of Paul Fisher and craft the witness report Paul mentions in the final pages of the novel. A great way to assess the writer's understanding...
Curated OER
Night: Unsent Letters Writing Strategy
As part of their study of Elie Wiesel's Night, individuals assume the voice of an Auschwitz survivor and craft a letter to a former SS officer who worked at the camp and claims he is not guilty of any crime.
University of North Carolina
Word Choice
Words matter, particularly in academic writing. Issues such as vague language, wordiness, and cliches make it difficult to get a point across. Part of a larger series to improve writing skills, the handout on word choice shows writers...
Annenberg Foundation
Native Voices
The Navajo people build their dwellings with the doors facing the rising sun in the east to welcome wealth and fortune. Pupils learn about the traditions of the Navajo people in the first part of a 16-part unit. They explore American...
Curated OER
Why Thank You!
Fifth graders listen to a read aloud of Patricia Polacco's, Thank You, Mr. Falker! students examine the use of voice in the book, discuss the writing and theme ideas. They write a thank you not to their hero.
Curated OER
Top Secret Rule Reasons!
Students read the book The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups and write their own story based on a rule that grown-ups put upon kids. For this writing lesson plan, students focus on the trait of voice.
Curated OER
Voice - 6 + 1 Traits of Writing
Fourth graders combine listening and writing skills in this lesson. After listening to Up North at the Cabin, Students are asked to write a piece from a specific viewpoint about a place that they like to visit.
San José State University
Revising for Clarity: Characters and Their Actions
This handout offers a three-step process for revising sentences for clarity: diagnose, analyze, revise. After reading an example sentence revision with a detailed explanation, learners complete three sample sentences using the three-step...
Curated OER
Gandhi's Voice: Writing as Nonviolent Resistance
Ninth graders identify how Mahatma Gandhi used writing as a means of nonviolent communication. In this nonviolent resistance lesson, 9th graders watch a film about Gandhi as a writer and identify characteristics of nonviolent activism....
Curated OER
Choosing the Correct Voice
In this writing voice worksheet, students complete three activities that help them understand and use the correct writing voice in formal papers.
Curated OER
Informational Writing-Creating a Speaker's Voice
Fifth graders study speaker's voice in informational writing. In this writing lesson, 5th graders discuss the difference between an interesting non-fiction excert and a reference non-fiction excerpt.
Curated OER
Writer's Block: Key Questions To Ask Before Composing
Students engage in a lesson that presents strategies to overcome the hurdles that discourage writers under pressure. They develop a paragraph of narrative text in response to a quote, motto or poem.
Vanderbilt University
Stories from the Panama Canal
The stories of the Silver People, the West Indies immigrants hired to work on the Panama Canal, come to life in a lesson about the building of the Panama Canal. Groups research why the canal was built, how it was build, the working...
Curated OER
Writing in First and Third Person
Explore narrative writing by participating in a role-playing activity. In this perspective lesson, learners define first and third person in writing and discuss how it changes the mood of the reader. The first activity has pupils write...
Curated OER
Jeffrey and Sloth
Students listen to the story Jeffrey and Sloth and explore the six traits of writing. In this six traits of writing lesson plan, students practice doodling as a method of brainstorming ideas. Students then discover the importance of...
Curated OER
The Kite Runner: Personality File
Readers of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner assume the voice of one of the characters from the novel and draft eight reflective journal entries and a one-page collage that depicts the character's interests, personal beliefs, etc.
Curated OER
Effective Writing Prompts: Getting Beyond the Dark and Stormy Night
Help struggling writers with strategies to reach different learning styles and reduce anxiety.