Curated OER
Leads for Descriptive Writing
Students write two descriptive leads to learn how to reel in readers. After their leads have been written, they will share with a partner to decide which was the most appealing. In this leads lesson, students can also write a reflection...
Curated OER
Transitions
Give examples of transitions and why they are necessary in writing. A bit verbose, this handout is very thorough and provides many examples. The second page lists plenty of transitional phrases in a convenient chart.
Orange County Schools
Piggybook
Summarizing text is a balancing act between being brief but thorough. You need to be short and to the point, but also cover all the important details, a task that presents a challenge for many young learners. In this lesson based on the...
Curated OER
Writing Exercise: The Han and Roman Empires
Combine subjects with a cross-curricular writing exercise. Although limited as an engaging or interactive activity, this Han and Roman Empires worksheet has learners responding to 3 clear and simple prompts, each of which can easily lead...
Curated OER
Writing Exercises: Ancient Greece
Combine subjects with a cross-curricular writing exercise. Although limited as an engaging or interactive activity, this Ancient Greece assignment has learners responding to 3 clear and simple prompts, each of which can easily lead into...
Curated OER
Writing Exercises: The Gupta Empire II
Combine subjects with a cross-curricular writing exercise. Although limited as an engaging or interactive activity, this Gupta Empire activity has learners responding to 3 clear and simple prompts, each of which can easily lead into...
Curated OER
Writing Exercise: The Renaissance II
Here is a cross-curricular writing exercise with limited appeal as an engaging or interactive activity. A instructional activity on the Renaissance that has learners responding to 3 simple prompts, each of which can easily lead into...
Curated OER
5 Broken Cameras: How Storytellers Shape the Story
5 Broken Cameras, the award-winning documentary nominated for a 2013 Academy Award and winner of the Sundance 2012 Directors Award is the focus of a resource packet that includes a lesson plan, discussion guide, reading lists, background...
Global Oneness Project
Freedom to Change
Here's something unusual and thoughtful: have your scholars do some pensive reflection themselves before tackling how such meditative techniques are used in prison rehabilitation programs. They watch the...
Curated OER
Predicting the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words in a Text
Middle schoolers develop strategies for what to do when they come upon words in a text that they don't know. After a class discussion, pupils are given a selection of text that contains some very difficult words. They are instructed to...
Curated OER
A Cow's Life
Moo! An engaging two-part worksheet focuses on the role of cows in our agriculture system. The second part of the worksheet has ten discussion questions, which should lead to some interesting points about cows. Young farmers can learn...
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
Writing - Combining Ideas to Write Descriptive Paragraphs
Students develop a strategy for combining various ideas into well formed sentences which then combine to produce effective descriptive paragraphs.
Curated OER
Comma Splices
Ah, the comma splice; somehow it works its way into middle and high schoolers' writing quite often. To start, this worksheet defines comma splice and focuses on the four ways to correct them. For practice, pupils correct the comma...
Curated OER
To Help You Write Well
In this grammar learning exercise, students review, define and write each one in a grammatically sound sentence. Students share their sentences with their classmates.
Write.com
Lead vs. Led
Teach a lesson on the commonly confused words lead and led and assign this activity to review the material. Learners must not only choose the correct word for each sentence, but they also need to determine whether the word is used as a...
Virginina Department of Education
Combining Ideas into an Effective Sentence
Here is a lesson that is best utilized as reinforcement in identifying sentences that combine independent/dependent clauses, and phrases that are awkward, fragmented or complete. Learners use the red, yellow, and green light method...
Virginia Department of Education
Revising Writing
Junior high writers investigate other student’s sample writing and critique on how it could be improved. Skill emphasis is place on elaboration, voice, and sentence variety. The student writing is provided, but the checklist for revision...
University of Kansas
Feelings - Thematic Unit
Boost language skills with a unit all about feelings. Scholars from all grade levels take part in several lessons that incorporate specific vocabulary terms and adjectives while discussing their feelings with their peers. Reading...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Vocabulary: Word Analysis, Meaning Map
Lead young learners to understand new vocabulary with this series of word maps. The first of these organizers asks children to determine the definition and provide examples and descriptions of each word with the help of dictionaries,...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Family Time: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 5)
Support English language development with a family-themed unit consisting of a series of lessons designed to get your scholars moving, looking, speaking, writing, and listening. Conversation topics...
Curated OER
Revising Ordinary Sentences into Strong Leads Using "Crispin: The Cross of Lead"
Students create stories using powerful introductory sentences by creating something other than "Once upon a time...". In this sentences lesson plan, students read The Cross of Lead to base their introductory sentences on.
Curated OER
Expressing Cause and Effect: Discovering Effective Sentence Patterns
In this cause and effect practice worksheet, students collaborate as they complete 6 exercises that require them examine sentence patterns.
Curated OER
Repairing Run-On Sentences
In this run-on sentences activity, students complete a ten question multiple choice on-line interactive exercise. Students read a sentence and indicate the correct way to write it without it being a run-on sentence.