Lesson Plan
Digital Writing and Research Lab's – Lesson Plans

Teaching Close Reading through Short Composition/Revision

For Teachers 9th - 12th
This activity may have writers evaluate short compositions, but their subjects are quite tall: great Americans. Pupils read one another's compositions and closely examine how specific phrases and diction contribute to shaping American...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Get Your Mojo Workin': Part 1 Writing Your Very Own Blues Tune!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Upper graders listen to the blues. They discuss blues scale, read a description of the blues, and work together to write an original piece. A lesson like this ties into American history and African-American musical contributions very...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Persuasive Writing

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders study persuasive writing. They analzye an editorial for introductory,body, and concluding sentences. They develop arguments for and against various topics in small groups.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing: Narrative, Expository, Persuasive, and Descriptive

For Teachers 6th - 9th
If you are interested in having a basic framework for teaching expository, narrative, persuasive, and descriptive writing, this resource may help; however, you will have to find information on the different forms of writing to share with...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Focus on Form

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young musicians discuss musical form found in the song, The Star Spangled Banner. They review their parts for the song then practice playing it as a group. Cross-curricular activity suggestions are included.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Write a Short Story

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students compare two paintings, depicting urban life in America in the 1940's, answering a series of questions, then create a short story about the paintings' characters. They compare 'Nighthawks' and 'Nightlife.'
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Improving Students' Writing Skills

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Are your writers making the same mistakes over and over again? Instead of editing their papers, consider encouraging learners to use this sheet to classify their errors. This helps them identify and address common problem areas they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Write Your Own Rap

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders create a rap using basic AB form composition. Evaluation of performances are based on rubric formed during the first lesson by all students. This three to four day lesson culminates in student performances and evaluation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Create a Composition

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students select an instrument and create a musical composition. In this musical composition instructional activity, students invent an original piece of music that is 16 measures long. Students hum and record their pieces.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Write Me a Story

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders use the writing process and submit a story to www.kids.com.  In this story writing lesson, 2nd graders choose a topic for a story contest.  Students develop their stories.  Students complete a  her...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Color as a Pre-Writing Tool

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
To better understand how to compose a clear and well-organized paper, learners read short passages, write summaries, and make colored graphic organizers. This is a fully developed three-day lesson with suggested assessments.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry/Music: Let It Snow!

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Learners create poems and sound compositions using instruments, sounds, and pictograph notation. After listening Debussy's Children's corner suite, they brainstorm a list of snow vocabulary words. Students write poems and in groups...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Bug's Life

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Look at life from a bug's perspective, and create a wonderful image based on what you think it sees. Learners use the crayon resist painting technique to draw and paint and picture of a bug's world from its point of view. Tip: This would...
Lesson Plan
Ogden Museum of Art Education Department

Literacy and Landscapes

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
As the saying goes, art often imitates life ... and literature! A series of activities designed to accompany a visit to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art encourage writers to find inspiration in various landscapes. The instructional...
Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

Formulas and Percent Compositions of Ionic Compounds

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Try not to blind anyone with science by following the safety rules. The lesson encourages scholars to form an ionic compound from magnesium and chlorine. Then they determine the empirical formula and determine the mole ratio and percent...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lewis and Clarke Composition

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Young scholars write a narrative story about the Lewis and Clarke Expedition. In this narrative writing lesson, students write a narrative story including themselves in the expedition. Young scholars include aspects of narrative story...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Writing Process

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Show your young researchers how to find information, brainstorm a topic, map or outline their own stories, and create rough drafts. This instructional activity also shows learners how to peer edit, conference with the teacher, and write...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Form and Theme in the Traditional Mexican Corrido

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students examine the traditional Mexican musical form of corridos. In this cross curricular history and music lesson, students analyze the lyrics of popular corridos and the corridos' importance in Mexican culture. Students will...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduction To Composition And Elements Of Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create a finished drawing with a dynamic, asymmetrical composition. Pencil sketches are encouraged for final projects. Students assess their own work prior to submitting the artwork.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

I'm Published! A Parts of Speech Book

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Reinforce the importance of the writing process with this publication lesson. Elementary and middle schoolers compose a parts of speech book which includes one page each for nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Shape of Things

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders develop their writing skills. In this paragraph structure lesson, 4th graders research natural disasters, compile their findings, create mobiles and write stories based on the mobiles.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Modernism in Poetry, Painting, and Music

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adventures in Creating Hypertext Stories

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Use hypertext to make a multimedia choose-your-own adventure story! Young writers incorporate knowledge of story writing elements to write their own stories, and rewrite the adventure with various scenarios and endings. Use technology to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Charles Darwin Meets John Paul II

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
If you teach AP English language and composition and are looking for a way to address the differences between written and spoken arguments, consider this lesson. Over the course of three days, class members research Charles Darwin or...