Curated OER
First Set of Essay Questions on The Hobbit
Students read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and choose two essays to write about the first six chapters. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, students read the first six chapters of the novel and use a worksheet to take...
Curated OER
John Lawson's Emigration Impact: Short Essay
Students review John Lawson's writings to discover the impact they had on emigration to America. Using the writings, they analyze the influence of them and review the early settlement of the colonies. They write their own essay sharing...
Curated OER
Create Your Island Paradise
Sixth graders create a descriptive essay and map describing their island paradise. They try to evoke the reader's senses: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting. They revise their paragraphs using their partner's feedback.
Curated OER
The Abstraction Ladder (Using Examples in Essays)
Students examine and discuss most appropriate format for giving examples in the American discourse style.
Curated OER
Photo Essay
Students examine the process of writing a photo essay. They examine and select a personal photo or photo from a magazine, and brainstorm a story that can go with the photo. They identify an emotion to go with their picture, then write...
Curated OER
Maine: A Place Apart?
Students list phrase that describe Maine from both an insider's and outsider's point of view. They create an exhibit on Maine's history and write an essay about Maine's image as "a place apart."
Curated OER
Five Paragraph Essay
Eighth graders are introduced to the mechanics of writing a standard-form essay. They draft, edit and polish a five-paragraph essay about spending the day as an animal of their choice.
Curated OER
Essay Exchange Unit: Response to Essays
Students receive and read electronic reviews of their essays.
Curated OER
Publishing: A Persuasive Essay
Third graders are given an opportunity to create a visual to accompany their presentations of their persuasive essays. They may use the computer or other media as resources.
University of Chicago
Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
University of Chicago
Comparing Modern and Ancient Ideas of Ethnicity and Identity
Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...
Washoe County School District
Three Skeleton Key
Conduct a close reading of George G. Toudouze's well-known horror story "Three Skeleton Key." This plan breaks up the reading into several steps and provides text-dependent questions to ask along the way. Learners will have the chance to...
EngageNY
Grade 12 ELA Module 1, Unit 3, Lesson 3
Working in pairs, class members use the provided narrative writing rubric to assess the effectiveness of dialogue, pacing, and description in two model paragraphs with similar content. Writers then use the insights they have gained from...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
World War II - Life on the Home Front in Alabama
What was life like for civilians who were home during WWII? The lesson uses a PowerPoint presentation with photos to explain life on the home front was like during World War II, including shortages of food, collecting scrap metal, and...
Curated OER
Who Wrote That?
Scholars creatively respond to writing prompts. They respond to writing prompts that reveal clues regarding their personalities and then use the prompts written in class to guess the prompts that belong to their classmates.
Curated OER
Be a Celebrity and Share Your Life with Us
Sixth graders discuss their likes, dislikes, hobbies, goals, and special events in their lives. They write a five paragraph autobiography focusing on style, transitions, and details. This is well-suited for either explanatory or...
Curated OER
If I Were the Wind
Eighth graders are introduced to authors in the conservation community. As a class, they describe a personal experience they have had with nature. They identify examples of an author's descriptive writing techniques and answer questions...
Curated OER
Indian Story Bag
Students use an object to tell an interesting story from their lives. They write and present a short story about an interesting episode from their life and gather objects in a story bag, which illustrates their story to the class.
Curated OER
Making a Treasure Your Own: Lesson Two
Students write an essay describing the Curtis Center and what they learned there. In this descriptive writing essay, students discuss the five paragraph essay and review sensory discoveries from their trip. Students draft an outline and...
Curated OER
What Kind of Student Do You Want to Be?
Third graders write an essay which answers the question, "What kind of student do you want to be?"
Curated OER
Self-portraits: Integrating Arts And the Language Arts
Students look into a mirror and draw their own self-portraits. Then they write a descriptive essay, describing the portrait and the features of their face.
Curated OER
Mandela The Man
Ninth graders explore civil rights by reading several biographies. In this Nelson Mandela lesson, 9th graders discuss the trials and tribulations Nelson Mandela had to face in South Africa and how they were similar to the problems Martin...
Curated OER
SENSORY ELEMENTS
Students describe the sensory elements of musical selections (i.e., tempos, dynamics, and articulations). They write an essay evaluating Saint-Saens' effectiveness in using sensory elements in both selections. They describe the...
Curated OER
Jamestown
Seventh graders examine life at the Jamestown settlement. In this colonial America lesson plan, 7th graders visit the noted Web site to analyze artifacts from the settlement. Based on their findings, students write descriptive pieces...