Curated OER
Functional Public Sculpture? Let's build a"Reading Wall"!
Students interview a brick sculptor and aid in building a brick wall. They write expository paragraphs explaining the sequential process of building a reading wall. They create reading wall sketch designs. Students carve their names and...
Curated OER
Comparing Time Periods in U.S. History: The Ashford Project
Fifth graders use a "fact book" comparing periods in American history then students create a picture to illustrate their assigned periods. # # students use their pictures and concept maps to write expository paragraphs about their...
Curated OER
Governor's Garden
Students review types of polygons and list several examples of each. They assume the role of a landscape artist interviewing for a job. They create sketches of their plans for six polygonal gardens and write an expository paragraph...
Curated OER
Why Is The State Called Kansas?
Fourth graders research how cities are named. In this states names activity, 4th graders discuss whom the state of Kansas was named after, work with a partner to write down what they've learned about Kansas, research the origins of...
Curated OER
Greeting Card to A Character
Students create a greeting card from one character to another after finishing a novel. Individually, they use their imagination to write the paragraph using the text to support their ideas. They share their greeting card with the class...
Curated OER
Sentence Sequence
Second graders write a paragraph with detail sentences in chronological sequence.
Orange County Department of Education
Dancing Rainbows: A Pueblo Boy's Story
Third graders identify the main ideas illustrated in the story "Dancing Rainbows." They identify details from the story that show respect toward self and others. Students write a paragraph to illustrate how the Tewa Indians show respect....
Alabama Learning Exchange
Water Cycle Animation (A lesson involving handheld computer/Palm Pilots)
Fifth graders animate the Water Cycle using Sketchy on the handheld computers. They write an expository paragraph about the stages of the water cycle using "Word-to-Go" on the Handheld computers.
McGraw Hill
Science and Society: Access for All
Have your middle schoolers read through this outline about the Special Olympics program and then write a paragraph. This single-page assignment provides lines on which to write the expository paragraph. It makes good practice in writing...
Curated OER
Charlotte's Web
Fourth graders focus on fluency by reading the book Charlotte's Web. In this reading strategies instructional activity, 4th graders partner read, do guided reading, and independent reading to increase fluency. Students use Venn...
Curated OER
Performance Event
Students examine the media by writing a compare/contrast paragraph. In this mass communications lesson, students identify and discuss the main sources of information for Americans in today's age. Students analyze pictures of people...
Curated OER
American Studies
Entitled American Studies, this small unit covers various topics related to the study of the United States. Learners warm up by creating a dictionary of democracy, then dive into three different lessons focused on government, famous...
Curated OER
Nine Planets
What are characteristics of a planet? With this plan, learners investigate the characteristics of the planets in our solar system. They gather research of the nine planets by using the Internet and other research tools. Then they create...
Curated OER
Paraphrasing
Sixth graders practice paraphrasing. In this paraphrasing lesson, 6th graders read a paragraph and highlight the important words. They write a summary sentence of the paragraph making sure not to copy any sentences.
Curated OER
Could You Elaborate on That?
Fourth graders engage in a lesson which teaches the parts of an expository essay and how to organize and write an expository piece from a given topic. After a lecture/demo, 4th graders utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan which...
Curated OER
Developing Student Web Pages for Showcasing Research
Students employ information literacy skills to research topics. They develop topics using a graphic organizer. They draft, revise and edit research projects. They write an expository essay. They create a web page in Microsoft Publisher.
Curated OER
Researching and Writing About Another Country's Holiday: Documenting and Communicating Information
This lesson is a culminating lesson which follows students researching, collecting citations, evaluating and selecting text, graphic materials and visual aids. In this concluding lesson, 5th graders discuss the assessment task and how to...
Clever Student Training Company
Eliminating Weak Essay Material
A strong essay eliminates weak or unnecessary material. Determining what information contributes to an essay and what information should be deleted is a skill readers and writers of informational text must develop. Class members practice...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Art
Practice the skill of compare and contrast. First, show learners the different pairs of artwork in the project packet (included). Then, each learner chooses one of the pairs and finds the similarities and differences between the...
Curated OER
Summarization Superstars
How do you read when you know you're going to be summarizing a text? Summarize a nonfiction text with your upper elementary schoolers. Your pupils independently read a nonfiction article and write a summary paragraph using the six-step...
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
Natural Resources
Seventh graders consider how US natural resources have helped it to become a leading industrialized power. They research, discuss, write and edit an expository paragraph in groups. They can present paragraph to another class or compile a...
Curated OER
Web Wilderness
Fourth graders write an expository paper using notes taken during a field trip or a guest speaker.