Sixth graders discover the importance of lead sentences and practice writing them. After reading lead sentences in books, they determine the qualities that attract and hold readers' attention. Finally, once they have identified the...

Second graders create a Mother's Day Writing Project in this lesson. They review the assignment's expectations, and develop their rough draft letters and illustrations. They then peer edit their rough drafts and write their final copies.

Fourth graders participate in an observation hike in this lesson. They orally share observations from their hike, and develop a paragraph in a shared writing exercise. Finally, the write their paragraph about process writing in their...

Scholars create a brochure that features three aspects of the poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin." The program details information about Robert Browning, the poem's setting, and its events. 

Students identify controversial topics on which they have strong opinions and model their own persuasive opinion pieces after the featured article. They compose persuasive essays on controversial issues that "hit home" for them.

Personal narrative writing is usually a favorite form of writing for youngsters because they get to write about a personal experience. The lesson here asks pupils to take a piece of narrative writing and improve it by following...

Your class can build strong, well-represented opinions about the music they hear. They listen to, and share thoughts about, a piece of classical music. Then they write a piece of music or a poem, and analyze their peers' work and their...

What is your attitude on health and illness? By considering their own experiences, students will reflect on and discuss their attitudes toward health and illness while educating each other by researching illnesses in small groups,...

A great way to publish students' stories is by having them create a picture book using Pages. This simple instructional activity has them take a short story they have written and create a book with a title page and dedication. After they...

Aesop's Fables are the focus of this language arts lesson. Young philosophers study and discuss the morals found in the most famous of Aesop's Fables. They write an original fable that teaches a common moral. A "Fable Listening Library"...

Discover the impact and importance of data releases about current economic conditions in the United States. Your class members will learn about data revision and the GDP, and how these figures can alter people's views on the economy.

Students compose an original rap. They discuss the career and music of Kanye West, discuss their pre-writing worksheet, and write an original rap using a Final Draft Worksheet.

Students explore and apply their proofreading skills in order to prepare their project essays for peer editing and final drafting. They refine their final project essays by identifying and correcting spelling and grammatical errors.

Eighth graders read Las Christmas and discuss their own cultural traditions. In this holiday traditions lesson, 8th graders write their personal story about a tradition or holiday memory. Students complete all stages of writing in...

Pupils design an original cartoon character. They explain the creative process and development of a cartoon from brainstorming to final draft and study different types of cartooning. Use the correct terminology associated with cartooning

Here is a tasty topic for a instructional activity: Christmas candy! Third and fourth graders research classic Christmas candies, then create their very own! They write a descriptive paragraph about their candy, then use KidPix to create...

Have your young scientists explore a single element of the water cycle and write a report to explain findings. Your class can take their writing through all the steps of the writing process and publish it using a Web-based multimedia...

Fourth graders act out and write original narratives. In this theater meets writing lesson, 4th graders work in groups to create original narratives; after students act out their story, they write it down as a narrative.

This task is best utilized after a rough draft revision is completed. Writers pair-up and identify when the author uses the passive voice, clichés, and wordiness.  Basic examples for the revision points are provided for the...

Learners create and send postcards to friends and family members. Using actual photographs, they write a rough draft and final draft of a paragraph and print it out to glue onto a postcard template to mail to their friend or family member.

Young scholars read Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland's, Sami and the Time of Troubles before discussing it as a class. They brainstorm ideas for a letter to the main character, Sami. Next, they write a rough draft of a...

Young scholars write an essay comparing and contrasting two like items. In this informative writing lesson, students use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast a cracker and an Oreo cookie. Young scholars write an informative five...

Students write "Guess Who?" poems in a descriptive manner. They listen to the poems as they are read aloud and try to guess who the poem belongs to.