What items would you need to survive if you were stranded in a remote place? Using chapter 10 of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, middle-schoolers work through a Six Trait writing activity to create a story about their own survival in a similar...

Writers complete editing and polishing the final draft of their research paper and submit the document for assessment.

Having prepared for an analysis essay about one of the characters from The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, tenth graders demonstrate their understanding in a mid-unit assessment. They focus on either Jing-Mei or Waverly in an informative...

As an end-of-unit assessment, class members complete the final drafts of their Common Application narrative essay and then meet in pairs to discuss the independent reading selection.

Students read Chasing Vermeer and relate the book to the author .  In this writing process lesson, students view Blue's Photo Album and see how the author writes and revises her work. Students discuss the process that all good...

The concluding skills unit offers learning opportunities and reviews in preparation for assessments. Scholars participate in lessons that examine spelling patterns, prefixes, suffixes, pronouns, and adjectives, draft a letter, and listen...

Students complete a final draft of a myth.  In this writing myths instructional activity, students complete their rough drafts, have a one-on-one meeting with the teacher to enhance ideas, and peer edit.  Students use the...

Students plan and write paragraphs while integrating other core subject areas. In this paragraph writing lesson, students complete 5 lessons to practice writing paragraphs. Students incorporate various core subjects into their paragraph...

Even the most inspiring documents in American history had to go through a few drafts before they were ready for publication. Reinforce the importance of the writing process, as well as the collaborative nature of democracy, with an...

Should kids under the age of 18 be given access to credit cards? Learners identify pros and cons of using credit, develop claims based on evidence, and finally argue reasons for or against credit for minors.

Should schools impose community service graduation requirements? In the final lesson of the Drafting Board series, learners solidify their practice of crafting an argument supported by sound reason and evidence.

One, two, three go!  Scholars work independently to finalize the three components of their final task. They complete a science journal entry, scientific text box, and scientific drawing. While working, learners sign up for an...

Create a sense of accountability among scholars with a lesson that focuses on making and keeping New Year's resolutions. Writers compose a five paragraph essay focused on three resolutions—promises to self improvement, to...

Help young writers with the daunting prospect of a five-paragraph essay. Using William Golding's Lord of the Flies, learners work through a short process to shore up their brainstorming and prepare to write a longer essay.

Reflection is the best teacher. Using the resource, scholars complete the final part of their end of unit assessment, the fourth section of their storyboard about an invention. Next, they track their progress using a self-reflection...

Seventh graders create an original narrative story in a diary or journal format involving a fictional character with conflict, plot, resolution and falling action within the story line. They follow the steps of the writing process with...

Students create short stories and make stick puppets to act it out. After editing their stories, they glue used CDs or DVDs to popsicle sticks and decorate them as the story characters. Finally, students present their puppet shows to...

Ease young writers into the process of writing a story with a colorful presentation on story maps. Viewers use the provided sentence frames to craft a sample story as guided practice. They then draft their own stories to share with the...

Find out what's special about your pupils with a fun biopoem activity! As they fill out their name, words that describe them, what they love, and what they dream of, learners create an expressive poem about themselves.

While you'll have to create an assignment sheet for a research project focusing on the arctic, you could use this sheet when it comes time to write the final draft. The title is already printed, and there's a cute penguin in the bottom...

Young scholars compose a descriptive letter to their families. In this descriptive writing lesson students write a letter as if they have left their family for a new country and will try to convince their families to join...

Students write reports, including a summary of their research findings and their historical journal entries, to be shared with friends and families, and publish their reports.

Students discuss technical writing and its importance in the work place and review the definition of technical writing They evaluate technical writing examples and look for characteristics of effective technical writing. They conduct a...

Students respond to a writing prompt using appropriate letter format. In this letter writing lesson, students discuss the format for letter writing and use the worksheet format to write the heading, inside address, and salutation....