Education World
Take Five: Writing a Color-Coded Paragraph
Use a traffic light to model a very basic paragraph plan. The Go, or topic sentence, is written in green and expresses an opinion about the topic. Information that supports the opinion of the Go sentence is written in yellow and the...
Curated OER
Organizing by Writing
Middle schoolers analyze how to use writing for generating and organizing their thoughts before communicating them. They use the questions on the first handout to organize a three-minute introduction of themselves to their small group....
Curated OER
Hot Dog Writing
Use a hot dog as a metaphor for good reading, and make your class drool! Writers identify the parts of a paragraph, linking them to parts of a hot dog. Then, they translate this knowledge into a well-written paragraph. While a check-list...
Curated OER
Developing a Topic for Writing Using an Idea Web
Teach your upper graders how to use an idea web to develop a topic for writing. After reading a variety of stories about friendship (a list of stories with the theme of friendship is included), model using an idea web. Class members...
Virginia Department of Education
Creating Thesis Sentences
Growing writers explore what it takes to develop and support a thesis statement with pre-fabricated ideas provided by the Virginia Department of Education. Learners take notes on what makes a thesis statement and a topic sentence, and...
Curated OER
How to Research and Write an Essay
Research and write a 500-word essay. Pupils research a topic and write an essay based on their research. They use the given directions and examples to help them research, organize, format, and write their essay. There's a short chart...
TESOL
Are You a Good Listener?
Your learners talk to each other every day, but are they really listening? Use a lesson based on listening skills to ensure that class members feel heard and respected. It includes games, discussion topics, and self-assessment tools that...
Curated OER
Persuasive Writing
Fourth and fifth graders try their hand at persuasive writing. They listen to well-written persuasive articles so they can get a sense of what good persuasive writing is. Then, they brainstorm topics they'd like to write about and are...
Curated OER
Choose Your Words Wisely
Improve word choice! Writers use dictionaries and thesauruses to aid them in choosing exciting words to incorporate in their writing. They rewrite sentences and practice identifying words that can be replaced using a better word. Flip...
Curated OER
Paragraph Lesson
Students write paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details. In this paragraph writing lesson, students fix sentences and paragraphs. Students also write a paragraph that includes an introduction, supporting details, and a...
Curated OER
Learning About Lemurs - A Summarization
Learners discuss the importance of comprehension and the use of summarization. Through guided practice, they follow five steps in finding and highlighting important information, while deleting information that is not needed. They write...
Curated OER
Writing: Laying and Covering the Foundation
Your middle schoolers can become stronger writers with a lesson covering the basics. They compose effective thesis statements and introductions, discuss different ways to capture a reader's attention, and compare a poorly written...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Writing Skills Development
Students improve writing skills by expanding their self-perceptions. Next, they develop idea lists for writing topics. Their ideas become the basis for a class newspaper. following the creation of a group composition, students write...
Curated OER
Stepping in: Good Samaritan or Fool?
Students write an opinion piece, including facts of this situation and any other statistics about helping others during a fight. Students offer suggestions about how to break up a fight, or when not to try (based on what national experts...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing About a Picture
First graders word process a topic sentence, two detail sentences and a concluding sentence about an image. They import a picture and change the font color of their writing.
Virginia Department of Education
The Writing Process for Expository Writing
Struggling on what steps to take in your expository essay lesson plan? Or confused on what to include for your scribes? This exercise in the process of expository writing provides concepts and structure for the educator on what the...
Curated OER
Writing - Combining Ideas to Write Descriptive Paragraphs
Young scholars develop a strategy for combining various ideas into well formed sentences which then combine to produce effective descriptive paragraphs.
Curated OER
Shared Writing (Whole Group)
Learners participate in a whole class shared writing activity. They create an original text while examining the thought process of writers.
Curated OER
Blueprint Writing
Eighth graders write a narrative composition about funny incidents in their home lives. In this narrative writing lesson, 8th graders define what a blueprint is and draw one for their home. Students write about events that happened in...
Curated OER
Civil War Essay
Upper graders explore equality by writing an essay. They read the story Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco, and discuss the meaning of the story and its relevance to Civil War events. Learners investigate the five writing process steps and...
Curated OER
Main Idea and Supporting Details
Second graders write topic sentences. In this writing lesson, 2nd graders construct a paragraph consisting of a topic sentence and 2-4 additional sentences. Students analyze their writing and publish a final copy.
Curated OER
Animation Pre-Production
Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...
Curated OER
Making an Argument: Effective use of Transition Words
Work on using transition words in context by prompting elementary and middle schoolers to write their own persuasive essays using transition words. They explore new forms of transition words and examine how they are used in an editorial...
Curated OER
Mannerly Writing
Writers draft paragraphs comparing and contrasting the author's viewpoint in two poems. They also discuss the differences between an informational text and a poem regarding manners. Rubric and assessment are provided.