Have you ever graded a stack of essays that felt like a series of bland simple sentences? A helpful grammar presentation will help learners spice up their writing by varying their sentence style, making them stronger and more...

A language arts instructional activity helps young writers identify elements that make up historical fiction. First, it guides them through elements of fictional pieces with vocabulary cards. Then, pupils work collaboratively to...

Here comes a writing assignment, here comes a writing assignment, right in time for Christmas. Young letter writers respond to a series of questions posed by the interactive that then formats their responses into a letter to Santa.

A five-item instructional activity challenges scholars to write two sentences using the same verb in two different ways—as a noun and a verb.

And now for the grand finale! Scholars prepare their final Pygmalion end-of-unit essays. Learners participate in a brief mini lesson about correcting errors and then begin revising their own argumentative essays. 

Why is it important to set goals as a writer? Scholars process feedback from their mid-unit assessments, writing down their strengths and weaknesses on index cards. Next, pupils use the feedback to begin drafting their hero's journey...

A little adversity is good for writing. Scholars review narrative-based monologues and concrete poems and choose which genre to use to express their own theme of adversity. Pupils also consider how to structure their narratives by...

What are the five steps of the writing process? This short PowerPoint presentation identifies the five steps and gives a quick definition of each. Use this if you want to introduce your learners to the terms and their definitions. 

Use consonant digraphs to introduce learners to word patterns and high frequency words. They observe a chart with the digraphs /sh/, /ch/, /th/, and /wh/. After listening to each of these phonemes, scholars watch as the teacher...

Fourth graders who are studying life in colonial America engage in an instructional activity that has them create a "Help Wanted" ad that would have been written by a master craftsperson from back in the day. They utilize a graphic...

How can you foster a thoughtful learning community for your class? First, the class brainstorms a list of behaviors that will help make the classroom a great place to learn. Then learners group similar ideas together and come up with...

Here's an amazing writing guide that deserves a place in your curriculum library. The 136-page packet provides focus lessons on the writing process, expository, persuasive, and timed writing, the Cornell system of note taking, and...

Writing a recipe for how to make a banana split is the task assigned in this language arts resource. Learners must list the ingredients, then write the instructions for how to construct the dessert. They can look up the instructions in a...

What makes you want to buy that new car? Or vote for that popular politician? Study the persuasive techniques commonly found in advertisements or argumentative writing, including repetition, exaggeration, and fact vs. opinion.

Maya Angelou's first autobiography,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, demonstrates both the author's exemplary writing and the themes of gender and racial injustice that perpetuate beyond the limits of the 20th century. Use a...

Technical and informational writing is the most common type of writing that students will encounter. Using this SMART board activity, teach your 10th graders the four different types of technical writing. They can then practice following...

Emerging writers observe and demonstrate the process of writing an essay. As a class, they read and discuss the writing steps, read a sample essay, and write an outline for a three-paragraph essay. Then they write a final version of...

What's the best way to start a story? Learners write a memoir using effective openings. They research the process and work through a list of hooks to use in their writing. They use at least two hooks to begin their personal memoir. A...

Emerging writers identify an informational piece of writing. They are provided with examples of informational writing and view a PowerPoint on narrative writing. Then, they design their own informational writing with a brochure,...

What a great cross-curricular instructional activity to give to your kindergartners! They get printing practice by tracing the word blue, connecting its meaning by coloring bubbles blue. Finally, they connect the shape of the...

Learners examine the procedures that writers utilize to obtain and develop ideas for writing. Journal writing is fostered as a primary step in the writing process. Learners are encouraged to pay careful attention to using complete...

If you are interested in having a basic framework for teaching expository, narrative, persuasive, and descriptive writing, this resource may help; however, you will have to find information on the different forms of writing to share with...

Are your learners working towards their GED? First they study the GED essay rubric, and then they read a sample essay as a group. After studying the basic elements, they write an essay of their own. After peer editing, they revise their...

Students examine language arts by completing a group activity. In this writing styles lesson, students define and discuss the differences between collaborative writing and traditional writing while answering questions in a Smart Board...