Students, through a series of 4 lessons, explore what it means to revise their written work. They revise a bland story together and then practice revising their own papers by identifying the main action and "exploding" that moment into...

Fourth graders examine the English Language Arts Writer's Checklist. They practice prewriting techniques and use clustering as a prewriting technique. They follow specific rules in order to complete this lesson.

Although unlikely in today's English classroom, this lesson focuses on introducing research papers to seniors in high school. It briefly reviews the parts of an essay, and mentions showing learners example essays, but no examples are...

Students examine the pros and cons of the implementation of public policy matters and the specific issue of dress codes. They develop a list of pros and cons of a school dress code, examine and discuss a local editorial newspaper page,...

Students create a group poem. In this poetry lesson, students make a cultural poem titled "We Come From." They share their poems using the document camera and SMARTboard. 

Students complete writing activities for fiction. In this fiction writing lesson, students complete four sets of activities in a writer's workshop format to practice reading and writing in a fiction style. Students develop plot outlines,...

Art in one form can inspire art in another. Use images to inspire writing in your English class. The lesson described here is not detailed; however, the idea is strong. An engaging way to get class members interested in writing, the...

Students participate in an ongoing writing project about the seven world continents. In this continents writing lesson, students work on an interactive game to write about the seven continents. Students locate the continents on the map....

Students study examples of each trait in literature. They discuss how each trait adds to the craft of writing and practice revision of a writing piece with a particular trait in focus. They rate their writing on the trait of Ideas using...

Middle schoolers discuss the meaning of the sentence, The student asked to go to the office." Ask the class if the sentence gives the reader any information about the student. Can they visualize the way the student asked the question?...

  Did you know that 50% of all Americans can trace a relative who traveled through Ellis Island? Relive these journeys with your class and then provide sentence strategy templates for them to use to compose their own informative...

The Cay has been criticized by groups such as the Council on Interracial Books for Children because of the way race is portrayed. Explore the argument against the book while taking the author's perspective into account. Class members...

Learners watch an online slideshow that shows Cornelia Funke's transition from an illustrator to a writer. They discuss her writing process from the way she gathers ideas to how and where she writes. Next, they work in groups to choose a...

Young writers compare writing a paper to building a barn. They write a thesis statement using parallel construction and use transitions to hold the paper (walls of the barn) together. A barn raising video link is included; great for...

Fourth graders write from the perspective of a child in the colonial period. In this writing lesson, 4th graders create a fictional character living in the colonial period and write about daily life from their perspective.

Why is "ambulance" written backwards on emergency vehicles? Young geometers apply principles of symmetry to translate words written backwards. See if your school or district subscribes to Jobland, where you can view a clip that explains...

Start by clicking on the icon that says, "Download the Activity." The format is much easier to read and understand here! Then, encourage your class to write about some of their favorite things through a three-paragraph essay. Examples...

Third graders write, illustrate, and publish a collaborative story. For this writing lesson, 3rd graders review story elements by reading stories written by professional authors and other students. They work in groups to write a...

Students determine the elements of a review.  In this writing lesson, students investigate the parts necessary for a critic to write a review.  Students write their own review based on a film or production they have recently...

Students practice their creative writing skills and build cooperative learning skills. In this creative writing project, students review parts of a story. Students reinforce the concept of sequencing and develop stronger writing...

Young readers write a descriptive paper on the fantasy characters in The Hobbit. They take notes as they read the novel in order to provide descriptions of the character traits of hobbits, dwarfs, trolls, wizards, and goblins. They...

Students compose a letter to a family member. For this writing lesson, students listen to the book, Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers and identify the parts of a letter.

Help your writers get started with these hooks! Twenty-five opening lines from the "Lives" column in the New York Times Magazine act as prompts for creative writing. Have your learners choose one prompt and write an original essay....