This instructional activity engages students in working with narrative reading and writing. Students will listen to different stories and fill out story maps for them. Then students will plan a personal narrative about a "surprise" on a...

This is a great writing lesson for math teachers. The picture book Take Me Out of the Bathtub by Alan Katz demonstrates his love of familiar songs and nursery rhymes by writing new lyrics that can be sung to them. For this assignment,...

Students are so used to hearing stories that start with the words Once upon a time and when writing their own stories, they often begin with these same words or with variations like One day I. Inspired by the novel Crispin by Avi This...

This is a great math writing assignment. First, learners learn about the patterns and shapes of polynomial equations and their inverses by making their bodies imitate mathematical concepts, using popular disco & 80's dance moves....

Each writer will brainstorm experiences where he/she has learned some sort of lesson about life. Each will then come up with a personal list of "Rules and Things for a Funner Life," such as those shared in Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher...

Using the song "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw from the soundtrack for The Bucket List as a model, students will take a look at their values and the things they would like to accomplish in their lives before they run out of...

Need help with doing a descriptive paper or personal narrative? Need a writing lesson plan? Meet Virginia Hamilton and follow her step-by-step guide to writing. When done, you are eligible for a certificate signed by this author.

This series of nonfiction writing lessons was developed by Stuart Miller. Four activities include: Describing the Real World, The Interview, Writing a Profile, and Writing a Review.

This is a writing activity perfect for a math class, it's designed to help young scholars see the differences between linear (arithmetic, adding) and exponential (geometric, multiplying) growth. Students explore the ideas of linear and...

Using "Science Times" at NewYorkTimes.com, students will listen to podcasts to learn about and share science ideas that are currently in the news. By organizing and summarizing science thoughts, students will be able to effectively share...

Using the song "Where Is the Love" by the Black-Eyed Peas and "Excuse Me, Mr." by Ben Harper, students will begin to think about injustices that exist in our world. Ultimately, student writers will compose an essay based on a persuasive...

The world is an ever changing place, and through this lesson plan students will have a chance to send a call out for change. Using Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" as an inspiration and a model, students will brainstorm...

Inspired by the music "Free to Be. . . You and Me" by Marlo Thomas, this lesson, which will take several days, asks students to compose stories that teach character traits that will be shared with elementary school children. They will...

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem discover that their seemingly "feeble" father has an astonishing ability with a rifle. For this assignment, writers will compose a letter to a parent or loved one, asking for a return letter that...

In this instructional activity, students will use the song "The 3 R's" by Jack Johnson to develop ideas about how to "green" up their own classrooms; they will learn two songs (written to the tune of old classics) that will inspire them...

After listening to Van Morrison's "Days Like This" and Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance " and reading Dr. Seuss' Oh, the Places You'll Go! students will consider their choices in life. After asking students, "Who decides your lives are...

Inspired by the opening events in The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman, young scholars are asked to create an original parallel world that is similar to ours but different in certain ways. They will focus on the similarities and...

[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, you will learn to revise your writing for clarity. You will begin by reviewing some major considerations for revision: genre, purpose, and audience. You will...

[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] A learning module that teaches students how to generate ideas and questions as a part of the writing process in five mini-lessons: Introduction, Writing the Persuasive Essay:...

By looking to examples of popular poetry in a variety of forms, students learn to analyze, appreciate, and synthesize poetry in the classroom. "Writing Poetry Like Pros" provides several links to poetry texts and suggestions for creating...

Students can easily grasp the the parts of a sentence with this lesson plan.

The fourth workshop [58:24] features the classrooms of two teachers: sixth-grade language arts teacher Jenny Beasley and fifth-grade teacher Jack Wilde. Both are teaching units on persuasive writing that allow students to write about...

This slideshow lesson focuses on revising using teacher comments. It discusses the advantages of teacher notes on rough drafts, how to use the notes to improve the final, examples from sections of marked student papers, editing and...

[Accessible by TX Educators. Free Registration/Login Required] A learning module that teaches students about writing a persuasive text to support a position in four mini lessons: Introduction; Just the Facts, Ma'am. Kung Fu Fighting:...