Curated OER
A Picture Says a Thousand Words
Use photographs to trigger memories. Writers use a personal photograph as a starting point for an autobiographical writing exercise. They complete brainstorming activities that have them study their photograph before actually putting pen...
Curated OER
Narrative vs. Expository Texts
Young scholars use examples of narrative and expository text to analyze and compare the two styles. Learners read articles on life in Lesotho and Madagascar and use graphic organizers and discussion to compare them. Young scholars write...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Comparing Regimes: Critical Reading of Memoirs and Experiences from Totalitarian Regimes
Can you imagine living in a totalitarian country? Learners will read several primary source memoirs to gain a deeper understanding of what life is like under a controlled government. They'll discuss each piece in pairs, research...
Curated OER
Cinderella Folk Tales: Variations in Plot and Setting
Learners examine plot and setting of Cinderella, and how it changes as it is translated into different cultures, discuss universal literary elements of the Cinderella story, and write narratives with original settings and plots...
Curated OER
Paul Revere's Ride
Third graders read and discuss the selection "Paul Revere's Ride" (included with the lesson). Students imagine they live in one of the villages that Paul Revere stopped. They are awakened by his knock on the door. Students write an essay...
Curated OER
Historical Markers
Students read the "Chicago Tribute Markers of Distinction," and pick one famous person to write about. For this creative writing worksheet, students write about this person's home. Additionally, students pretend that 100 years from now,...
Curated OER
Essay Writing
Young scholars complete essay writing activities. In this essay writing lesson, students use an outline activity to learn about the advantages and disadvantages for various essay writing types. Young scholars also break down the...
Curated OER
Time's Up
How was your year? Create an individual timeline that document learners' personal history from the previous year. After reading an article about celebrating New Year's in Japan, pairs interview each other to gather information about...
Curated OER
What is Framing?
Students practice framing issues. In this writing skills instructional activity, students participate in a classroom activity that requires them to look at specific topical issues by framing them. Students then create collages on current...
Curated OER
Fifteen Seconds of Fame
A reading of Panic in Paris launches a review of the elements of narrative writing. Class members work in groups to find narrative devices in the book and record their findings on a provided worksheet. Using the completed pages,...
Curated OER
Living The Life of a Scribe
Young scholars write a descriptive letter about life in ancient Mesopotamia. Through video streaming, students discover the history of Mesopotamia. They assume the role of a scribe and compose a three paragraph essay using main ideas and...
EngageNY
Grade 12 ELA Module 1: Unit 1, Lesson 23
Malcolm X's journey to Cairo, his Hajj, his Letter from Mecca detailing his insights into "true Islam," and his transition to Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz are the focus of the discussion of chapter 17 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Curated OER
Lyddie: An Instructional Unit Resource Guide
Katherine Paterson’s young adult novel Lyddie is the foundation of a differentiated instruction unit that not only explores the rise of industrialization and labor but women’s rights issues as well. After learners read the novel, they...
Curated OER
Michelle Kwan: Heart of a Champion
Who is a champion to your class? Elementary and middle schoolers think of a role-model from their lives. Then, in their journals, they write evidence of that person's perseverance. They identify the character trait of perseverance with...
Curated OER
Comparison Contrast Essay
Students compare and contrast the experience of the migrant worker as depicted in The Grapes of Wrath with the experiences of migrant children as depicted in the narratives and poems provided.
Curated OER
Change Over Time
Students write a personal narrative that is designed to help them reflect on the nature and meaning of change in their lives.
Curated OER
Demystifying Mood in Creative Writing
Learners discover how writing is affected by mood and emotions. They learn proper mood descriptors and read sample pieces of writing to better explain mood.
Curated OER
Write Your Own Cultural Connections
Students write a cultural narrative. In this multicultural writing instructional activity, students create an expository narrative to teach others about their lives. Students complete the narrative and use a buddy editing strategy to...
Curated OER
15 Seconds of Fame
Students write an autobiographical essay. In this writing lesson students read a narrative, Panic in Paris, and review the elements of a narrative as a class discussion. Well-known stories are used as examples for writing their own...
Curated OER
Border Legends, Myth, & Folklore
Students examine the narrative forms and tales unique to the U.S.-Mexico border. They discuss the possible sociological meanings of these stories, and then write their own versions to demonstrate that they explain the forms.
Anti-Defamation League
Women's Suffrage, Racism, and Intersectionality
The Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote—as long as they were white. High schoolers read articles and essays about racism in the suffrage movement and consider how intersectionality played a role in the movement. Scholars...
Curated OER
Writing to Photography/Photography to Writing
Students improve their' writing by incorporating photography into descriptive and narrative writing exercises. They write descriptions of various professional photographic collections. Later they use their own and other classmates'.
Curated OER
The Abstraction Ladder (Using Examples in Essays)
Students examine and discuss most appropriate format for giving examples in the American discourse style.
Curated OER
Using Artwork to Develop Personal Narratives
Pupils use a work or art as a springboard to a personal narrative or descriptive writing. They represent an idea in an artistic product which connects to composition.