Curated OER
The "Write" Stuff: Third Grade Strategies and Conventions
Students analyze the writing process through the ten lessons of this unit. The expository lessons address topic and detail sentences, paragraph organization and development, note taking, reports and letter writing.
Curated OER
Getting Hooked, Introduction for a Narrative
How can you interest your reader? Here is a great lesson on reading and discussing the characteristics of a narrative. Elementary schoolers explore writing techniques to hook the reader. They identify their hook and share their...
Curated OER
Ant Writing
Learners become effective writers. They need to practice strategies for working through the writing process. By presenting the students with a creative problem, they must choose a position and support it accordingly.
Curated OER
Picture This
Elementary writers practice writing descriptive paragraphs by adding adjectives and sensory words to their writing. They use a picture of a monster for their descriptive paragraph. This 12-page instructional activity should increase your...
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge and Summarizing: “Refugees: Who, Where, Why” Part 2
What are some universal aspects of refugees' experiences worldwide and throughout history? Scholars read the text "Refugees: Who, Where, Why" and create two class anchor charts. Finally, they each write a paragraph that provides an...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Analyzing an Author’s Argument and Text Structure
William Shakespeare: a writer, a poet, a fake? For their mid-unit assessments, scholars read an excerpt from the article "The Top Ten Reasons Shakespeare Did Not Write Shakespeare" by Keir Cutler. Next, they analyze the author's argument...
Curated OER
Research/Technical Writing: Paraphrasing
Students work in groups to paraphrase an article. In this paraphrasing lesson, each group is assigned a paragraph to paraphrase in one sentence. Other groups critique the sentences to make sure each is effective. ...
Curated OER
Classroom Critters Developing Our Writing Skills
Students investigate animals and how it adapts to its environment. They write notes and gather information on a chosen animal. After research is completed, students create a report about the animal's characteristics, appearance, food,...
Scholastic
Descriptive Writing Fortunes
What does your fortune say? Engage class members in writing complete sentences by first handing out fortune cookies and reading the messages. Pupils will practice writing complete sentences by composing fortunes to put in die cut fortune...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Alice Paul" by Katharine Rolston Fisher
Powerful women need not look like Wonder Woman. After writing a paragraph about a strong woman they know, young scholars examine images of Alice Paul and then do a close reading of Katharine Rolston Fisher's poem "Alice Paul." Finally,...
Curated OER
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave, Written by Himself
The narrative works of Frederick Douglass engage learners in the topic of slavery. They will experience American history in a new way, a Douglass expresses his thoughts in his own words. Pupils then interpret this literary...
Curated OER
The Story of an Old Piano
Students read excerpts from The Story of an Old Piano. They choose a personal object and write paragraphs from the object's point of view. Their stories can be bound for the class library.
Curated OER
Organizational Patterns: Comparison and Contrast Writing
Learners write an essay comparing and contrasting their school experiences. Through guided practice, they create an outline of their elementary school experience and middle school experience. Using their outlines, students synthesize...
Curated OER
The Outsiders
Are you working on an Outsiders unit? Use this list of activities to deepen your middle schoolers' understanding of the novel. After reading S.E. Hinton's novel, young readers work on three required activities, including participating in...
Curated OER
Paraphrasing and Summarizing
Read an article about the migration of our ancestors and write a paragraph. Pupils paraphrase and summarize to restate the information found in a nonfiction text. They write a shortened version of the reading to demonstrate the...
Curated OER
Applying KWL Guides to Sources with Elementary Students
What is a KWL chart? Here is a well thought-out lesson that has learners use KWL charts to gain historical perspective. Your class examines primary sources about historical events and identifies what they know, want to know, and,...
University of Kansas
Newspaper in the Classroom
Newspapers aren't only for reading—they're for learning skills, too! A journalism unit provides three lessons each for primary, intermediate, and secondary grades. Lessons include objectives, materials, vocabulary, and procedure, and...
Curated OER
Writing and Responding to a Prompt
Eighth graders explore the writing process. They respond to the prompt "if I had a million dollars I would..." Students brainstorm ideas they could write about and they use the writing check list as they write.
Curated OER
Writing a Descriptive Paragraph
Students discuss the definition of a descriptive paragraph with the class. They read an example of a descriptive paragraph and then write one of their own using one of the included ideas.
Curated OER
A Little Mystery and Intrigue in Writing Short Detective Stories
Students read and analyze the twelve short stories in the novel "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." They create their own detective that has to solve a new kind of crime, and write and edit a short story with their original detective as...
Curated OER
Texas in the Mirror
Students research their own and others' perceptions about Texas and become familiar with various symbols from other cultures. In this Texas in the Mirror lesson plan, students write a web page with a picture of a Texan symbol. Students...
Curated OER
I Believe
This lesson plan is designed to teach students the definition of persuasive writing, and to have them use the elements of persuasive writing to complete a writing assignment. The Web site will be used to introduce persuasive writing and...
Curated OER
Write to Music
Students improve their creative writing skills. In this writing skills lesson, students learn about picture captions, story writing, critiques, poems, reports, letter writing, creative writing, and a rap poem.
EngageNY
Further Research: Local Sustainable Food Chain
Researchers review how to create citations, find reliable sources, and paraphrase. Next, using guided task cards and their researcher's notebooks, they investigate the question they developed in instructional activity eight about the...