John F. Kennedy Center
Writing a Myth
Tap into the imaginative minds of young learners with a creative writing activity. After reading the myth Giants and Mosquitoes, this student guide supports young writers as they brainstorm and develop their very own creation myths....
Curated OER
Writing Short Stories: The Fun Way
Do your young authors suffer from writer's block when they try to write short stories? Access their natural creativity with C-Gor, the writing monster! The instructional activity takes aspiring authors through a new writing process...
Curated OER
Writing Diagnostics and Introduction to Literary Terms
Assess your new learners' writing abilities and knowledge of literary terms with these diagnostic activities. Part of a back-to-school unit, this is meant to provide the teacher with information about the ability levels of their class....
Teach Hub
New Year’s Resolution Classroom Activity
Create a sense of accountability among scholars with a lesson that focuses on making and keeping New Year's resolutions. Writers compose a five paragraph essay focused on three resolutions—promises to self improvement, to...
Nosapo
New Year’s Resolution
Begin the new year with a two-part activity that asks class members to formulate a resolution and to write about someone or something they are proud of. These statements are then attached to a snowflake and a mandala which they decorate.
Torrey Maldonado
Anti-Bullying & Conflict-Resolution Lesson
Invite your class to consider how to respond to a conflict. Designed to be used alongside Secret Saturdays by Torrey Maldonado, a lesson plan focuses on a set of terms: conflict, escalate, deescalate, conflict resolution, denial,...
Automattic
365 Days of Writing Prompts
"If you could un-invent something what would it be?" "What are you more comfortable with—routine or spontaneity?" Here's a packet of one-a-day writing prompts. Although designed for fifth graders, the topics are appropriate for any grade...
Curated OER
Nonfiction Genre Mini-Unit: Persuasive Writing
Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.
Curated OER
Writing Resolutions
Students prepare for Youth Voices Forum by writing resolutions using actual format employed by United Nations. Students explore components of resolution, including formal language, and practice writing and critiquing resolutions.
Curated OER
Collaborative Writing
Collaborative writing projects can be a lot of fun for students. They use a Scholastic Story Starter and the class blog to write a creative story containing basic story elements. The web link to Scholastic is included but non of the...
Curated OER
Looking Ahead: Writing Prompt
This writing prompt spans nine slides and encourages learners to discuss or write about how they feel about moving on to 5th grade. It is a great way to engage self-assessment, reflection, personal motivation, and fluid writing skills.
Curated OER
Write a Round-Robin Story
Students discover the elements of a story (introduction, plot, climax, resolution, denouement). In groups of five, one student writes an introduction and passes it to the next person, who writes the plot and passes it to the next person,...
Curated OER
Conflict Resolution
A thought-provoking language arts instructional activity prompts learners to respond to seven questions that deal with sociology. Additionally, they consider topics regarding animal rights. Sure to spark some engaging conversations in...
PBS
Write a New Year Poem Inspired by Amanda Gorman’s "New Day’s Lyric"
Here's a new take on a new year. After watching and discussing the video of Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman performing her "New Day's Lyric," young poets craft poems that reflect their feelings about the past year and their resolutions...
Carnegie Library
Creative Writing: Middle School Lesson Plan
Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers.
Curated OER
Talking About a Resolution
Students explore Nobel Prize winning economist Thomas C. Schelling's strategic egonomics theory as it applies to making new year's resolutions. They make their own resolutions and develop plans to keep them using Schelling's strategies.
Curated OER
William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream': Conflict Resolution and Happy Endings
Learners analyze the characters and conflicts in Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream. For this conflict resolution lesson, students read the play and track the character actions with the specific plots. Learners then predict endings...
Curated OER
Conflict Resolution Lesson Plan
What is a bully? Romeo and Juliet's Act 3 Scene 1 gives eighth and ninth graders the perfect opportunity to explore bullying. After doing some Internet research on bullying characteristics, groups reenact the scene to decide who is...
Pinecrest Preparatory Middle and High School
Short Story Planning Guide
A short story is only as strong as its characters, development, and conflicts. Encourage the young authors in your class to plan their stories based on the elements of narrative writing, all provided in brainstorming graphic organizers.
Curated OER
Noisy Nora, Studious Students: Story Elements
Alliterative adjective nicknames generate stories inspired by Rosemary Wells' book Noisy Nora (also a thematic complement to any class with children who make a ruckus to get attention). Class members explore basic story elements --...
Curated OER
What Can I Do?
Young scholars identify how they are feeling and deal with feelings constructively. In this conflict resolution lesson, students explore their feelings through discussion. Young scholars read and complete the What Can I Do? e-sheet....
Curated OER
Fast Food and Daily Nutrition Choices
Students explore food. In this nutrition lesson, students investigate multiple facets of healthy eating and how the fast food industry impacts our society. They will participate in class discussions, read from their text-book, and watch...
Curated OER
New Year's Resolutions
Young scholars write about New Year's Resolutions made about personal improvement, family and friends, and school and the outside world. They write a first draft and a final draft of a five-paragraph essay about their resolutions.
Curated OER
Plot/Story Problem/Resolution
Students analyze the plot, problem, and resolution of a story. In this story analysis lesson, students read stories and fill out graphic organizers about the plot, story problems, and resolution.