Sixth graders discover the importance of lead sentences and practice writing them. After reading lead sentences in books, they determine the qualities that attract and hold readers' attention. Finally, once they have identified the...

Students in fourth grade pair up with students in second grade to edit writing convension.

Students explore fire safety. In this fire prevention and safety lesson, students discuss and brainstorm ideas about what to do if there is a fire. Students practice stating information that should be given when calling 911. Students...

Third graders write essays after participating in mini-lessons that encourage better writing. They write using the model of a skeleton to which they add the muscles.

Fourth graders explore the internet to find articles to read. In this reading comprehension lesson, 4th graders take notes on articles found on the internet. Students use the writing process to summarize the selected articles. 

Students write a literary response essay to Maya Angelou's novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. In this literary response lesson, students complete pre-writing activities, discuss the rubric for the essay, and visit the given websites...

Ninth graders develop ideas for an invention and write a persuasive essay explaining why their invention is best. For this invention essay lesson, 9th graders review persuasive essay writing. Students create a graphic web for an original...

Learners improve their essay writing skills using the subject of voting as a topic. In this writing essays lesson, students write expository essays to increase the weight of their vote in the 'Cast Your Vote Poll' for the Trans-Amazon...

Students analyze and evaluate an essay and write a character description.  In this character description lesson, students read and analyze an essay in a teacher-led lecture.  Students  brainstorm then write a...

Students participate in a lesson plan that involves writing a persuasive essay. They use the prompt of "extending the school day". The paper should contain correct elements of sentence structure with clear purpose that is supported with...

High schoolers investigate the process of writing an expository paper. The purpose of the paper is established in the introduction and the supporting details are sequenced in a logical order. The paper possesses punctuation and...

Students consider the impact of the attack on Pearl Harbor. For this World War II lesson, students research print and electronic sources about the attack on Pearl Harbor and then write news article about the attack from an American or...

Learners write a four paragraph persuasive paper on Of Mice and Men. In this Of Mice and Men lesson, students take a position on whether or not George should have killed Lennie. Learners are given a paragraph-by-paragraph guide to assist...

Students create a design for a new coin after researching people who have impacted history. Students must write a persuasive essay about why this person should be memorialized on the dollar coin and present their person to the class.

Readers make personal connections to Saturday Market by Patricia Grossman and answer comprehension questions while reading the book. Comparing and contrasting the different characters in a Venn diagram leads to a kinesthetic...

Fourth graders explore the mass and length of peanuts by pretending to parent a peanut. In this mode, median and range lesson students graph their measurements and then use them to find the mode, median and range. Students discuss peanut...

Ah, the dreaded college application essay. Here's a unique approach to crafting a powerful personal essay. Class members read The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Leslie Marmon Silko's Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit, analyze the...

Readers of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are directed to complete two projects as a part of their study of Mark Twain’s novel.  Individuals craft an organized notebook containing all their work during the study, and they...

Sometimes a novel is the best way to tackle a tough topic. A helpful educator's guide for the novels of Gayle Forman discuss tough topics such as teenage suicide. Discussion questions and writing activities encourage readers to think...

Earth historians research a specific dinosaur, write a paper about the Mesozoic era that it lived in, create an artistic rendition of the environment, and give a presentation in class about what they learned. Be aware that there are...

To conclude their study of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, class members assume the voice of Amir and write a letter to Hassan, Amir's childhood companion.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is known for its fantastical imagery and nonsense verse. This unit plan offers a basic exploration into nonsense verse through poetry and teacher read-alouds. It incorporates activities involving...

Learners discuss the importance of word choice in writing. In groups, they rank a list of words from one extreme to the other. After viewing an example, students apply their knowledge of word choice by writing a descriptive paragraph of...