Entrance essays are the ultimate sales pitch! Show your seniors how to market themselves in the first of six college and career readiness lesson plans. Pupils discover the do's and don'ts of writing personal statements through research,...

Why do artists create? To solve a problem, of course. Young artists work individually and then in groups to create observational, imaginative, and narrative drawings in response to an assignment that requires them to employ all 16...

Surrealistic painters like Marc Chagall and Wendy Rouse show viewers an expansive world in a small area. Young artists have a opportunity to create their own surrealistic paintings in response to a study of works by Chagall and Rouse.

Fourth graders complete a writing project and tutorial using word processing on a computer. They focus on voice, word choice, details, sentence variety, staying on topic, supporting details and connecting sentences. They edit, save and...

Sixth graders explore language arts by writing basic paragraphs. In this writing techniques lesson, 6th graders define an "example" paragraph and discuss techniques to prove a point in one paragraph. Students practice writing their own...

Introduce your class to the delights of nonsense poetry and explore literary devices with the writing of Edward Lear. Learners identify rhyme and meter as well as figures of speech, alliteration, and onomatopoeia in "The Owl and the...

Step into the role of a zoo director with several activities about animal training and running a zoo. Kids calculate the amount of food each animal needs, design a habitat for penguins, decide how to breed bottlenose dolphins, and train...

Move beyond the five-paragraph essay with a lesson introducing young writers to various forms of expository writing. Class members examine description, cause and effect, problem solution, sequence, and comparison forms. They create an...

Explore the beauty of Chinese Calligraphy. This well-developed lesson will take your class on a journey through the history of Calligraphy, engage them in technique and style, then challenge them by having them create new strokes to...

Before your high schoolers reached your morning class to learn about persuasive writing, they probably saw dozens of examples of persuasive communication in the form of advertisements. A short, introductory lesson inspires class members...

Wrap up your course by asking students to reflect and consider some of the most meaningful and important moments from the year. This document includes 15 different reflection questions, from identifying a best piece of writing or an...

Appealing to the emotions of a consumer or viewer is persuasion at its best. Introduce your writers to five different type of appeals: loaded language, basic needs, bandwagon, testimonial, and snob appeal. Effective examples are...

Create to learn! Your class can create posters of transitional words and phrases to help them compose an explanatory text. They work in groups and focus on one type of transition (time, place, importance, etc.). They also create a poster...

High school writers identify the purpose of both a topic sentence and a transitional statement. They write a topic sentence which denotes the paragraph topic and the author's stand on that topic. Then they write an effective transitional...

Emerging writers identify an informational piece of writing. They are provided with examples of informational writing and view a PowerPoint on narrative writing. Then, they design their own informational writing with a brochure,...

Help your class build their own 20-word sentences with this step-by-step guide designed to enhance sentence depth, interest, and variety in the work of young writers. They complete five basic SVO sentences using a given word bank....

Once again, class groups examine two model paragraphs and, using the provided rubric, evaluate how effectively the writers use structural techniques to sequence events so that they build a specific tone. Individuals then use what they...

What a terrific presentation! It takes learners through a step-by-step explanation to create a new type of chocolate bar, advertise the product, and design a presentation. This is a creative way to get your class writing and thinking...

Where do directors and set designers get their ideas so that the set they build creates the mood and atmosphere the director wants for a production? From the script! Introduce theater high schoolers to the script analysis techniques used...

Students explore limericks. In this poetry writing instructional activity, students listen to and read a variety of poems written by Edward Lear. Students count syllables and identify meter by clapping as they read aloud. Students...

Delve into persuasive writing techniques. The presentation has learners list reasons for taking a particular position, practice identifying words used in persuasive text, and write an example of this type of writing. This is a useful...

Students produce calligraphy projects using writing skills and unique tools in this six-day Art activity. Emphasis is placed upon the work of Portland, Oregon calligraphy artist Inga Dubay and her experiences with "Italic" writing...

A chemistry lesson presents 14 chemical reactions for scholars to observe, write the equation, and balance the equations. Additionally, it provides ways to extend the activity as it relates to catalysts.

It is impossible to know whether one has reached a goal without first knowing the goal. Help your sixth graders reach all the Common Core writing standards by giving them a checklist written in language they will understand. As you teach...