Show your young researchers how to find information, brainstorm a topic, map or outline their own stories, and create rough drafts. This lesson also shows learners how to peer edit, conference with the teacher, and write their final...

Through grand conversation, help scholars identify issues that harm the Earth and find solutions on how to solve them. After voting—on what your class deems the most important problem—stretch writing muscles with a problem-solution...

Happy birthday! Celebrate everyone's birthday with this writing activity, which prompts seventh graders to research historical events in a country at the time of their birth to create an essay. Working in pairs, they proofread each...

Keep your class in conversation with others across the country or across the sea by writing letters to pen pals. The activity calls for students to be pan pals with pupils in Africa; however, the listed steps could be used for any...

Put another set of eyes on your class's historical fiction narratives with one of the final lessons in the unit. Fourth graders use feedback from their peers to annotate their drafts for revision, particularly their bold beginnings and...

Prepare for an interview project with a set of worksheets about asking questions and quoting people. After completing a grammar exercise about quotation marks, kids write out the questions they want to ask their interviewee, and record...

Scholars learn about the Hero's Journey as they read Ray Bradbury's "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh." They analyze the story's structure and narrative techniques. Finally, they write summaries of the text's central idea and use their...

The concluding skills unit offers learning opportunities and reviews in preparation for assessments. Scholars participate in lessons that examine spelling patterns, prefixes, suffixes, pronouns, and adjectives, draft a letter, and listen...

Students practice their writing techniques by creating a novelette.  In this creating writing instructional activity, students brainstorm and decide on a topic they would like to expand upon in order to create their own novelette....

Students examine several letters to the editor from both a local newspaper and national newspapers. After reviewing current letters, they write a letter to the editor of an 18th-century newspaper expressing their opinion about the...

Middle schoolers write a 'how-to' paper. In this writing lesson students choose from a list of topics and write a paper explaining how to do something. The middle schoolers also discuss the definition of a 'how-to' paper.

Introduce primary graders to the writing process. After reviewing the steps, they practice using the process by writing a book report. Before writing the draft, they complete a graphic organizer. The completed draft is reviewed by peers....

After reading The Minister's Black Veil, by Nathaniel Hawthorne as a homework assignment your class will complete a literary analysis.  Learners will analyze important element of the story and take notes to help support their...

Students develop a working skill of using graphic organizers for writing. The lesson notes that the best kind of organizer is one that is engaging to the appropriate audience. The assessment follows the rubric given in the lesson.

What's better: having a lottery ticket or a $5 bill? This question is sure to engage your middle schoolers. There's an example answer provided and, unlike the other worksheets of its kind, there is a space to write both a rough and final...

In this journal writing worksheet, students answer the question: Who is the wisest person you know? And why? The worksheet provides space for a rough draft as well as a final draft.

Should kids under the age of 18 be given access to credit cards? Learners identify pros and cons of using credit, develop claims based on evidence, and finally argue reasons for or against credit for minors.

One, two, three go!  Scholars work independently to finalize the three components of their final task. They complete a science journal entry, scientific text box, and scientific drawing. While working, learners sign up for an...

Find out what's special about your pupils with a fun biopoem activity! As they fill out their name, words that describe them, what they love, and what they dream of, learners create an expressive poem about themselves.

Whether preparing your second graders for an expository writing proficiency assessment or just planning on introducing the writing process, this 37-page packet is for you. The unit has everything you need from scripted lessons to...

Roll the presses! Or at least have your class members participate in the time-honored tradition of the student press by creating their own newspapers or journalist pieces on a social problem. After conducting research and collaborating...

Need some help getting young football fans to focus on something besides the Super Bowl? Use a list of football-themed activities for art, math, science, nutrition, language arts, and social studies to get their heads in the game!

It's all about using peer resources in this writing process lesson, which includes a fantastic novel revision worksheet packet. Learners have read a partner's story draft the night before, and groups have a "lightning round of...

Young scholars read Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland's, Sami and the Time of Troubles before discussing it as a class. They brainstorm ideas for a letter to the main character, Sami. Next, they write a rough draft of a...