Creating Your Own "Foil"

Finished your novel? What’s next? Designing the book cover, of course. But how to begin? After examining the covers of published books and noting the common elements of these jackets, young novelists design a front and back cover for...

Given the two-sentence skeleton of a news story about a car theft/joy ride, budding writers create their own version of the story varying diction and sentence structure to heighten interest and complexity in their writing. Resource...

Can your pupils change the world? Explore this question with Ben Harper's song "With My Own Two Hands" and John Mayer's "Waiting for the World to Change." After listening to the songs, they discuss the tools at their disposal for...

An American? Someone from New England? Anyone who lives north of the Mason-Dixon line? A New York baseball player? A dandy? A short video doodles around with the etymology of all an American word and how its meaning has evolved from 1601...

Are you looking for a collaborative and fun way to teach persuasion? This could be a great resource for you! After reviewing advertising techniques and searching for examples of propaganda, have your class create and present their own...

Misplaced modifiers are a common grammar error, but can your learners identify when a modifier can interfere with a reader's understanding? Watch a short and entertaining video from Ted Ed that illustrates misplaced modifiers, as well as...

"What?" she said. "That video just told me to eavesdrop, get to know imaginary people, and talk to myself. Interesting." It's all for a good cause, though! These three techniques will help your young writers improve their fictional...

Students create their own version of the Olympic Games. They compete in the games of their choice and keep score.

Not to be confused with aluminium foil, this quiz focuses on character foils in To Kill a Mockingbird. The prompts encourage readers to recognize the qualities of each character.

Use a Mad-Libs like activity to create modern poetry! Writers will identify different words and their parts of speech and study "The Red Wheelbarrow" by Williams Carlos Williams. Then, use the sheets attached to craft your own poem! An...