Freewriting: Exploring Everybody's Favorite Topic

Third through fifth graders explore writing paragraphs. Each person chooses a planet. Everyone arranges themselves physically to represent the solar system. This helps learners make connections between the order of the planets and the...

Ninth graders explore the construction of topic sentences and the processes involved in the development of a paragraph from these sentences. Outlines are utilized to provide ideas for topics and their supporting details.

Dim the lights, take a deep breath, and press play to explore the emotions and memories that music elicits. Class members begin using relaxation techniques designed to create a positive listening experience. As music plays, learners...

Amateur poets explore alphabetical poetry. They choose a topic and brainstorm vocabulary that relates to the topic using each letter of the alphabet. The class then generates ideas for a group alphabet poem. After creating one as a whole...

Satires may be designed to expose a bias to ridicule but if misunderstood can they reinforce that bias? Langston Hughes poem, “Minstrel Man” opens a discussion of racist stereotypes, the minstrel tradition, and the musical, “The...

Teach emerging writers how to master the topic sentence, supporting details, and concrete details. A list of transition words is also included. Several practice opportunities are listed here, presenting certain topic sentences (for...

In this content-area writing prompt instructional activity, middle schoolers sharpen their writing skills as they select 1 of 4 listed content-area writing prompts to complete. Students respond to 6 questions that require them to write...

Analyze the free-writing method of brainstorming to explore how to write an essay. Middle schoolers plan their writing from the beginning after reading two samples of free-writing, then creating their own. The lesson includes extension...

A great way to respond to poetry is to become a poet yourself. Learners discover the freedom of poetry by evaluating different works of poetry with regard to theme. They identify and explore various poetic themes, such as death,...

Poetry is a wonderful way to explore language, express topical understanding, and incite creative thinking. After a trip to the local natural history museum (or zoo), learners write an acrostic or a cinquain poem describing one of their...