Curated OER
What Makes Our Community Special?
Explore websites, complete research, and use technological tools to create a final multimedia presentation on what makes a community special. Learners of all ages work with a partner to research an interesting aspect of their community,...
Curated OER
All About Our Town
Pupils explore brochure writing. They work in groups to brainstorm and categorize important places in their community. In addition, they gather information from the Internet, take pictures using a digital camera, and create a community...
Curated OER
Writing a Character Sketch
Combining descriptive and expository writing skills, middle schoolers create a character sketch about someone they know well. They use a graphic organizer to help them discuss a model character sketch and organize/write one of their own....
Curated OER
Working in your Cubicle: Critical Thinking and Writing
Explore informative and explanatory writing with this lesson. Using a cube labeled with directives to describe, analyze, compare, associate, apply, and argue the topic, middle schoolers work individually or in groups to answer questions....
Curated OER
Talking Heads
After processing notes from research or an interview, middle schoolers turn the information into a script or dialogue for narrative, persuasive, or expository text. Use this lesson in any writing unit to reinforce proper writing skills.
Curated OER
How are People Portrayed by Different Media?
Your 9th - 12th graders can hone their analysis and critical thinking skills by studying the way a subject is portrayed across media types. They examine how various print, visual, and online sources have portrayed key players in the 9/11...
Channel Islands Film
Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 1
As a practice writing test, fourth graders use the West of the West's documentary Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island and two print resources as source materials for an informative article that identifies information that is historically...
Have Fun Teaching
Compare and Contrast (3)
Sometimes the way a topic is presented in fiction can be very different from how it is in reality. Compare and contrast a topic from both a fiction and nonfiction source with a graphic organizer that prepares kids to write about what...
Teach-nology
The Purpose of Summaries
How can you tell the author's purpose from just a short summary? Kids read three different summaries of books to determine whether the author meant to entertain, persuade, or inform.
Teach-nology
Author's Purpose
Challenge your class to find the three purposes for writing. After they read three short passages, kids note whether the author's purpose was to inform, persuade, or entertain.
Curated OER
Please No Posers
How do you reference information correctly? Avoid plagiarism by accurately summarizing a New York Times article with your middle or high schoolers. Young researchers then insert properly attributed quotations and paraphrases into their...
Curated OER
Brochure Writing
What do you use a brochure for? Middle schoolers or underperforming high schoolers identify the attributes of informative brochures. Either bring in a few brochures you've collected or use the sample brochures attached here. While...
Curated OER
Informative Essay Writing
High schoolers start by drawing Mr. Essay Man, who is supposed to illustrate the different parts of an essay. After discussing what each component should contain, writers start their essay, guided by the teacher and class discussion....
Curated OER
Keyboarding: Formatting a Report Using MLA Style
Keyboarding is one of the most basic skills needed to master modern technology, and it's also one of the most important. The class uses Century 21 Keyboarding and Information Processing to guide their hands in typing a report in the...
Curated OER
Transition Words in Expository Writing
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...
Curated OER
More Details and Transitions
Use details and transition words to enhance writing. Sixth graders examine their own writing and insert more details and transition words provided by their teacher. There is a list of 11 "Terrific Transitions," but brainstorm several...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Informational Writing
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,...
Curated OER
K-W-L Chart
After choosing a topic of interest, young learners use the K-W-L thinking process to create an informational, illustrated, big book. K-W-L, a three-part thinking process, asks the learner to respond to three questions: What do we know...
Curated OER
Publishing a Newspaper about Biomes
Young journalists create newspapers of individual biomes after researching their biomes. This lesson can be completed in three phases and concludes with each person publishing their individual newspaper pages.
Curated OER
Recipe for Sensational Sentences
'Cook-up' sensational sentences with your class. They expand sentences by adding more descriptive words. Then discuss the importance of using appropriate grade level language in daily speaking and writing.
Curated OER
Challanger Mission - Press Conference
Students conduct research on the Challenger Mission, develop written press releases and prepare a Press Conference skit. In this Public Speaking & Informative writing lesson, students research the Challenger Mission and prepare a...
Curated OER
It's Under Discussion
Students create brainstorming webs to facilitate discussions about writing about an informational topic. In this writing lesson plan, students do this in groups and then free write about their topic.
Curated OER
Travel Brochure Prewriting Worksheet
In this prewriting skills learning exercise, students complete the provided graphic organizer as they research the Greek islands in order to create informative brochures about the area.
Curated OER
Informational Writing: Business Letter
Fifth graders write business letters. In this business letter instructional activity, 5th graders discuss the format and reasons for writing a business letter. They pick who they want to write to and create their own letter.