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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Borrowing Narrative Skills from Mr. Fletcher: Using a "Prompts in Reverse" Technique to Inspire Your Writers

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shakespeare and Poe Teach Six-Trait Writing

For Teachers 5th - 8th
A Six-Trait Writing instructional activity helps your middle schoolers liven up their word choice and shows them how to evaluate their own writing. Class members take a close look at the language used in poems by Shakespeare, Kipling,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The "Write" Stuff: Strategies and Conventions for Imaginative Writing

For Teachers 6th
A comprehensive and immersive series of lessons that examines various aspects of story development leads learners into writing a narrative of their own. Writers develop an understanding of the writing process as they use the learning...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Writing the Children’s Book: Day One

For Teachers 7th Standards
With a brief mini-lesson plan, scholars learn about using strong verbs, sensory details, and precise descriptions. Next, pupils continue working on their children's book storyboards before choosing their strongest pages for peer critiques. 
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Lesson Plan
National Constitution Center

AP English Language—Precision of Language

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Say what you mean and mean what you say. The Precision of Language addresses the importance of words, especially when they concern a person's rights. Scholars take a look at many different examples and complete questions analyzing the...
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Organizer
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National Behaviour Support Service

Writing with Wow Words and Building Vocabulary

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
There are some words out there that just make you say, "Wow!" Encourage your class to find and use these words in their writing to make their work more interesting and complex. This packet goes through the writing process, beginning with...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creative Writing Workshop (Middle, Reading/Writing)

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Bring this lesson plan into your unit about creative writing and precise language. First, middle schoolers create a piece of writing with the help of their classmates. In the second part of this workshop, they edit their own piece of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Vivid Verbs

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Spice up your writing! Your amateur writers will benefit from concentrating on understanding and improving verb use in writing. An introductory activity addresses weak verbs. A second exercise helps them see the importance of strong...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changing Seasons

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Explore expository writing and using precise language in this descriptive paragraph writing lesson. Learners brainstorm prior knowledge about the changing seasons in Ohio. They describe seasonal items, view seasonal pictures from...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Further Improvements of Writing Skills

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Improve writing skills by finding a personal writing style, using descriptive language effectively, and using precise language. Middle schoolers discuss individual style in writing and formal and informal language. They utilize figures...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing and Presenting a Fable Using Research

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Elementary and middle schoolers research animal facts and use them in a fable. First, they pair-share to find animal traits to use in writing a fable. They then complete a prewriting worksheet. After going through the writing process,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Reliving History through Slave Narratives

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Using Vivid Language

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Analyze the components of precise wording and vivid language in this language arts lesson plan. Middle school writers illustrate a passage from Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and write a response to a Norman Rockwell print....
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Concise Writing Exercises

For Students 7th - 11th
Are your pupils' essays full of long, wordy sentences? Help them to write more concise sentences with this practice worksheet, which provides twenty long sentences for your young editors to proofread. Use the activity as a homework...
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Printables
Curated OER

Avoiding There Are Poster

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Encourage precise writing and the use of detail by banning there are from student work. You can put up this simple poster, which includes an image of there are crossed out and an example of how to avoid using the forbidden words.
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Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

Developing an essay: Using specific nouns, strong verbs, and vivid adjectives

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Feeling bored and unimpressed with word choice in your class? If so, consider this activity, which focuses on using specific and precise language. Pupils use highlighters, brainstorm independently and in small groups, and create a poster...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Creative Presentation

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Bring writing to life with this lesson in which elementary and middle schoolers create a display of the imagery they identify in a series of Gary Paulsen books. They read the suggested materials, identify imagery and descriptive...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Choose Your Words Wisely

For Teachers 2nd - 8th Standards
Improve word choice! Writers use dictionaries and thesauruses to aid them in choosing exciting words to incorporate in their writing. They rewrite sentences and practice identifying words that can be replaced using a better word. Flip...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Descriptive Prompt: Precise Language

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Incorporate sensory details into a piece of descriptive writing. First, elementary and middle schoolers improve a piece of writing by using precise, vivid language, as well as appropriate word choice. They then listen to a variety of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Grab Your Reader: Great Leads

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Get your readers' attention with this Six Traits of Writing lesson plan. First, young writers draft ideas in an organized manner utilizing words, sentences, and multiple paragraphs. They also use voice to fit the purpose and audience and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rest in Peace, Maniac Magee

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Scholars read Maniac Magee and create epitaphs for each of the major characters using precise words reflecting the individual characters personality and nature. They will learn what an epitaph is and practice writing their own. They can...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Narratives

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Add to the narrative writing experience. Elementary or middle school writers listen to the teacher read a descriptive passage, then reread the same passage silently. They highlight sensory details and figurative language, then orally...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Boring Verbs and Ordinary Adjectives

For Students 4th - 6th
In this writing challenge worksheets, students rewrite 8 sentences replacing the noted verbs and adjectives with precise and interesting verbs and adjectives.