When it comes to teaching writing, it helps to start small. A supplementary guide to A Writer's Guide to Powerful Paragraphs provides suggested activities to help writers craft a variety of paragraphs. Each assignment covers a specific...

There's no set length for a good paragraph, but the short block of text should contain key components. A handout on paragraphs, the 12th in a series of 24, outlines a five-step process for paragraph development. Additionally, the handout...

This lesson is so beneficial it makes any teacher's heart skip a beat! After readers identify words from Words by Heart, they break down unknown vocabulary with a handout detailing various prefixes and suffixes. Once they finish...

What better way to write in fall than with fall-themed writing paper? Use a set of lined papers to get you started.

Examine informational text with a three-page worksheet that focuses on taking notes, identifying the main idea, and locating supporting details in order to form a summary paragraph. 

Creating substitute plans may not be the highlight of your workday. Make the task less daunting with a general, day-long plan covering math, reading, word work, and writing. 

Off to Adventure! is the theme of an English language arts unit comprised of a variety of challenge activities. Scholars enhance skills and reinforce concepts by taking part in a grand book discussion, giving an oral report, and writing...

An engaging and quick presentation on writing topic sentences is sure to grab the attention of your elementary writers. The PowerPoint can be modified and includes relevant visual examples.

Before writing a narrative paragraph, map it out! Provide writers with a graphic organizer to help plan a descriptive paragraph. The prompt looks closely at the beginning, middle, and end, specifically the topic sentence, details, and a...

What does is take to be a role model? Through grand conversation, and the use of books and a graphic organizer, scholars find out and apply the requirements to identify a role model within their family. They then journey through the...

Intrigue learners by showing them that they can help save the planet—using math! Participants evaluate environmental data presented in tables and graphs. They must use the data to write a newspaper article in order to share the...

Everyone has an opinion, but the trick is figuring out how to argue a position with purpose and logic. Guide scholars to answer the question, What is argumentative writing? with activities that include brainstorming ideas, holding a...

Give your writers guidance they can reference and check off as they progress through the narrative writing process.  This detailed checklist, divided into sections (introduction, body, conclusion, and overall effectiveness) offers...

Identifying the main idea of a text can be tricky. Support your instruction, and give tips and tricks to reinforce the concept, by showing a fun BrainPop Jr. video about main ideas and supporting details.

It's time to do some body building with the fourth lesson of this series on persuasive writing. After creating a thesis statement and brainstorming supporting ideas and details, young writers begin creating the body of their...

Having read and discussed Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, third graders demonstrate their bullfrog expertise by writing informational paragraphs. Building on the note-taking and paragraph planning from the previous lesson, learners create...

In a two-part instructional activity, fourth graders are first assessed on their ability to produce an explanatory paragraph and then participate in a gallery walk, presenting their final constitution paragraphs to their peers. To...

Following up their writing of a school constitution, fourth graders prepare to write a paragraph explaining the document to their peers. After looking at two writing samples, the teacher assists learners in developing their own criteria...

It's important that writers leave their readers with a strong and satisfying conclusion. Help your young writers develop the skills to compose a concluding sentence with the steps outlined here. After class members have had a chance to...

Revision is an important part of the writing process. Focus on revising topic sentences and details with the plan described here. This is part of a unit, so pupils have already filled out a graphic organizer about traveling libraries...

Constructing a paragraph from notes using close reading skills and visible thinking strategies is the focus of a great plan that is part of a larger unit. In earlier lessons, 4th graders deconstructed informational text and learned how...

A hosted gallery walk concludes a nine-lesson plan unit study of the Iroquois and The Great Law of Peace. To demonstrate their mastery of informational paragraph writing, individuals use the included packet to plan and produce an...

As the study of the Iroquois, the Iroquois flag, and The Great Law of Peace (Iroquois Constitution) draws to a close, writers craft a concluding sentence for their paragraphs, and then use peer and instructor feedback on their drafts to...

Introduce your young writers to peer review. Using a posted Critique Protocol anchor chart, (Be Kind! Be specific! Be helpful! Participate!), pairs read and respond to their partner’s paragraph draft. Although the activity is part of a...