Curated OER
Sequencing
Are you looking for a way to teach sequence of events in your narrative writing unit? Bring this lesson to your middle school class, as it prompts young writers to create a narrative sequence map of events that have happened at school...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 17: Novel, Take 2
It's all about using peer resources in this writing process lesson, which includes a fantastic novel revision worksheet packet. Learners have read a partner's story draft the night before, and groups have a "lightning round of praise"...
Curated OER
Summer Shorts
Want to use sequence maps in your narrative writing unit? Young writers work to create personal narratives about their summer vacation. They write a narrative of their vacation and create a display using summer clothing shapes made from...
Tell City Schools
The Cay
Support your instruction of The Cay by Theodore Taylor with this extensive unit of materials. Provided here are prereading activities, worksheets and discussion questions for the entire book, and reading quizzes that you can use to check...
Curated OER
Total English Upper Intermediate: Sequencing Events
In this sequencing events activity, students complete 6 sentence starters and write a story using one of 3 provided titles. In small groups students share their work.
Curated OER
Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
Curated OER
A Mirror into History
Are we really all that different from people in the past? First, learners of all ages write an autobiographical poem. Then, they research the lives of historical figures. They use the same format that they used to write their own poem to...
Media Smarts
How to Analyze the News
Teach kids how to watch television, specifically the news, with this creative idea for learners of all ages from the Media Awareness Network. The elementary school plan focuses on presenting news as a story and uses Jon Scieszka's story...
Curated OER
The Ultimate Survivor Using Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
What items would you need to survive if you were stranded in a remote place? Using chapter 10 of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, middle-schoolers work through a Six Trait writing activity to create a story about their own survival in a similar...
Curated OER
60-Second Pitch
In this sequencing worksheet, students put lines of a paragraph in order. In this fill in the blank worksheet, students write sixteen answers.
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 8: Character
Characters often change over the course of a story or novel. Use the sample graphic organizer provided here to track how the narrator has responded to the sequence of events in chapter four through six of The Cay. In addition to this...
Curated OER
What Did You Do?
English learners practice using the past tense by participating in a time description activity. They identify the differences between verbs when they are used to describe current events or past events. Students answer questions using...
Curated OER
A Soldier's View of the American Civil War
Study and research the American Civil War in this explanatory writing activity. Middle schoolers complete six activities to learn about the American Civil War and soldiers' views of the war. The activity includes several options to...
Student Handouts
Process Steps
A straightforward graphic organizer is a great way to outline steps for any subject. Kids fill out 10 steps to describe a process or brainstorm writing, with small arrows indicating that one step leads to the next.
Curated OER
The Personal Narrative - Part 3
Let's peer edit! Have your writers exchange their personal narratives with another learner! While peer editing, they will look for any missing information and identify strong details. They can practice literary analysis skills using a...
Curated OER
Sequencing Time
Students place events in sequence and assign relative times to each event. They gain an understanding of relative and numerical time and become familiar with the methods used by scientists to develop the Geologic Time Scale.
Curated OER
Great Basin Tribes- Use of Land for Sustenance
Students explore four Native American tribes from Nevada. In this Native American history lesson, students identify and generate important corresponding attributes of the Southern Paiute, Northern Paiute, Washoe, and Western Shoshone...
Curated OER
Acrostic Book Report
Students read the story Wild Horse Winter and construct acrostic poems. In this poetry lesson, students use adjectives and events in the text to develop an acrostic poem.
Curated OER
Planning and Drafting a Personal Narrative
Bring your learners together to write a class narrative about the first day of school. Start off by teaching them about sequence with a quick oral activity. Then, work together to fill out a story map. Finally, compose the class...
Curated OER
Episodic Writing Using Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
Help your middle-schoolers expand their writing skills with this lesson on episodic writing, which focuses on story details, idea development, and organization. After reading "The Eighth Picture: End of Summer" from Patricia Reilly...
School District of Palm Beach County
Framed Paragraphs characterization, problem and solution, symbolism, conflict
Support your learners as they work on writing paragraphs by providing graphic organizers, outlines, and frames. Sift through this packet to find the perfect organizers and templates to prepare pupils for writing. The resource...
Curated OER
Autobiographies: A Jigsaw Puzzle
Students read The Autobiography of Ben Franklin. Using construction paper, they cut out five jigsaw puzzle pieces in different shapes using the entire sheet of paper. They write events from their own lives on the puzzle pieces, thus...
Ahisma Summer Institute
The Power of One - Math in a Different Angle
In this 2-day lesson focused on exponents, middle schoolers will cross the curriculum by engaging in science, history and language arts activities. Exponential growth will be explored using grains of rice on a chess board. Exponential...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Informational Writing: Lesson 2 of 5
Introduce expository writing to your elementary learners. Young authors write a three-paragraph informational paper using the steps of the writing process. They follow guided lessons to experience each of five steps. Included are tons of...