Curated OER
Using Descriptive Language
Students examine the use of adjectives in a product review, then write their own descriptive review. In this writing and word usage lesson, students first analyze the choice of adjectives in a New York Times article about the iPhone,...
Virginia Department of Education
Using Specific Vocabulary and Collaboration
Develop concepts on how to change your improving wordsmiths' writing from blah to wow with the activities and ideas in this resource. The instructor provides the class with examples of writing that lacks detail and precision, and then...
Curated OER
Precise Vocabulary
Students complete acting exercises as a part of a precise language activity to help them build vocabulary and improve their descriptive writing skills. In this theatre and writing lesson, students create and act out a sentence with two...
Curated OER
Exploring Descriptive Language With Different Parts of Speech
Students practice experiencing writing with appropriate language and incorporating the eight parts of speech. They assess that many words have multiple functions when used in different contexts. Each student free writes in response to a...
Curated OER
The Rooms in a Home
Enhance your foreign language students' skills to describe a house. After reading a description of rooms in a house in their target language, they work to answer corresponding questions correctly. Additionally, they view a PowerPoint...
Curated OER
"Snapshot" Exercises & Sensory Detail Word Bank
Read a sample of creative descriptive writing to your science class. Discuss how writing can be used to record and communicate observations that scientists make. Reading selections and thought-provoking questions are suggested. Also...
Curated OER
Logs, Charts, and Journals: What's On Your Plate?
Have your writers identify and use words that appeal to the senses. They create a chart of sensory words and record some of their favorites, then write a journal entry in which they describe eating at a restaurant using sensory details....
Curated OER
Getway to More Descriptive Writing
Students use more precise descriptive words in their writing.
Curated OER
Vocabulary / Writing Strategies
Students will increase spelling and vocabulary skills. Then they will develop critical thinking skills. Next, they will develop expository writing skills. Finally, students will practice language skills with non-traditional text: a...
Curated OER
Warm Up with Winter Writing
Try these cool writing lesson ideas that promote creativity and increase vocabulary.
Curated OER
Use The Polar Express to Develop Rich and Detailed Writing
Bring The Polar Express into your middle school classroom to spark the creativity of your emerging writers.
Curated OER
Geography of Mesopotamia
Students write a letter. In this irrigation lesson, students review how humans and the environment can interact with each other, learn new vocabulary words having to do with Mesopotamia, learn about irrigation and view maps of...
Curated OER
Step into the Painting: Social Studies, Literature, and Art
Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...
Curated OER
Show! Don't Tell!
Students write a descriptive paragraph. In this writing activity, students define elaboration and discuss the characteristics of an elaborate paragraph. Students write a paragraph that contains vivid adjectives, strong verbs and exact...
Curated OER
Algebra/Geometry Institute Summer 2007: Graphing Activity
Seventh graders practice identifying coordinates by examining a city map. In this graphing instructional activity, 7th graders create coordinate directions on an index card and practice locating these locations on a grid. Students read...
Virginia Department of Education
Elaborating with Showing, Not Telling
This engaging activity is a great change of pace for the classroom. The activity starts with a simple message on the board “The teacher is angry.” The instructor is to stomp around, drop books and glare—anything to show anger. The...
Curated OER
Ways Twitter Makes You a Better Writer
Practice being concise. Exercise your vocabulary. Improve your editing skills. The contention in this lesson is that by imposing a 140 character limit, the Twitter format actually helps improve writing skills. And of course class tweets...
Curated OER
Adjectives in Letter Writing
Looking for ways for your young writers to practice using adjectives and composing letters? For this activity, learners use the adjectives in a word bank to fill in the 15 gaps in a business letter about Japanese cars. Scholars must...
Curated OER
Grammar Galore: Word Search
In this word search worksheet, students search for 54 descriptive words. Many of the words are used commonly, but a few are not.
Washoe County School District
Three Skeleton Key
Conduct a close reading of George G. Toudouze's well-known horror story "Three Skeleton Key." This plan breaks up the reading into several steps and provides text-dependent questions to ask along the way. Learners will have the chance to...
Curated OER
On the Scene: Analyzing Scenes in Film and Literature
Students examine how a scene in a movie or in literature is constructed. In this film and literature lesson plan students answer questions based on film clips then create storyboards depicting a scene from their life.
Curated OER
Illustrate the Constellations
Students explore space science by participating in a star identification activity. In this astronomy lesson, students identify different star patterns and discuss the movement of stars across the sky as the seasons change. Students...
Curated OER
Venerable Inventors
Students discuss important historic inventors and read their biographical information. In this world history lesson, students describe Alexander Bell, Thomas Edison, and Guglielmo Marconi using vocabulary terms used in their text....
Curated OER
Postcard to Mom
Students research the stages a lobster larvae passes through. in this lobster instructional activity, students pretend as if they are the lobster larvae and write a postcard to their lobster mother describing the changes they have been...