Curated OER
It's Your Opinion
Everyone has a different opinion about the characters they read about in books. Have your class explore forming an opinion and finding evidence to support it as they read and discuss what they think about a particular character. They...
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Seedfolks Final Writing Assessment
Wrap up a study of Seedfolks with a final essay. Writers can draft their essays by following the steps and filling in the organizer provided here. The packet begins with a prompt, includes a few basic requirements, and provides an...
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Narrative Writing
Are you the oldest in your family? The youngest? The middlest? How do you feel about your place in your family? After reading such stories as My Rotten, Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by...
Curated OER
Process-Writing
Middle schoolers prepare to write a discursive composition. They pay particular attention to generating, selecting, ordering and organizing ideas. Students incorporate the use of linking devices and paragraph planning.
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Jeffrey and Sloth
Students listen to the story Jeffrey and Sloth and explore the six traits of writing. In this six traits of writing activity, students practice doodling as a method of brainstorming ideas. Students then discover the importance of...
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Help With Paragraphs: Writing A Paragraph
Young scholars complete exercises to practice writing a paragraph. In this paragraph writing lesson plan, students work in pairs to complete activities that require them to read sample paragraphs, organize sentences in sequence, and...
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Wagons West: Report
Have your middle schoolers choose a topic about the Oregon Trail to research for an informative report. They are given a list of report ideas and the components required when composing an informational report. Then, they choose one of...
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Character Sketch
Students view a PowerPoint presentation about Character sketches, and write a four paragraph character sketch. Emphasis is placed on topic sentences having one main idea per paragraph and elaborating. They study and discuss ways to write...
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News View
Students read and analyze three different news sources that describe the same event. They compare/contrast the similarities and differences of the news sources, and write an essay describing the main event.
Notion
Popplet
Add color to the mind-mapping process! Users double tap to create a bubble and everything flows quickly from there as they drag, draw, type, and more.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Strategy 3: Using Graphic Organizers Implementation Guide
Whether or not you are new to using graphic organizers with informational or expository text, the materials in this guide will prove useful.Â
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The Argument
After brainstorming, middle schoolers write an expository essay for a writing project. They focus on supporting points, organization, and writing conventions to develop a well-integrated paper. In addition, they revise, proofread and...
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Planning Your Essay
Students discover how to organize essays effectively. In this writing lesson, students construct a spider map to develop their ideas for an essay.
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Order My Steps
Young scholars organize and sequence their writing ideas using different graphic organizers. They use the ideas to write a story that takes place over two days.
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Girl Scout Cookie Lesson Plan
Pupils make a chart of the main categories and supporting details from the article," When chips are down, Girl Scouts order more." They compare their chart with that of a classmate. Students organize their ideas in a logical manner and...
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Caught Between Worlds: Frontier Life as Reflected in Captivity Narratives
Students analyze captivity narratives written between the 1600's and 1800's. In this narrative lesson, students think critically about the interaction between Native peoples and the settlers to understand the cultural beliefs held by...
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New York State Testing Program: English Language Arts Book 2
Practice listening and writing skills with this resource. This is a test created by the New York State Testing Program. Learners listen to a passage called "Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa" twice and write responses to the selection. They...
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Is Social Media a Trustworthy News Outlet?
Examine the role of social media in social and political uprisings. Pupils listen to NPR audio clips about social media and the Arab Spring and read an article that proposes the idea that revolution will not happen through social media....
Curated OER
Determining Importance
Students hone their skills at identifying the principle story in a work of art and text. Through discussion, students assess the central and supporting stories of a work of art that is characterized by multiple layers of action and meaning.
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Writing Short Stories: The Fun Way
Do your young authors suffer from writer's block when they try to write short stories? Access their natural creativity with C-Gor, the writing monster! The instructional activity takes aspiring authors through a new writing process...
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We the People Level 2
Students explore U.S. history by participating in a government activity. In this Constitution instructional activity, students identify the role government plays in our society and the differences the British colonies had in the early...
Ball State University
Dear Pen Pal
Keep your class in conversation with others across the country or across the sea by writing letters to pen pals. The activity calls for students to be pan pals with pupils in Africa; however, the listed steps could be used for any...
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Looking Back to 1980
Young scholars use clustering/mind mapping techniques to generate ideas, graphically represent inferences, organize their conclusions and write a report that presents conclusions the writer has reached, and facts substantiating those...
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Nudging Questions
Students choose one topic to write about. They brainstorm ideas about their topic or incident. They use sensory details to visualize their topic. They answer a variety of teacher directored nudging question to help them describe their...