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...
Curated OER
Scrambled Stories II
Review story elements with your class. They will use examples from a story to develop critical-thinking questions. Then they use a graphic organizer to describe the setting, character, and plot of the story, focusing on how they...
Curated OER
Organizing by Writing
Middle schoolers analyze how to use writing for generating and organizing their thoughts before communicating them. They use the questions on the first handout to organize a three-minute introduction of themselves to their small group....
Santa Barbara City College
Structure of a General Expository Essay
A great student reference tool and graphic organizer in one worksheet! Young writers can read a detailed description of each section of a standard five-paragraph essay before completing a graphic organized with their own writing. The...
Curated OER
Using Because, When, After, As, Although, Since, Even Though, and While
In this grammar worksheet, students complete ten unfinished sentences by adding a commas where necessary when adding additional clauses and phrases.
Curated OER
Change of Perspective
After reading an example of a Cultural Connection about a particular person, class members are asked to think about what this person might experience on a daily basis. They then craft a narrative from the subject’s point of view.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Informational Writing
Emerging writers identify an informational piece of writing. They are provided with examples of informational writing and view a PowerPoint on narrative writing. Then, they design their own informational writing with a brochure,...
Curated OER
Writing: Laying and Covering the Foundation
Your middle schoolers can become stronger writers with a lesson covering the basics. They compose effective thesis statements and introductions, discuss different ways to capture a reader's attention, and compare a poorly written...
Curated OER
Reading Meet Writing
Thinking about introducing your middle schoolers to reading log journals? Try the approach suggested by this resource. After reading to the class an article or portion of a novel, demonstrate a Think Aloud and then model how to transform...
Curated OER
Do Heroes Have to Wear a Cape?
Young writers choose a person from American history, their community, or their family to use as the subject of a persuasive essay. The process begins with a discussion of the characteristics of a hero, the completion of a prewriting web,...
University of Chicago
Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
Curated OER
Standard 4--Research Saguaros
This research writing PowerPoint addresses the research writing process, focusing specifically on Saguaros. This PowerPoint exhibits each step of the research writing process and gives examples by focusing on researching Saguaros. The...
Curated OER
Interview! Magazine
Students interview a subject and write a biographical sketch for a fictional magazine. In this interview lesson, students choose a person to interview and create two sets of questions. Students conduct the interview. Students then write...
Curated OER
All About Me
Pupils explore autobiographical stories. They write about a personal experience that is significant and memorable. Students specifically explain the chosen events. They define autobiography and share their stories.
Curated OER
It's Indirect: Using Indirect Objects
For this grammar worksheet, students learn about using indirect objects in sentence writing. They then use what they learned to answer the 6 questions on the page. The answers are on the last page in the packet.
Curated OER
Plot Summary: The Outsiders
In this plot summary worksheet, students are given several prompts to assist in developing a summary of the first chapter of The Outsiders.
Curated OER
My Wilderness Adventure
Middle schoolers use a story starter and given questions to continue their adventure. They use the Internet and books to research about winter survival skills, how to find food, water and shelter in the snowy mountains and discover...
Curated OER
Publishing Written Reports
Seventh graders discuss the importance of presentation in report writing. They prepare and publish written reports on pre-selected topics. Students use various media, including covers and visual aids.
Curated OER
Organizing Writing/Composing a First Draft
Seventh graders access an organizer from an earlier lesson and transition sentences to begin a new essay. In this organization and composing lesson, 7th graders work in small groups to create a draft of an article about natural...