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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How to Write A+ Essays!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This lesson, which promises to improve the essays of your middle schoolers, contains a list of characteristics an essay should include. It breaks it down into the introduction, thesis statement, body, etc. There's also a list of things...
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Handout
Anchorage School District

Transition and Closing Words

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Provide young writers with a printable that lists suggestions for and examples of transitional sets and closing words. Also included are some suggestions for what to avoid in closing paragraphs.
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Curated OER

Search Warranted?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young readers work on evaluating claims in a piece of informational text with the article "In New York, It's Open Bag or Find Exits" from the New York Times. They analyze current search procedures implemented to fight terrorism and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Getting Ready to Write

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students watch an online slideshow that shows Cornelia Funke's transition from an illustrator to a writer. They discuss her writing process from the way she gathers ideas to how and where she writes. Next, they work in groups to choose a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Write Your Own Screen Play

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers critique the transition of "Holes" from a novel to screenplay and consider how the details in a book are brought to life in a movie. They then choose a scene in a book and transform it into an original script after...
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Essay Writing

For Teachers 4th - 10th
Teachers can involve their students in activities that expose them to a variety of essay styles.
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Lesson Plan
University of Chicago

Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan 17: Novel, Take 2

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
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"...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Identifying and Using Parallelism and Balance in Literature

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Analyze the use of balanced sentences and parallelism in a narrative. Included in this resource is a narrative about serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan titled, "The Train Ride Home". Middle and high schoolers review...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using a Magazine/Non-Fiction Texts

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Working with magazine articles and other informational texts, students identify the parts of a non-fiction work. The learners use SMART board files to guide instruction, as well as a transition to writing their own non-fiction article in...
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Lesson Plan
1
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MENSA Education & Research Foundation

The Writer’s Toolbox: What You Need to Master the Craft

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Strengthen your high schoolers' writing with a series of steps for writing successfully. With sections on organizing an essay, choosing a topic, crafting a thesis statement, and revising a draft, the lesson encourages your class to...
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Writing
Curated OER

Paragraph Structure

For Students 4th - 7th Standards
Make sure your writers have the buns and the meat in their paragraph burgers with paragraph exercises. The resource gradually leads up to individuals writing their own paragraphs, starting with identification exercises, moving on to a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adventure Writing: Oregon's Landscape as a Setting

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students identify geographical features of different regions encountered by migrants on the Oregon trail. Students research how the Oregon landscape may have affected life and 19th century westward migration. Students write a narrative...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

I OBJECT! Understanding Transitive Verbs

For Students 6th - 9th
In this grammar worksheet, students learn how to use transitive verbs in sentence writing. They then use what they read to answer the 17 questions on the worksheet. The answers are located on the last page of the packet.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Correct Use of the Articles "A" and "An"

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars discover the grammatical rules regarding articles. In this grammar activity, students study the rule regarding the use of "a" and "an" in writing. Young scholars are encouraged to discover the rule on their own and apply...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing: Laying and Covering the Foundation

For Teachers 7th - 9th
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A New Point of View

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Analyze point of view and how it affects a literary work with this lesson. Middle schoolers create a written piece that focuses on point of view. They review the literary term "point of view," and explore examples of the term in text....
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Lesson Plan
Nancy Fetzer's Literacy Connections

Expository Paragraph

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Upper elementary and middle school writers learn how to craft an expository paragraph by following the six steps detailed in a 48-page instructional guide. Learners learn how to write six different types of informational paragraphs: to...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

So & So That

For Students 7th - 10th
When do you use "so" or "so that"? Practice this skill with your ESL students in this worksheet, which includes twenty multiple-choice questions. Each question prompts English learners to choose the correct way to complete the sentence. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Scrambled Stories II

For Teachers 4th - 8th
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...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

The Writer’s Toolbox: What You Need to Master the Craft

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
All the tools (and directions) you’ll need  to build an essay are included in a resource designed for learners and educators. The packet can be given to class members or divided into sections and used as part of a series of lesson on the...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Convince that Jury (Inspired by Roald Dahl's

For Teachers 7th - 12th
What happened to a murder case when the police eat the murder weapon? After reading Roald Dahl's dark and ironic short story "Lamb to the Slaughter," students write a persuasive essay to convince a jury that the wife who killed her...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Writing Transitions 2

For Students 4th - 7th
In this writing transitions activity, students sharpen their writing skills as they read several examples and they rewrite 7 sentences using therefore, consequently, as a result, thus, and for this reason appropriately.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Transitions – Review Worksheet

For Students 4th - 7th
In this transitions review worksheet, students practice their grammar skills as they rewrite 7 sentences using the appropriate transitions.