Curated OER
Plot Development and Conflict
Students explore plot development and how conflicts are resolved. In this plot development and conflict lesson plan, students discuss antonyms and list the ones they find in their story. Students complete online activities and write a...
Curated OER
Digging Up Artifacts On Line
Why is it important to preserve historical documents and artifacts? Examine the role of primary source documents and the availability of these documents on the Internet. Middle and high schoolers write a journal about the nature of...
Curated OER
Identifying Personification in Poetry
Improve your young poets' descriptive writing with this lesson plan on personification. A SMART board and PowerPoint presentation guide your class through the process of identifying human qualities attributed to various non-human...
Curated OER
Credible Sources on the Internet: What to Trust, What to Dismiss and When to Cite a Source
Wait, you mean researchers don't all use Wikipedia? Teach your class about intelligent research with a lesson about evaluating digital sources. The lesson starts with a quickwrite and includes vocabulary exercises and several...
Appalachian State University
Effective Feedback
Use this well-developed class period to introduce your junior high learners as to how to provide effective feedback concerning their classmates' writing. The plan includes a warm-up, review, introduction, guided and independent practice,...
College Board
Evaluating Sources: How Credible Are They?
How can learners evaluate research sources for authority, accuracy, and credibility? By completing readings, discussions, and graphic organizers, scholars learn how to properly evaluate sources to find credible information. Additionally,...
Curated OER
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...
Anchorage School District
Hints for Writing a Conclusion
Writing the conclusion of an essay can often seem like a superfluous or daunting task. Support your young writers in understanding the various types and purposes of a conclusion paragraph, such as summarizing key points of a paper or...
Curated OER
Sentence Fragments
As middle and high schoolers experiment with their writing styles, it's easy to slip in a few accidental sentence fragments. After reading a full-page of information regarding how to identify and avoid sentence fragments, learners...
Curated OER
Strong Convictions
How can the rhetorical structure of an editorial help to develop its argument? Use this New York Times editorial to emphasize the importance of structure in a piece of informational text. Adolescent writers then use the editorial as a...
Curated OER
Selecting the Tap: Water Safety
Examine water as a scarce natural resource instead of taking it for granted. Middle schoolers identify the traits of potable water, and research local water sources to determine if they are impaired or not.
Curated OER
Understanding and Using Primary and Secondary Sources in History
Explore primary and secondary sources in this historical analysis instructional activity. Young researchers define the terms primary source and secondary source. They read a primary source document provided by the teacher and answer...
Curated OER
Impersonating Great Poets Using "Science Verse" by Jon Scieszka
A great way to bring poetry and parody into your language arts classroom, this lesson mimics famous poems based on Jon Scieszka's Science Verse. The activity not only allows the class to see examples of poem parodies, but to create their...
Curated OER
What Makes a Novel a Novel?
They always say to write what you know. This approach is used to get middle schoolers prepared to write novels of their own. Using a favorite book as a model, potential novelists respond to prompts that ask about characters, plot, main...
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
Beginning Short Stories --
After reading a short story, learners answer 4 questions about a birthday party. This activity could be used for younger students, or with older learners as part of an ESL lesson.
Curated OER
Character Traits
Using a three-column chart labeled "Character," "Action," and "Trait," pupils analyze the traits of several characters from a short story. The instructional activity is designed for a SMART board, but a teacher could easily do the...
Curated OER
Introduction to Writing Traits and Writing Strategies
Intended for an audience of teachers, this presentation lays out the six traits of writing, the writing process, and the teaching process for traits and strategies. If you are trying to understand the writing process more fully, you...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 10: Writing Really Good Dialogue
Boring dialogue can run a great story into the ground; get your novelists using dialogue as a tool to move their story into deeper and more developed territory. As part of a larger writing series, this lesson has a worksheet that can...
Curated OER
Sentence Combination: Prepositional Phrases
Start by defining preposition. The presentation shows a friendly looking pug as he sits on, inside, and beside objects. Then, look at prepositional phrases and how to use them to combine multiple sentences. A short practice opportunity...
Curated OER
Author's Day
Have your learners choose an author to study. One resource link gives a list of approved authors. Scholars read at least three works produced by that author and produce three separate book reports as well as a two-page author report....
Curated OER
Let's Get Along
Students examine the book Smoky Night. In this cultural lesson, students read the text and discuss why it's important to get along with others. Students complete a Venn diagram to compare and contrast themselves with a peer.
Curated OER
Effective Writing is More Than a Five Paragraph Essay
Groups become experts in one aspect of the six traits of writing, prepare a PowerPoint presentation, jigsaw, and teach others about their trait. Writers then focus on these traits as they compose a persuasive essay about a person they...
Virginia Department of Education
Revising Writing
Junior high writers investigate other student’s sample writing and critique on how it could be improved. Skill emphasis is place on elaboration, voice, and sentence variety. The student writing is provided, but the checklist for revision...