Curated OER
Choose Your Words Wisely
Improve word choice! Writers use dictionaries and thesauruses to aid them in choosing exciting words to incorporate in their writing. They rewrite sentences and practice identifying words that can be replaced using a better word. Flip...
Curated OER
Dead Word Wall Lesson
Help your writers eliminate "dead words" (words that are overused) from their writing. This lesson includes a SMART board presentation that will guide them through identifying, eliminating, and substituting "dead words" from sample...
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
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 plan, students first analyze the choice of adjectives in a New York Times article about the...
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
Speak Write! Understanding the Hidden Meaning of Words
"Can the connotation of a word or phrase create bias or prejudice?" The activities in this SMART Board lesson are directed toward this question, which will be sure to incite lots of opinions and ideas. The SMART Board file guides them...
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
I See and I Think (It's A Wonderful World)
Students analyze song lyrics (by listening to the song) to pick-out descriptive vocabulary. They use this descriptive vocabulary to create a drawing of the images they "see" in the song. They compare their drawings to find similarities...
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
Words That Hold Court
Students recognize the importance of the Supreme Court. In this legal terminology lesson plan, students define a list of words to understand the Supreme Court and the language used in cases. Students revise a case summary.
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
Postcard to Mom
Young scholars research the stages a lobster larvae passes through. in this lobster lesson, students pretend as if they are the lobster larvae and write a postcard to their lobster mother describing the changes they have been through....
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.
Curated OER
Getway to More Descriptive Writing
Middle schoolers 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
Adjective? What's an Adjective?
Mount a variety of pictures (fantasy, rustic, portraits, action) on large sheets of paper and post them around the classroom. Groups rotate from poster to poster, adding adjectives to describe each of the pictures. Writers use these word...
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
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
ESL Describing Things- Fill In the Table Worksheet
For this ESL describing items worksheet, students describe 8 items by their shape, color, and the material they are made of. They use a word bank at the bottom of the page to help with the descriptions. They describe items such as a...
Curated OER
Total English Advanced: Describing and Recommending Places
In this describing and recommending places worksheet, students work with partners to use the vocabulary provided to write descriptions of the places listed.
Curated OER
Digestion - Part 3
Students explore the human body by reviewing the digestive system. In this human anatomy instructional activity, students identify the elements of human digestion by completing two body system worksheets. Students read the story What...
Curated OER
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Lesson Plan
Students practice their writing skills. In this writing perspective lesson, students review The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and consider the points of view of the main characters. Students write descriptions of a modern-day event and...
Curated OER
The Holocaust: Valuing Creation
Young scholars write a descriptive essay. In this Holocaust instructional activity, students discuss what it must have been like for Anne Frank to stay inside for two years. Young scholars try to appeal to all five senses in their...