Curated OER
'Twasn't the Night Before Christmas
Students describe the elements that make up particular writers' styles. Small groups then choose an author, write something in his or her style, and invite other groups to play 'literary detective' in identifying whose style they have...
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Ticker Text Parade
Students examine news headlines and create very brief news pieces in the style of news tickers. They write papers reflecting upon these experiences and on the value of concisely written news reports.
Curated OER
Origin of the Modern Summer Games
Where did the Olympic Summer Games originate? The class takes a look at ancient origins of modern Olympic games. They research the Olympics and write a compare and contrast essay that describes how the Olympic Games have changed since...
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Personal Narratives
Students complete writing lessons to help students select a writing topic, prepare a writing plan, and create an interesting beginning. In this personal narratives lesson, students complete intensive modeling activities to write their...
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Speaker Report
Fifth through eighth graders think of themselves as newspaper reporters as they listen to a presentation by a guest speaker. As reporters, they take notes during the presentation. Using these notes, they create a rough draft and then a...
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award
So B. It
Looking for supporting materials for a study of So B. It by Sarah Weeks? This resource includes a summary of the book, questions to answer and discuss, a journal starter, a list of related activities, a list of similar books, and links...
Curated OER
Essay Writing
Teachers can involve their students in activities that expose them to a variety of essay styles.
Curated OER
Writing Organization Lessons
By using writing organization worksheets and activities students can learn to put their thoughts on paper in an orderly manner.
Curated OER
A New Look at Romeo and Juliet
Students explore life and language development in the Elizabethan Age. In this English lesson students complete web-quests and other activities surrounding Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
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Rain Forest Reporters
Students research and write articles for an imaginary scientific magazine about rain forests. In this rain forest instructional activity, students research both ecosystems and magazine writing styles. They act as reporters and editors of...
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Window Mural
Students analyze visual arts by creating a presentation in their schoolyard. In this mural lesson, students identify the work of Keith Haring by researching the web. Students utilize construction paper, markers and paper to create art...
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Kids' Newsbreaks
Group learners together to identify a question relating to an issue and create a 60-second kids news break highlighting information that begins to answer the question. They research and answer issue questions in a news story format.
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An Introduction to Poetry Using Color
Young scholars complete a variety of poems that focus on many different literary techniques and styles. As part of this experience, students share their portfolios with adults in the school and at home.
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"Live Out Loud" Celebrates Pride Week
Students investigate human relationships by creating oil paintings in class. In this gay pride lesson plan, students discuss why the Pride parade is so important, who appears at the parade and how art is used to spread awareness of gay...
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What Weather When and Where?
Pupils learn the difference between hard news and feature writing. They choose one of these news styles to write a compelling weather-related article based on interviews with local sources.
Polk Bros Foundation
Common Core Constructed Response Organizer
Get your writers ready to compose a constructed response essay in response to either an informational or fictional text. Pupils note down the big idea they wish to address as well as up to nine examples from the text that they wish to...
Curated OER
Family Communication Style
Eighth graders explore the different ways that families communicate with each other. After a lecture/demo, 8th graders generate a list of relationships that might benefit from practice in the art of conversation and communication.
Curated OER
Getting Your "Hands-On" a Great Outline
Students write with controlled and/or subtle organization. They learn three ways to arrange a formal outline. Students demonstrate this knowledge by creating an outline as class. They cover the concepts of anticipation, investigation,...
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Young Learner's Writing Workshop 1
Students become familiar with writing an essay in English. They are given an overview of basic essay writing styles. Students develop skills that are used when analyzing texts as the basis of their essays.
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Examining newspapers
Students compare and contrast tabloid and broadsheet papers. In this journalism lesson plan, students examine how techniques and form differs from one type of publication to the other. The culminating activity is for students to take...
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Who's Sharing Our Stories on "The Hill"?
Students explore parliamentary structure. They study the roles & responsibility of key players or representatives. This lesson presents a wide variety of rich activities students can engage in to further their understanding of...
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Misterioso: Thelonius Monk
Learners examine the musical style of Thelonius Monk, particularly Misterioso. They write in their journals how the song sounds and fits with the way Monk dresses. They journal about how their own music might sound if they wrote jazz music.
McGraw Hill
Proofreading a Paragraph
In this proofreading instructional activity, students rewrite a paragraph to correct for errors. Each paragraph may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and usage.
Curated OER
Interview With A Psychoanalyst
Students discuss health topics they would like to know more about. They read an article interviewing a psychoanalyst. They resarch any questions they have about a specific scienctist. They write their own newspaper article using...