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Sidewalks to Success in Middle School
Students write a brochure that educates incoming middle school students on how to succeed.
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Fragments Wanted (Not)
Learners rewrite newspaper employment ads using complete sentences.
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First Class Mail
Students read The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and write a friendly letter to Elizabeth George Speare, the author, discussing their points of interest in the novel with her.
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A Sample Mini-lesson for Teaching Writing Conventions
Young scholars study writing conventions. In this writing conventions lesson plan, students study writing they have already completed and look for conventions they are already using without realizing. In a small group, young scholars...
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Writing a Fable
Students are introduced to the definition of a fable in that it is a story that has a moral for people to apply in their lives. They then read a fable together so they have a better understanding. Next, students write their own fables.
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Coast-to-Coast Book Design-Part 4: Let's Create the Pages!
Students work in groups to share their lists of A-B-C ideas they came up with from the previous activity. They review page layouts taught during lesson two. Students complete a rough draft of their page. They create a colored...
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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...
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Show! Don't Tell!
Young scholars write a descriptive paragraph. For this writing lesson, students define elaboration and discuss the characteristics of an elaborate paragraph. Young scholars write a paragraph that contains vivid adjectives, strong verbs...
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Parts of Speech: Active Verbs
Students use White Fang to help them study active verbs. In this grammar lesson, students define active verbs and find examples in the the novel White Fang. Students then use ProQuest to research a place they'd like to visit. Students...
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Writer's Chair
Students peer edit and present a piece of writing to the class. In this writing lesson, students work in groups of three to peer edit their favorite piece of writing. Students take turns sitting in the "Writer's Chair" and presenting...
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Adjective Word Art
Pupils describe fathers using Word Art. In this adjectives lesson plan, students discuss the attributes of their fathers and then design adjective collages that feature the adjectives that describe good fathers.
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Setting Goals for Success
Students construct SMART goals. In this goal-setting lesson, students discover how to write a SMART goal for their student portfolios. Working in pairs students write short-term goals that will build towards a long-term goal.
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Proofreading: Lesson 8
Teacher reads the material that is printed in boldface type inside the boxes aloud to the students. Information in regular type inside the boxes and all information outside the boxes should not be read to the students. Possible student...
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Introduction to Poetry
Pupils determine the rhyme scheme of a poem and find examples of similes. In this poetry analysis lesson plan, students review definitions needed for the topic and analyze the rhyme or rhythm for the example poems. Pupils also find...
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Internet Pen Pals
Students write letters to e-mail pals and respond to letters received. Students describe the geography of their community to their pals.
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What Does Christmas Mean to Me?
Students write an essay entitled "What Does Christmas Mean to Me?" In this writing lesson, students express their feelings about Christmas in an essay. Students discuss ways they have given to others during the Christmas season, then...
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Journalism - The Attention Grabbing Topic Sentence
Young scholars act as journalists to grab audience attention with the topic sentence for their writing. They write paragraphs in quantities appropriate to grade level.
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Top Ten Facts
Students, in pairs, complete research about an assigned person. One student does research in the library and the other on the Internet. They come back together, compare their research, and compile a list of 10 main facts about their person.
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Writing a Short Story - Weather
Students use the information they wrote about on the topic they chose in studying About Weather. They then write a short story using the information choosing a theme, setting, characters, and the plot.
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Guess the Author-Using Pseudonyms
Students study about descriptive writing. They write a descriptive paragraph about themselves without revealing their physical description and sign their writing with a pseudonym.
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Learning About Evaluation
Middle schoolers evaluate the essays of their classmates. In this evaluation instructional activity, students write two non-fiction essays on two different topics that they may choose. After a lecture on the aspects of the paper that...