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Narrative Writing--The Hobbit
Hobbits, dwarfs, wizards, trolls, and goblins. Readers track these fantastic creatures through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit noting passages of character description and habitats. Using specific passages from the novel, class members craft...
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Narrative Nuts and Bolts
After viewing slides and reading about child labor, young authors compose an original narrative story. They practice note-taking skills and work to effectively engage a reader by incorporating plot, logical order, complex characters,...
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Like Water for Chocolate: Family Tradition
Engage young writers in family tradition with this writing assignment for Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel. Using sensory details, learners write a narrative about a family tradition involving food. Scholars also talk with...
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The Battle for Derby Bus Station
Ever heard of the battle to save the Derby Bus Station? Built in 1933 by Charles Herbert Aslin, its art deco design was unique and The Beatles once dined at the café. The station closed in October 2005 and was scheduled for demolition...
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Second Set of Essay Questions on The Hobbit
Students explore The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. In this reading and writing lesson, students read chapters 7-12. Students write an essay on two essay questions related to these chapters.
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House and Holmes: A Guide to Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
Test your pupils' reasoning skills with several activities and a quick mystery to solve. Learners watch and analyze a few video clips that demonstrate reasoning in action, practice deduction with an interactive and collaborative...
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College Essay Writing
Pupils discuss the difference between analyses and essays. They practice writing an essay for a college admission application. They are graded based on a rubric included with this lesson.
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Eliminate "To Be" Verbs
Students remove to beverbs from their writing. In this verb usage lesson, students write strategies from eliminating to be verbs, then locate the verbs in their writing and eliminate as many as possible.
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Literary Analysis: Summary vs. Analysis
What is the difference between summary writing and literary analysis? A 16-slide presentation offers some basic requirements for both types of writing and helps readers identify each based on keywords used in both types of writing....
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Making Photo Essays Easy
Young scholars generate ideas about what makes a good story and a good photograph then place them together to create a photo essay. In this photo essay activity, students assemble random photos into a story, select the best photos, and...
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Women Who Inform Our World
Students examine the contributions of women on the international, national, and local platforms. In this writing skills lesson, students analyze a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt and compose essays that reveal how women advocate for social...
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Writing: Planning and Organizing
Twelfth graders examine the five step prewriting process used before writing essays. They select a common topic and determine the purpose,and audience for the essay. They list examples in daily life where planning and organizing are...
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Developing an Outline
A lot of writers don't like creating an outline before writing the first draft of their paper. Introduce them to what an effective and organized outline looks like with this presentation. Designed for higher education, you could easily...
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Comparing or Contrasting Two Books
Students compare two pieces of literature. In this literary comparisons lesson, students read 2 books that they personally select and then compare and contrast the literary elements of each in a comparative essay.
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Using the textbook and writing sample
Eleventh graders explain the organization of their textbook and demonstrate their writing abilities. They explain why it's important to know certain facts and skills as well as to know where and how to find the information you need. Each...
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Writing to Photography/Photography to Writing
Young scholars improve their' writing by incorporating photography into descriptive and narrative writing exercises. They write descriptions of various professional photographic collections. Later they use their own and other classmates'.
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Introductions and Conclusions
The format of the introduction and conclusion paragraphs in an expository essay are the focus of short presentation that details how to craft these all-important sections of a paper. No specific examples are included.
iCivics
No Rambling Allowed
What makes for a strong persuasive argument? Organization! After deconstructing a sample argument and then following the guidelines of an included worksheet, your class members will learn how evidence can be organized in order to produce...
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Transitions
Give examples of transitions and why they are necessary in writing. A bit verbose, this handout is very thorough and provides many examples. The second page lists plenty of transitional phrases in a convenient chart.
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George Orwell's Essay on his Life in Burma: "Shooting an Elephant"
Students read George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" as an analysis for the historical context. In this historical analysis lesson, students analyze the main points in the essay to identify its cultural and historical context....
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Paragraph Building
Build the skills your budding authors need to develop to compose well-structured paragraphs. Give them the topic sheet (included here), and have them write a cohesive paragraph using the ideas listed. Consider having them include two...
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Graphic Writing Web
High schoolers discuss and develop graphic writing webs, writing supporting ideas for a given topic.
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Macbeth Essay
In this Macbeth essay worksheet, students read the first two acts of Macbeth and then write a comparison essay of the acts. Students follow the given structure to complete the assignment.
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Symmetry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Students examine knightly virtues and will measure Gawain's strength in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In this poetry analysis lesson, students identify the bob-and-wheel poetic form and analyze symmetry in the poem. Students...