Continue work on the two-piece poem that compares two characters from Esperanza Rising. Give class members a few minutes to finish their drafts. After they have a complete product, model how to critique and edit the poems with one group....

What's the difference? Scholars analyze the similarities and differences between introductory and concluding paragraphs. Then, using a model essay as a guide, they write their draft position papers. 

Step up! Using the resource, scholars discover the six steps to writing an effective position paper. Next, they work on a graphic organizer to begin planning their argument-based essays.

Lesson 7 focuses on building academic vocabulary and writing an explanatory letter with supported textual evidence. For the first five minutes of the lesson, the educator reminds the class of how to read and refer to the accordion...

Scholars take time to reflect on the unit and the end-of-unit writing assessment. They use a Working Conditions Reflection to help guide them through the exercise. Readers then begin working on a book review for the book they have...

How are raptors and airplanes alike? Combine science and language arts in this fun and interactive project. Young scientists research the animal in order to design their own aircraft, and compete in a contest for farthest, fastest, and...

Time to revise! Using a writing evaluation rubric, scholars participate in a peer editing process to provide feedback on each others' informative essays. Next, pupils begin revising their drafts based on the feedback they receive. 

It's time to proof read! Pupils read and analyze proof paragraphs from a model essay. They then practice writing their own proof paragraphs to express an opinion about offshore oil drilling. 

Learn to write right. Scholars analyze the model essay Adversity Faced by Townspeople in the Middle Ages. They discuss the essay and make annotations working with an elbow partner. Learners then take another look at the essay using a...

Explore the structure of narrative writing with this fun, collaborative lesson. Start by reading aloud a short story, asking small groups of learners to fill in key events on a large story board prepared on the class whiteboard....

A 55-page unit examines the novel, The BFG, by Roald Dahl. Six lessons pay close attention to friendship, dreams, and believing themes while analyzing interesting characters, writing creative vocabulary, smilies, metaphors, an exciting...

Refuse to alienate your scientific-minded young scholars during your creative writing unit. Learners explore how literary writing can reflect observable fact, and be based in actual science. The links include examples of fiction and...

Explore a basic pattern to practice writing expressions. In collaborative groups, learners examine a contextual pattern and write an expression to model it. The task encourages groups to describe the pattern in multiple ways.

Scholars become familiar with tagline literature with the help of the story, Alexander and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad, Terrible Day by Judith Viort. After a read-aloud and whole-class discussion, leveled groups complete...

Is there a way to connect creative thinking, logical reasoning, mathematical understanding, and humor? You bet there is! Kids begin by creating creative math quizzes, which require creative thinking to solve. For example, 1+1=24, one...

The Boston Massacre may be an iconic event in American history, but perhaps the British soldiers had another point of view. Using primary sources, including reports from Boston newspapers and secondary sources from the British...

Develop an understanding of the open-ended questions that are a part of the college Common Application. Future college learners collaborate, discuss prompts acquired from the application, and philosophize on their plan of attack for the...

Explore fantasy as a genre. After working in small groups to identify literary elements in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, class members share their work and then use the presentations to help them prepare to write...

Lights, shadows, action, and inquiry await your artistic scientists. They explore the way light travels, absorbs, reflects, and transmits through shadow play. They create folktale-inspired shadow puppets, explore the science of light,...

Plot, setting, characters, and conflict are common to both drama and narrative stories. Kids create narrated tableaus that show their understanding of the plot, setting, and conflict of a story they've recently read. The lesson...

The fifth installment in a writing unit that culminates with a Hyperstudio illustrated group story project, this plan is ripe with ideas for ways to design group writing projects for elementary writers. Use the whole unit as a base from...

Classes look at and analyze primary source images to explore the differences between the colonial regions during the Revolutionary era. They break into groups to tackle each region and then present their findings to the class. A final...

In conclusion ... Scholars analyze the model essay Adversity Faced by Townspeople in the Middle Ages to gain a better understanding of introductory and concluding paragraphs. After studying the author's strategies, learners begin...

Read like a writer. Scholars read a model literary analysis in preparation for a similar writing assignment before annotating each paragraph for the gist. Next, pupils devise a list of qualities of a strong literary analysis essay.