Involve your readers in finding works of literary genius. Have each individual write down compelling sentences that they read or hear, whether in a newspaper, advertisement, book, movie, song, or any other place! Once each person has a...

Looking for a lesson about differing sentence types? Use this lesson on compound and complex sentences in your grammar unit. After composing simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences individually and as part of a group,...

Students read and illustrate silly sentences.  In this sentence structure instructional activity, students draw illustrations to reflect the parts of one of the silly sentences.  Students pictures should show all the...

Improve writing skills using methods from Robert Gay's Writing Through Reading; Gay espouses reproducing the work of successful writers to build the ability to convey original ideas effectively. Young writers transcribe, paraphrase,...

Students read sentences and try to identify which ones are grammatically correct and which contain grammatical errors.

What do Jeep advertisements and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath have in common? They both employ the art of the extended metaphor! Using the Six-Trait Writing model, learners begin to work on their own extended metaphors. Development...

Young scholars create a wheel from construction paper to use to create sentences. The wheel consists of four concentric circles, beginning with the largest being 8 inches in diameter. Each circle represents one part of a sentence....

Elementary and middle schoolers research animal facts and use them in a fable. First, they pair-share to find animal traits to use in writing a fable. They then complete a prewriting worksheet. After going through the writing process,...

Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...

Combine participial phrases and creative writing with this lesson, which is equally helpful for writing skills and conventions. After a mini-lesson on participial phrases and reading the picture book Dancing in the Wings, pupils use a...

Upper elementary and middle schoolers recognize symbols that influence the choices that we make consciously or unconsciously in everyday life. They look at the symbols and choices that others make. They identify and apply knowledge of...

The basic structure of a useful lesson plan in formal letter writing is here, but there are no procedural details or support materials to implement it. However, the idea is worth pursuing, to help your learners develop a strong...

Students research countries around the world. They develop and write a research paper that includes maps, photographs, and diagrams. They describe the culture, society, economy, religious beliefs, government structure, and history of...

Seventh graders access an organizer from an earlier lesson and transition sentences to begin a new essay.  In this organization and composing lesson, 7th graders work in small groups to create a draft of an article about...

Middle schoolers brainstorm pizza toppings and determine the number of possible ways to order a pizza. In this algebra lesson, students analyze and investigate geometric patterns as they relate to the concept of a variable. Middle...

Students explore eggs including their structure, sizes, grades, nutritional value, functions in recipes, preparation techniques, and storage guidelines.

Upper grade and middle school writers study the art of parody. For this language arts lesson, learners study the work of Lewis Carroll, read and discuss parodies from the book, Alice in Wonderland, and construct their own parody based on...

A terrific lesson plan on homophones awaits your youngsters. First, pupils access a website that contains lists of homophones. Then, it's time to get creative! Everyone gets a piece of poster board and they create a homophone cartoon -...

Students, after reading Fahrenheit 451, brainstorm inventions that could have been in the novel. They present their invention to the class and writing an expository essay about their creation.

Get to know your students with this project. Each individual writes an autobiography that is at least seven pages long with major facts, visual facts, focal stories, and chronology. The lesson includes a point breakdown for the...

Learners complete monthly acts of kindness using the given instructions. In this acts of kindness lesson, students follow the directions for each month to create and give an act of kindness to their classmates or other individual.

Young scholars create a travelogue of a particular U.S geographic region that includes aspects of population, climate, landforms, culture, famous people, and places as well as any natural resources. They present the travelogue to the class.

Students, utilizing technology and its avenues, create, produce and publish a variety of works. They generate a bubble map to brainstorm words that describe a specific vacation spot as well as create a pattern book with graphics about...

Middle schoolers research Rudy Autio. In this research instructional activity students maneuver through the Internet to better understand the artist Rudy Autio. They examine his background, educational experiences, art production,...