Bermingham City Schools
Opinion Writing
It's no secret that children can be very opinionated, but rather than fight against this natural tendency, embrace it with this primary grade writing project. After a shared reading of a children's book about...
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Write with Writers
Write and work with authors on the Scholastic Website to promote the recognition of various genres. Young writers will participate in activities based on the type of writing such as biography, descriptive, folktales, mystery, news,...
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Lesson Plan 17: Novel, Take 2
It's all about using peer resources in this writing process activity, which includes a fantastic novel revision worksheet packet. Learners have read a partner's story draft the night before, and groups have a "lightning round of...
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Spinning My Tale
Begin writing personal narratives in this writing activity. Junior high writers start by writing a journal about their favorite holiday. They read a book at their skill level and use graphic organizers to record their ideas for writing....
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Smart Quotes Mini-Lesson
Prepare for an interview project with a set of worksheets about asking questions and quoting people. After completing a grammar exercise about quotation marks, kids write out the questions they want to ask their interviewee, and record...
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Personal Narrative Paragraphs: Class Quilt
Begin this activity by asking third graders to bring from home pieces of cloth that represent something important to them. (Have extras for students who need them.) They reflect on important events in their lives, compose narrative...
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Let Me Tell You About My State
Fifth graders research one of the 50 U.S. States that they were unfamiliar with. In this U.S. Geography lesson, 5th graders utilize encyclopedias as well as the Internet to research a chosen U.S. State in order to write a report....
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The Learning Network: Re-envisioning Classic Stories
Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...
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A Look Through My Antonia's Eyes
Thoroughly delve into My Antonia by Willa Cather with a plethora of activities. Engage scholars with videos and web sites in this week-long unit that explains the historical context and creates pioneers in the field of research. An...
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Dali & Desnos: Surrealism in Poetry and Art
Young scholars research the surrealism movement and its primary artists. Language is also analyzed, and students will create their own original poem utilizing surrealistic techniques.
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Unsent Letter: Characterization in Briar Rose
After completing Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose, class members assume the voice of Gemma and craft a personal letter to her granddaughter telling Becca how she feels about Becca’s actions and the discoveries at Chelmno. Complete directions for...
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Children's Books
A challenging lesson on writing a book for children awaits your fifth-graders. They must use laptops, document cameras, and a projector to create and present an original piece of writing. A checklist that has all of the requirements for...
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Lesson Plan: Before and After a Moment in Time
Think about a moment, frozen in time. Now take a critical look at the painting, Better, Homes, Better Gardens. This painting works to provide learners the opportunity to analyze art, critique artist's choices, and write a story inspired...
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Blogging to Create a Community of Writers #6: Writing a Review
Looking for a good social media lesson for your class? Then, this lesson is for you! They study various written reviews, then must choose an item to review of their choice. They can choose from: a book, restaurant, CD/musical...
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Writing Myths II
Pupils complete a final draft of a myth. In this writing myths lesson, students complete their rough drafts, have a one-on-one meeting with the teacher to enhance ideas, and peer edit. Pupils use the comments and...
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Writing a Political Leader
Students peer edit a letter. In this editing instructional activity, students peer edit a letter written to a political figure by another student. Students discuss edits and revisions needed for improvement. This is a continuation...
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Learning about Editing
Students compose their own short story, and bring the stories with them to class the next day. In this editing instructional activity, students exchange stories with another classmate, and they edit that classmates writing. Students are...
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Medieval Newspaper Continued
Students write an article in a newspaper. For this writing and editing lesson, students review how to write for a newspaper, type their articles, and engage in peer editing.
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Same Theme, Different Story Using Fox by Margaret Wild
Middle schoolers work with themes in this lesson, which is based on Fox by Margaret Wild. Because the book has multiple themes, it is a great way to transition into exploring literary analysis and writing stories. A Six Trait writing...
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Music in Words
Your class can build strong, well-represented opinions about the music they hear. They listen to, and share thoughts about, a piece of classical music. Then they write a piece of music or a poem, and analyze their peers' work and their...
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Myths, Folktales, & Fairy Tales
Introduce the concept of myths to your class. Using the link to "Myths Around the World," read a story aloud and have learners list characteristics of a myth. Readers then choose their own myths from the site and work in groups to answer...
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Lewis and Clark
Students investigate Lewis and Clark. In this Lewis and Clark lesson, students search the Internet for information about Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. Students use maps to understand the explorations and decide which...
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Creative Writing/Historical Journals
Students write series of journal entries, from the perspective of an immigrant traveling to America via Ellis Island.
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Language Arts: Creating Multimedia Reports
Ninth graders create multimedia presentations about their backgrounds and family heritage. They discover how to use the necessary computer skills and practice them in pairs. Students present their projects to the class and have a general...