Berkshire Museum
Meet a Naturalist: Researching, Writing, Interviewing
Young scholars reach out into the community and learn about different environmental science careers in this inquiry-based instructional activity. Beginning with a short research assignment, children gain background knowledge about...
Fluence Learning
Writing an Opinion: Student Council
A three-part assessment challenges scholars to write opinion essays covering the topic of the student council. After reading three passages, writers complete a chart, work with peers to complete a mini-research project, answer...
Curated OER
The Great Gatsby Historical Background Using Multi-Genre Research Project
Before beginning F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, create a historical context of the Roaring 20s with this lesson. Set up a gallery walk with the provided PowerPoint, which features 10 topics related to the 1920s. Then begin a...
Curated OER
Pre-Reading Preparation
Students research the English Renaissance era. In this research lesson, students complete this activity before reading the story The Prince and the Pauper to learn about the history. They pick topics and work in groups to research them.
Curated OER
Documentary-Style Research Projects
Show your pupils how to use guiding questions to help them focus their research into a topic. Using the framework provided by these questions, researchers explore a topic, collect interesting facts, and prepare a PowerPoint presentation...
Curated OER
The Writing Process Continues
Middle schoolers write a nonfiction animal book. They research an animal to write about and use the templates provided to gather all sorts of information on their animal. Consider making a model book so your class has an idea of what it...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: Comparing and Contrasting Characters in Heidi
Scholars read excerpts from the story, Heidi, in a three-part assessment that focuses on comparing and contrasting characters. Each part contains three tasks that challenge learners to discuss, answer comprehension questions,...
State University of New York
Going Back in Time Using “George Washington’s Socks”
After reading Elvira Woodruff's George Washington's Socks, young readers and writers embark upon writing their own historically based story, with a focus on developing ideas and details throughout the piece. In small groups, class...
Pulitzer Center
Writing About the "Arab Spring"
An information-rich resource, this webpage will provide your class with all the information they need to explore a relevant real-world and little understood topic: the Middle East and the people's revolutions that shook it in the spring...
Carnegie Library
Creative Writing: Middle School Lesson Plan
Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers.
Curated OER
Writing: Narrative, Expository, Persuasive, and Descriptive
If you are interested in having a basic framework for teaching expository, narrative, persuasive, and descriptive writing, this resource may help; however, you will have to find information on the different forms of writing to share with...
Curated OER
Research, Writing, and the 'Isms'
Students research an art style. They create an original short story, poem, or personal essay and illustrate the written work with the style of art they researched.
Curated OER
Contemporary Civic-life Issue Research Based Essay
Seventh graders write a five paragraph persuasive essay on a contemporary civic-life issue.
Curated OER
Writing Prompts for High School
Are you teaching a high school language arts class and stumped for writing topics? Five pages of writing prompts for all kinds of writing should help you out. Many of these prompts refer to texts that are not included in this resource,...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing: Using Art to Inspire description
Write with the senses! Try using art to inspire writers to consider all of the senses. Here, the class is divided in half. Each group looks at one of two images, imagines the senses that would be engaged, and records answers to five...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 1
Learning to craft quality questions is a skill that can be taught. Class members use the Question Formulation Technique to learn how to create and refine both closed-ended and open-ended questions. They then view West of the West's...
Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, Inc.
Feudalism Research
Working with a partner, young historians research different feudal roles in medieval Europe (i.e. nobles, knights, clergy, tradesmen, and peasants), create a fact sheet about their assigned roles, and present their findings to the class.
Curated OER
Ornithology and Real World Science
Double click that mouse because you just found an amazing lesson! This cross-curricular Ornithology lesson incorporates literature, writing, reading informational text, data collection, scientific inquiry, Internet research, art, and...
University of North Carolina
Political Science
The right to vote and freedom of expression are democratic principles that fall under the study of political science. A handout describes writing assignments that are common in political science college classes and gives tips and...
Seussville
What Can Your Class Do?
Inspire scholars to do their part for planet Earth with a read-aloud of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, and variety of activities designed to boost the environmental activist in us all. Activities include writing poems about the Earth, sorting...
Curated OER
Writing and Editing a Research Report
Students research report on their severe weather pattern for presentation to the class.
Curated OER
Internet Research
Students research and gather information on immigration, synthesizing the data they find.
Curated OER
How to Write a Biography
Looking for a great lesson on how to write a biography? Here, middle schoolers draw from magazine articles, novels, historical figures, and current events to choose a person, or character to write about in a biography. They follow a...
PBS
Writing a Historical Poem
Students conduct field research of a historical site in order to discover a more complete understanding of a time period. They choose one particular historical figure and write a short poem about the site from the historical person's...