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Critical Review for Radio
Young scholars will produce a short radio feature about a favorite entertainer or group, consisting of 45 seconds to one minute of copy and one-to-two minutes of music "clips." In writing this copy, they will use a modified prewriting...
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Enhancing Writing Through Technology
Students participate in a class survey of their favorite activity to do in the snow and organize the results in a graph. They write a paragraph about the graph using language from a class-developed word web and include both an opening...
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Intrigued with Yo-Yos!
Fifth graders review the writing process and complete a research activity. In this writing process lesson, 5th graders research yo-yos online and write a research paper about the topic.
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Investigation 10 - Mammal Oral Reports
Fourth graders research a Utah mammal, then create and present a mini-report. They access websites imbedded in this plan to help them with their research. There is also a nice prewrite graphic organizer to help them organize their...
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The Odyssey Plan
Ninth graders read and analyze The Odyssey. They apply note-taking skills to identify enemy, type of enemy, and traits demonstrated throughout the book. Students create a storyboard that illustrates the selected episode from the book...
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Daughters Come of Age in Women's Fiction
Introduce your young readers to fiction written by women authors. For each story, they explore the way these daughters discover and claim their own identities. Individually, class members use the literature to examine their role in their...
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Narrative Writing Lesson
Sixth graders experience the stages of process writing, work cooperatively, to critique and to incorporate software tools to enhance writing and problem solving skills.
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New Year's Resolutions
Students write about New Year's Resolutions made about personal improvement, family and friends, and school and the outside world. They write a first draft and a final draft of a five-paragraph essay about their resolutions.
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Writing an Original Fable
Students discover how to write fables. In this writing skill lesson, students review the literary elements of fables and take all of the steps in the writing process to create their own fables.
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Telling a Story
Do your class members complain they don’t know what to write about? Give them disposable cameras and ask them to take pictures of 12 things that make them happy. After the pictures are developed, they are pasted on a poster board and...
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Spider "How To" Make a Spider
Young chefs follow the set-by-step instructions of a recipe and use their prior knowledge of the body parts of a spider to make edible spider cookies. After completing a pre-writing graphic organizer they then write a "how to" paragraph...
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Jalapeno Bagels
Students read the story Jalapeno Bagels and then write a summary about it. In this summary lesson plan, students retell the story as if someone else has not read the story.
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Writing to Persuade
Middle schoolers discover effective writing techniques to create persuasive essays. In this writing lesson, students investigate ways to express facts and points of view through persuasive essays. Finally, the middle schoolers write...
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Designing the Future of Technology
Conduct research focused on improving a current technology by having students work in groups to investigate improvements that could be made to a particular piece of technology. They list the current problems and attempt to develop...
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From Graphic Organizer to Composition - Grade Six
How does one use a graphic organizer to plan writing? Introduce your writers to different types of graphic organizers by dividing the class into groups and assigning each group a particular organizer. Then, as they research chocolate...
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Developing a Topic for Writing Using an Idea Web
Teach your upper graders how to use an idea web to develop a topic for writing. After reading a variety of stories about friendship (a list of stories with the theme of friendship is included), model using an idea web. Class members...
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Write Right!
After watching part of a Club Write Kids video and discussing the editing process, each group of learners writes a letter to a favorite author. They ask for a copy of a page of manuscript that has gone through the editing process. Prior...
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Invent a Holiday
Who wouldn't want to create their own holiday? Use the 12 elements of a holiday to have learners of all ages create their own holiday. These days, it seems like we make any excuse for a holiday! Consider having some fun with your kids...
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The Argument
After brainstorming, middle schoolers write an expository essay for a writing project. They focus on supporting points, organization, and writing conventions to develop a well-integrated paper. In addition, they revise, proofread and...
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Just Plan It!
Fourth graders practice using a planning sheet for a well-known fairy tale or picture book.
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Persuasive Writing: Fact or Opinion
What is the difference between a fact and an opinion? Middle schoolers categorize statements as either facts or opinions before writing a persuasive essay to support a thesis statement they create. This is a great introduction to...
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Teacher of the Year
Now is the time to identify the great teachers in your school! Discuss the characteristics of persuasive writing and analyze an example. Then, each pupil chooses a teacher who they feel should be named teacher of the year. They plan and...
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Definition Poems
“Hope is a tissue, wiping away your problems and fears.” Use a Definition Poem Web worksheet to model for your class how to craft a free verse poem based on an emotion. After brainstorming topics, groups use the sheet to make comparisons...