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Topic Sentences and Transitions
High school writers identify the purpose of both a topic sentence and a transitional statement. They write a topic sentence which denotes the paragraph topic and the author's stand on that topic. Then they write an effective transitional...
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Making an Argument: Effective use of Transition Words
Work on using transition words in context by prompting elementary and middle schoolers to write their own persuasive essays using transition words. They explore new forms of transition words and examine how they are used in an editorial...
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More Details and Transitions
Use details and transition words to enhance writing. Sixth graders examine their own writing and insert more details and transition words provided by their teacher. There is a list of 11 "Terrific Transitions," but brainstorm several...
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The Run-On Sentence
Explore grammar rules by completing a worksheet. In this sentence structure lesson plan, kids define run-on sentences and read sample sentences to determine whether they are complete or incomplete. There is also a space for the writer to...
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Creating Transitions
Fourth graders analyze the use of transitions in text. In this transitions lesson, 4th graders determine how and why a transition is used at a specific time in a piece of writing. They show transitions by using movements before...
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Organizing Writing/Composing a First Draft
Does your language arts class have a hard time with writing transitions? Use this organizational writing lesson to create three effective transition sentences that middle schoolers will use in their research of renewable resources.
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How to Write A+ Essays!
This lesson plan, which promises to improve the essays of your middle schoolers, contains a list of characteristics an essay should include. It breaks it down into the introduction, thesis statement, body, etc. There's also a list of...
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If I Could Have Lived in Another Time or Culture
Third graders develop multi-paragraph compositions. They include an introduction, first and second level support, and a conclusion. They use a variety of sentence structures (e.g., simple, compound/complex) and sentence types (i.e.,...
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The Missing Link
What is the missing link? Provide your class with this incomplete essay (it's missing transition words), and have writers place words from the transition word bank into the essay. Also, since only three of the five paragraphs are...
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Language Arts: Who Am I?
Twelfth graders write self-identity essays of three to five paragraphs in length. They include topic sentences, transition words, and concluding paragraphs in their essays, They read their essays to classmates.
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What Comes Next?
Students use Kidspiration and on online activity to demonstrate comprehension of ordinal and temporal concepts of "first, next, last," and "before" and "after." They name temporal or ordinal positions using correct vocabulary.
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Using "Four-Square"
Third graders use a four-square graphic organizer to help a third grade writer organize thoughts and clarify thinking to write a simple expository paragraph, a workshop summary paragraph.
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Change of Perspective
After reading an example of a Cultural Connection about a particular person, class members are asked to think about what this person might experience on a daily basis. They then craft a narrative from the subject’s point of view.
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The Editing Process
Students read a sample essay and evaluate them in groups. They write their own essay on a topic of their choice and use peer editing. They share their essays with the class.
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The Rest Cure: Gender in Medicine and Literature
Read and discuss "The Yellow Wall-Paper" and the gender issues that the story brings up. Use articles from the time period to analyze, complete with specific discussion questions. After two days, scholars write an essay based on topics...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Learning the Printing Trade
Students explore U.S. History by reading biographical text in class. In this Benjamin Franklin instructional activity, students read about the famous American's first job and the transition he underwent from printing to politics....
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Intro to Pronouns
Sixth graders are able to identify personal pronouns and understand their function. They are able to use personal pronouns correctly as subjects and objects in sentences. Then they look at sentences given by the teacher, and they list...
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The Iditarod Race Compared with the Movie, Iron Will
Feel the freezing rush of an Alaskan sled dog race in this reading lesson. Using research about the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, seventh graders compare and contrast the depiction in the movie Iron Will. The lesson lasts for seven days...
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Writing the Essay
Relate the structure of the essay to the structure of a building. The class compares an essay to a building, with the writer being the architect, the introduction being the foundation, and so on. They use the visual representation of a...
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Little Red Hen
First graders listen to the story "The Little Red Hen". They buddy read the story and then illustrate their own interpretation of the story on story paper. Students then use AlphaSmart to type their stories in sequential order.
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Analyzing Persuasion
A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...
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Assessment Rubric
Students complete their activities related to writing persuasive essays. As a class, they review the components and structure of a rubric. They use this information to write their final essay on educational opportunities at amusement parks.
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Animal Riddles
Learners write animal riddles. They write three or more sentences describing a selected animal, and draw a picture to go with their descriptive sentences. Students then create a three slide slideshow using Kid Pix 3 computer software.
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Making Recycled Paper
Students explore the advantages of recycling paper. In this environmental lesson plan, students produce recycled paper by ripping up paper and putting it into a blender with water to create a mixture. Students use their recycled paper to...