Lesson ten in this unit for the book Bullfrogs at Magnolia Circle, prepares third graders to begin writing an informational paragraph about the adaptations of bullfrogs. First, young writers work either independently or in pairs to...

Fifth graders prepare for their end of the unit essay assessment by continuing to look at what makes an earthquake a natural disaster. They complete a graphic organizer and write a topic sentence. To finish, they view a model essay and...

It's the halfway point! Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment to showcase their knowledge and skills so far. They create a graphic organizer, write an opinion about how their athlete created a legacy, and then record the best reasons...

Lesson 7 focuses on building academic vocabulary and writing an explanatory letter with supported textual evidence. For the first five minutes of the lesson, the educator reminds the class of how to read and refer to the accordion...

Fourth graders view examples of help-wanted ads as they plan and create their own writing in the fourteenth instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. The engagement of the class is captured when the teacher shares an actual...

Moving on up ... Scholars take a look at how the author of the model essay Elements of Mythology and Theme of Cronus moved up in the writing process from a graphic organizer to an essay. After walking through the writing process of the...

After reading chapter 14 of the story Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, scholars take part in a read-aloud of the poem If by Rudyard Kipling and compare it to the reading of Bud, Not Buddy. Learners then go deeper into the poem...

A theme runs through it. Scholars analyze how a common theme runs through the myths they have read and The Lightning Thief. They complete graphic organizers and view a four paragraph model essay. They analyze the essay for structure and...

Emotional appeal or argument? That is the question. An informative lesson helps your class recognize the difference between a logical argument and an emotional appeal and learn how to craft an argumentative response. Writers develop a...

Scholars reflect upon their reading strengths and challenges to create personal reading goals. Participants use goal-setting verbiage in an accordion-style graphic organizer, a first step in writing a letter that details their reading...

The end is here. Scholars work independently on End of Unit 2 Assessment: Finding Evidence of Carl Hiaasen’s Perspective in Flush and Illustrating Perspective. Learners use their graphic organizers and text to write to a prompt asking...

The difference between an average and an unforgettable writing can lie in the author's word choice. The figurative language in Chapter 2 of Christopher Paul Curtis's Newbery Medal Winner, Bud, Not Buddy, is the focus of a series of...

Let's get creative! With the fun resource, pupils continue working on their graphic novelettes about an invention, adding text and images to each section. When finished, they engage in a peer critique process, giving and receiving...

Let's get graphic. Serving as the final performance task of the unit, scholars complete their graphic novelettes and design covers based on their sketches. Finally, they present their hard work to classmates. 

Preparation is the key to success! Using the guiding resource, scholars plan their end-of-unit analytical essays' introductory and concluding paragraphs based on their reading of Inside Out & Back Again. To prepare, they complete a...

What's this all about? Scholars learn the importance of summarizing skills using a summary writing graphic organizer. They work with an elbow partner to discuss summaries and complete the organizer using Middle Ages Excerpt 1. Learners...

Begin class with a short comprehension quiz and review and then move into a new genre: two-voice poems. The activity provides information about this type of poetry as well as a video example made by eighth graders that you can show your...

Words of proof. Learners continue coding The Electric Motor by marking the first point in yellow and the second point in blue. They discuss the structure of the paragraphs by identifying transition words and evidence to support the...

It's time to make a claim. Scholars learn what it means to make a claim by first looking at a model analytical mini-essay to determine how the author relayed ideas. Pupils then work with partners to discuss how the author might have...

Step up! Using the resource, scholars discover the six steps to writing an effective position paper. Next, they work on a graphic organizer to begin planning their argument-based essays.

Young writers use the four-square graphic organizer to draft their historical fiction narratives' first, second, third, and fourth paragraphs on the wheelwright. The instructional activity promotes discussion and modeling of what makes a...

Planning is the key to success. Scholars continue planning their essays by adding reasons to their Planning My Argument graphic organizers. Additionally, pupils analyze a body paragraph from a model position paper, identifying the...

A, B, C ... let's alphabetize to get organized! Using the informative resource, scholars create an alphabetized glossary of key words for their graphic novelettes. Additionally, they create a table of contents and citations page. 

Could the hunter-gatherer food chain feed everyone in the United States? To consider the question, pupils use their research and add to the Cascading Consequences chart based on Michael Pollan's hunter-gatherer food chain from The...