Let's get colorful! Scholars use the Painted Essay technique to analyze and color code the conclusion of a model essay. Working in small groups, pupils then write a conclusion paragraph for their draft editorials about offshore...

Go with the flow. Scholars learn how using transition words and phrases helps their scripts flow smoothly. Readers think about connecting each section after determining the sequence for their readers' theater manuscripts from To Kill A...

Anchors aweigh, it's time to write! After viewing an anchor chart detailing the parts of a position paper, pupils share their plans for their essays with a partner. Next, they write the rough draft of their body paragraphs. 

Authors are constantly leaving clues that help the reader to understand the sequence of events in a story. Teach young readers how to pick up on these key temporal words and phrases with this slide show. After an introduction to commonly...

Dear Sir or Madam: What's the difference between formal and informal language? Scholars focus on using formal English and transitions in their position papers. After revising their rough drafts, they engage in the peer editing process...

The beauty of the way this expository writing resource is structured is that the units can be presented as a complete writing workshop or sequenced throughout a course of study

Mastering techniques from the resource, pupils give life to their writing, revising their storyboards to include sensory details and transitions. To finish, they participate in a peer critique process and use the feedback to further...

Explore the structure of narrative writing with this fun, collaborative lesson. Start by reading aloud a short story, asking small groups of learners to fill in key events on a large story board prepared on the class whiteboard....

Transitions are the glue that link paragraphs together. Pupils listen to a mini lesson plan on sentence structure and transitions and use what they learned to revise their informative consumer guides. Next, they self-assess their writing...

Where's the evidence? Scholars practice ordering the evidence and reasons for their class opinion papers by physically sorting them. Next, they work collaboratively to write a body paragraph, using linking words to connect their ideas...

Are your English language learners feeling unwell? Provide them with the tools to express how they are feeling and to talk about health in general. Included here are discussion activities, vocabulary, listening activities, grammar...

The fourth activity in a unit on crafting a research paper focuses on cohesion within and between paragraphs. Class members examine models that lack cohesion and ones that are cohesive and logically developed before using what they have...

Shake up the writing process with a peer critique. The second of four lessons in the Grade 8 ELA Module 2B, Unit 3 series first has young writers compare their interpretations of a scene from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's...

What do a cheetah, Audi commercial, and air have in common? They're all topics of an engaging inquiry-based, hands-on workshop for educators about background knowledge, reading strategies, the CER model, and argumentative writing. The...

As the saying goes, art often imitates life ... and literature! A series of activities designed to accompany a visit to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art encourage writers to find inspiration in various landscapes. The lesson plan...

All journeys must come to an end. Using the final lesson in the series, pupils analyze a model narrative for use of transitional words and phrases. Next, they apply their learning to their final drafts of their hero's journey...

Serving as the end-of-unit assessment, scholars draft letters to a publisher about an athlete's legacy. They then reflect on their progress by completing a self-assessment. 

How do directors' choices emphasize different elements of a drama? Scholars participate in a discussion about the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Macbeth and Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood. Finally, they write an analysis of...

Students write position papers on a form of alternative energy production. They use several class periods to develop and write their paper and them participate in an extensive peer review session.

Fifth graders use a list of transitional words and hooks in order to write a good introduction. In this writing lesson plan, 5th graders view and discuss a PowerPoint presentation on introductions.

This is just the transition phase. Scholars participate in a mini lesson about using transitions in writing. They then have a brief peer critique of the introduction and conclusion paragraphs for their end of unit assessment. Learners...

Cut it out! Beginning readers practice sequencing skills at home or at school with a variety of activities that require cutting out multiple sets of picture cards and putting them in the correct order. 

Here are three guided reading lesson plan templates; each designed to meet the needs of a specific level of readers. Levels in focus are emergent, early, and transitional readers. Additionally, prompts to support your small group...

And that's a wrap! Scholars create their concluding statement drafts by examining model text with exemplar conclusions. In pairs, they discuss how transitional words and phrases add to sentence structure and consider how their concluding...