Scholastic
What Happened Next? (Grades K-4)
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....
Curated OER
Transition Words in Writing
Transition words in writing are the focus of the language arts lesson presented here. In it, learners cut out the word-sort cards (embedded in the plan), and put them into four categories: time, examples, space, and summary. They find a...
EngageNY
The Painted Essay: Writing Proof Paragraphs
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...
EngageNY
Peer Critique and Revising: Formal English
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...
EngageNY
Our Group Readers Theater: Managing the Sequence of Events in Our Script
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...
EngageNY
The Painted Essay for Opinion Writing: Developing a Conclusion and Adding Linking Words
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...
Portland Public Schools
Opinion: Persuasive Essay Unit Introduction
Opinion, audience, purpose. Fourth graders are introduced to the three characteristics of persuasive writing in the third unit of a year-long writing program. The 98-page packet is complete with plans, model essays, graphic organizers,...
Scholastic
Persausive Writing
A unit on persuasive writing guides elementary learners through the writing process. The first part examines the elements of persuasive writing, including expressing an opinion, connecting ideas, using supporting facts, and writing...
Roanoke County Public Schools
Be a Sequence Detective!
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...
EngageNY
Storyboard Revision: Managing the Sequence of Events and Using Sensory Details
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...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 3, Unit 3, Lesson 4
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...
Really Good Stuff
Sequencing Pocket Chart
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.
Curated OER
Organizing by Writing
Middle schoolers analyze how to use writing for generating and organizing their thoughts before communicating them. They use the questions on the first handout to organize a three-minute introduction of themselves to their small group....
EngageNY
Character Confessions: Peer Critique of Narratives
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...
EngageNY
Actions for a Position Paper: Identify, Discuss, Write
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.
Road to Grammar
Health
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...
Curriculum
Expository Writing
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
Ogden Museum of Art Education Department
Literacy and Landscapes
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 instructional...
EngageNY
Grade 12 ELA Module 1: Unit 1, Lesson 23
Malcolm X's journey to Cairo, his Hajj, his Letter from Mecca detailing his insights into "true Islam," and his transition to Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz are the focus of the discussion of chapter 17 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
EngageNY
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 15
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...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 3: Unit 3, Lesson 6
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...
EngageNY
Connecting Informational Text with Litearature: Building Background Knowledge About Mexican Immigration, California, and the Great Depression
Help your class transition as the setting in the novel Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, moves from Mexico to California. Beginning with prior knowledge, and moving into jigsaw research groups, class members add to and create posters...
Global Oneness Project
Living with Less Water
Did you know that California produces two thirds of the fruits and nuts consumed in the United States? That it produces almost one third of the vegetables? Did you know that scientists warn that California is facing the onset of a...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 25
After analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence they have recorded on their argument outline tool, writers draft their essay's first body paragraphs, ensuring they have properly cited their source material.