Your young writers will practice identifying the hook, position statement, and main points of two examples of persuasive writing.

Move beyond the five-paragraph essay with a lesson introducing young writers to various forms of expository writing. Class members examine description, cause and effect, problem solution, sequence, and comparison forms. They create an...

Use a handy concept analysis guide as you begin your unit on William Shakespeare's The Tempest. With character descriptions, literary themes, and anticipated affective issues, the guide can help those new to using The Tempest craft...

Turning 11 comes with a range of emotions. Explore those emotions by reading the short story "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros. Readers analyze the main character's reactions to the events of her day. Then, they write an essay describing what...

Poetry or prose? That is the question facing middle schoolers as they begin a month-long poetry unit by examining the characteristics that differentiate poetry and prose writing. Pupils learn about poetic devices and different types of...

Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...

Narrative essay writing is the focus of a series of exercises that model for learners how to not only read a narrative, but how to also examine the techniques fiction writers use to create a setting, develop their characters, represent...

Class members will be as confident as prize-winning thoroughbreds after completing a learning exercise on figurative language. Young writers jot down metaphors and similes for three categories: they way they look,...