Looking for a fresh approach to an end-of-unit project for The Odyssey? Check out a resource that has class members write their own hero's journey short story and then craft an illustration that depicts their tale. Apollonio di...

Encourage narrative writing with a clever exercise. Class members watch episodes from movies and describe what happened to a character, including details about the setting, plot, and characters. Writers then craft a narrative about a...

After reading the first, second, and third parts of "How Bear Lost His Tail", third grade writers answer questions about the story by completing a series of options, including discussion points. Then, they begin to plan a new narrative...

Looking for a performance assessment that asks individuals to demonstrate their competency in writing about informational text? Use Frederick Douglass' essay "On the Dred Scott Decision," and an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's 1857 speech...

How do you assess whether pupils have mastered certain concepts and skills? Designing a performance task that asks learners to demonstrate their skills and providing writers with a rubric that identifies these skills and provides...

An extensive list of narrative prompts is just what you need to inspire young writers to tell their stories. Arranged by topic, the questions are sure give them something to talk about.

Use a set of 30 writing bell ringers to get through the month of February. Writers tap into and write about how February makes them feel, what it smells like, and all types of celebrations that occur during the month.

Close your eyes and picture a time where you decided to tell the truth to someone. What were you wearing? How did you feel? Such prompts begin a guided imagery activity for Zach's Lie. Directions for creating an environment conducive to...

Here's a recipe for writing that kicks instruction up a notch, BAM! The online reading about the Glyfada Method helps teachers and pupils learn more about the method and how to implement it in their own writing. Perfect for the entire...

Is the pen really mightier than the sword? Scholars analyze the impact Thomas Paine's book Common Sense had on the American Revolution. Video clips and primary sources investigate the role Paine had on dissent in the colonies....

Scholars analyze the impact Alexander Hamilton had on the creation of the United States. Primary documents and video clips give learners a glimpse into the life of one of America's Founding Fathers, arming them with enough information to...

Not all compare and contrast assignments have writers compare and contrast in the same way. Some only ask for comparisons, others only ask for contrasts, and many require more focus than a simple list of similarities and differences....

Challenge young writers to craft original sentences using interjections from a list provided on a colorful worksheet.

Although the United States observes Daylight Savings Time, many countries decided against it. A free-response question, part of a set of sample questions from the 2010 AP® English Language and Composition exam, has writers consider the...

Have you ever felt left in the dark? Scholars write essays after analyzing two poems pertaining to night and darkness. Pupils also read a passage and write an essay discussing the author's depiction of characters. A third essay allows...

Scholars are challenged to create essays comparing two poems in which the authors discuss fears and concerns about dying and life passing by too quickly. Two other essay questions ask writers to analyze literary elements and characters...

Betty Botter and Theophilus Thistle provide models for willy writers to wrestle words into tricky tongue twisters. 

If your students made a list of their favorite things, would writing poetry be on it? After this poetry writing lesson, it might! Young writers make a list of what they like—or what they don't like—before crafting the list into...

A lesson challenges scholars to create a cinquain poem. Writers begin by choosing a topic and brainstorm details, then compose their original poem making sure to count syllables. 

Do pictures really last longer? A prompt from the 2001 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions asks scholars to analyze the opinion that photography actually limits people when it comes to understanding the world....

It is not what you say but how you say it. Scholars use an essay prompt from the 2002 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions to analyze how an author uses language to describe her past. They also support or argue a...

What's got 60 eyes, 150 fingers, and an endless number of ideas? Your language arts class! Challenge young writers to come up with clever riddles with an online poetry lesson.

You can't argue with the numbers. Scholars complete activities to prepare for writing a data analysis report. Writers select a research topic and complete a data analysis tool. They share their questions based on the data with peers and...

The author study gets an update in a research project designed for high schoolers. Scholars search for information about literary figures that connects them to their times, their works, their themes, and other writers. Researchers also...