Curated OER
Paragraph Structure
Practice writing paragraphs with this scaffolded instructional activity. The "hamburger" model is used on the second page, following some examples and guided practice on the first page. Give beginning writers concrete, tangible support...
Curated OER
Click and Drag Music Composition
Fourth graders work in small groups using SMART Board Technology to write a 4 measure music composition. studying the basic structure and vocabulary of written music is the goal of this experience.
Curated OER
Ready, Aim, Focus!
Use photography as a tool to improve writing skills. Provide pupil pairs with a digital camera and challenge them to capture images of the classroom they find visually striking. Each class member then composes a descriptive piece about...
California Education Partners
We Are The Ship
An assessment sheds light on scholars' ability to read, gather evidence, and draft an original written composition. Learners read an informative text twice before taking notes and discussing their thoughts and textual evidence with a...
Curated OER
Composition
Ninth graders, while looking and examining a photograph provided to them, write a composition that exemplifies the photograph with at least three of the five composition rules illustrated with 100% accuracy. The composition is the start...
Curated OER
Song Writing
Students write an original song using music composition software such as Music Time. By doing this, students identify another use for the computer besides word processing and games.
Curated OER
Create a Composition
Students select an instrument and create a musical composition. In this musical composition lesson plan, students invent an original piece of music that is 16 measures long. Students hum and record their pieces.
Curated OER
Write Your Own Rap
Third graders create a rap using basic AB form composition. Evaluation of performances are based on rubric formed during the first lesson by all students. This three to four day lesson culminates in student performances and evaluation.
Curated OER
Father Knows Best, Write a Father's Day Letter
Young scholars write a Father's Day letter. In this friendly letter writing lesson, students brainstorm a list of parent responsibilities, then write three specific ways their fathers care for them. Young scholars share learning...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Chemical Models
Science teams make models of four different hydrocarbon compounds that we commonly use for fuel. Then they demonstrate chemical reactions that result when energy is produced. This can be used as an enrichment when your class is studying...
Curated OER
Using Color as a Pre-Writing Tool
To better understand how to compose a clear and well-organized paper, learners read short passages, write summaries, and make colored graphic organizers. This is a fully developed three-day activity with suggested assessments.
Curated OER
Journal Writing in American Studies
Students write their thoughts about political cartoons, photographs, and articles in their journal and then discuss them in class.
Curated OER
How Do I Write an Article Critique?
Your middle and high schoolers have written tons of summaries, but can they give a strong critique of an article they've read? Identify the differences between summary writing and critiquing. Choose an interesting article and have...
Curated OER
Organizing Your Argument
Constructing a well-organized argument is the focus of this tutorial, originally created for the Purdue University writing program. The slides can be adapted for any composition course or writing unit.
Curated OER
Poetry/Music: Let It Snow!
Learners create poems and sound compositions using instruments, sounds, and pictograph notation. After listening Debussy's Children's corner suite, they brainstorm a list of snow vocabulary words. Students write poems and in groups...
Curated OER
Solving the Writing Time-Squeeze
Expand your writing program across the curriculum to facilitate much-needed practice.
Curated OER
Blueprint Writing
Eighth graders write a narrative composition about funny incidents in their home lives. In this narrative writing lesson, 8th graders define what a blueprint is and draw one for their home. Students write about events that happened in...
Curated OER
Letter Writing
Pupils read and review business letters and informal letters and evaluate the different components necessary for each type of letter. They write a business and an informal letter then convert a business to an informal letter and vice...
Curated OER
A Bug's Life
Look at life from a bug's perspective, and create a wonderful image based on what you think it sees. Learners use the crayon resist painting technique to draw and paint and picture of a bug's world from its point of view. Tip: This would...
Curated OER
Doctor DeSoto's Foxy Persuasion
Who is Doctor DeSoto? Start by playing a video clip (included). Discuss different methods of persuasion, and then analyze two different persuasive letter examples. What should your class be looking for? Send them off to work in groups...
Curated OER
Set a Poem to Music
Fun awaits both you and your class as you embark on a musical activity. After discussing different rhythmic meters they choose a poem to set to music. The poem must rhyme and be set to a melody in the key of C Major. Because the activity...
Curated OER
Teacher Appreciation Week (Elementary)
Primary writers will create a persuasive essay about Teacher Appreciation Week. Additionally, they will select a quote from a famous person and write a persuasive essay about how it relates to one of their favorite teachers. In the end,...
Scholastic
A Reading Guide to Sarah, Plain and Tall
Eliminate the hard work of creating an entire literature unit with this reading guide for the novel Sarah, Plain and Tall. From background information about the author and her motivation for writing the story to reading comprehension...
Curated OER
Explain Your Vote!
Students improve their essay writing skills using the subject of voting as a topic. In this writing essays lesson, students write expository essays to increase the weight of their vote in the 'Cast Your Vote Poll' for the Trans-Amazon...