Looking for suggestions on how to organize a creating writing workshop? For topic suggestions appropriate for various grade levels? Check out a resource packet, designed for English language arts instructors, that is packed with ideas...

An extensive portfolio project encourages your kids to reflect on their personalities with multiple writing assignments. From activities on extended metaphors to writing about an important day in their lives, kids explore the way they...

Travel back in American history to the era of slavery and abolition. After reading about the Underground Railroad, young historians examine a painting depicting the event, and write a narrative from the point of view of a person in the...

Integrating art into your classroom every day just got easier. This fantastic idea provides 43 strips intended to keep early finishers busy and to bring art into the classroom. You cut the strips, put them in a drawer, and have early...

Creative activities help bring literature alive. The first of a set of lessons designed to accompany selections from Theme 4: Problem Solvers uses activities such as skits, responses to music, and social studies projects. These...

Scholars demonstrate their knowledge of root words aqua and aud, and develop vocabulary skills by completing of a chart, handout, and worksheet using creative thinking skills, a dictionary, and a thesaurus.   

Encourage critical thinking with a grammar exercise that focuses on adverbs and adverbial phrases. Kids read the first parts of 16 sentences, then decide which question to answer (how, how much, where, or when) based on the context, and...

In response to reading Pearl Buck's The Good Earth, individuals are asked to complete a multi-genre writing assignment, crafting eight different pieces including a research paper.

Here's a project that gives academics the chance to share their opinions on social justice with storytelling, creative writing, or art. Scholars choose what they want to create and are assigned buddies to support their efforts. To...

Are some resource books more confusing than helpful? The creator of Oregon Writes Open Writing Text thinks so. That is why the text remains a living document with input from teachers, librarians, and scholars. The eBook begins with...

Why might toy advertisers use gender stereotypes to sell their products? Young people think critically about media messages and its role in gender stereotyping with a thought-provoking lesson plan.

Assess your class's understanding of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility with a fun and creative final project. Using what they have learned about the novel's characters, they create presentations featuring music and images that...

Create a picture dictionary for one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. After readers finish The Tempest, they assign each letter of the alphabet to a concept or character, and add a description and evidence from...

Life may not be fair but working conditions should be. Scholars research working conditions at Wegmans by studying the company website. They complete a working conditions anchor chart and discuss their findings in a think-pair-share...

Challenge writers to compose an essay detailing their stance on, and the history of, voting. Three assignments, each broken down into three parts, requires fifth graders to take notes, read and complete charts, write paragraphs, compare...

The opportunities are endless with a worksheet containing 24 biographical narrative writing prompts. Although there are no directions or specifications for the writing process, the prompts promote the use of narrative writing...

A cork, a rubber snake, and a bucket of mud may not seem like the best materials for washing a car, but they are in The Twits. The fifth lesson in an 11-part unit designed to accompany The Twits by Roald Dahl has readers role play...

Students develop problem solving skills in science. In this creative thinking lesson, students manipulate puzzles and formulate solutions. Students share their process with peers to see if they can complete a given puzzle using the same...

Pupils complete poetry writing activities and art analysis activities. In this creative writing and art lesson, students analyze a cubist piece by Picasso and discuss abstraction. Pupils read a poem by Gertrude Stein about Picasso and...

Class members create a PowerPoint presentation showing artifacts they would include in a time capsule. The artifacts and explanations reflect personal hobbies, grooming choices, school life, etc. A great way for class members to...

Focus on writing with this presentation. It includes a list of the ingredients of a great story. It is an interesting and thorough exploration of this topic. This is a great presentation to show to your class before a creative writing...

Young scholars combine creativity with the rigor of careful editing by adding music to their story. It forces them to focus on how they communicate the meaning of their story to the listener.

Sometimes a novel is the best way to tackle a tough topic. A helpful educator's guide for the novels of Gayle Forman discuss tough topics such as teenage suicide. Discussion questions and writing activities encourage readers to think...

What would you do if your sister ran off with a man whom you didn't trust? Explore a scenario based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Once kids work though the problem, they read the appropriate chapters from the book and write...