California Academy of Science
What's on a Penny?
As a lesson on scientific observation, have your class investigate the features of a penny and a nickel. Working in pairs, they practice writing detailed descriptions using their senses and a ruler to gather information. This is an...
Curated OER
Let Pharady Enjoy Her Childhood
A thought-provoking lesson which will provide your 5th graders with a world view. Pupils discuss children's rights here in the US and around the world, and do some comparisons. They watch a video, embedded in the plan, that shows a young...
Curated OER
Tech Integration Project Lesson Accelerator: Project Overview
Talk about technology in the classroom. This plan has all the resources needed to create a non-linear or branching story. Included is a step-by-step tutorial that walks middle schoolers through the project description, a model of a...
Curated OER
Pharaoh Mountain Hike: Investigating Adirondack Life Zones
Students hike a local mountain and examine its life zones. They measure various components at each zone and collect leaf litter at the sites. At the mountain top, students make descriptive observations and complete a handout about the...
Curated OER
When A Story Met A Sandwich
How is a story like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Use making a sandwich as a metaphor to remind your writers that a good, solid beginning, a rich and rewarding middle, and an ending that brings everything together spices up a...
Curated OER
The Outsiders Essay Question Options
Extend your study of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton with an essay. Pupils can choose one of the three prompts provided on this page and write about either characterization, conflict, or theme. Each prompt includes a brief definition of the...
Novelinks
The Cure: Guided Imagery
Prepare class members for a discussion of Sonia Levitin's dystopian novel The Cure, by leading them on a guided imagery exercise designed to encourage visualization of written descriptions.
Curated OER
Shakespeare 2000
Comparing the more modern film Ten Things I Hate About You to The Taming of the Shrew leads to an understanding of how Shakespearean plots can be applied to modern-day situations and characters. As a culminating activity, groups select a...
Curated OER
Movie Books- Children's Stories
Students create movie books that make their stories come alive. They share these movie books with non-readers in an attempt to inspire them.
Curated OER
Write It, Read It, Solve It
Writers create an original mystery and have a chance to put it into movie format. The classic elements of a mystery must be present: the crime, the suspects, the motive, the solution and clues. Use iPhoto and Quicktime Movie to integrate...
Curated OER
Altering Text Size, Color, and Font
Students explore computer text. In this word processing and computer lesson, students practice changing color, font, and the size of their text with guided instruction from the teacher.
Curated OER
Analyzing Nonfiction Text Elements - Editorials
Examine the text features of non-fiction. Start the instructional activity by reading editorial samples provided by their instructor and analyze the texts for word choice, details, and organization. An editorial example and graphic...
Curated OER
Wrapping It Up
Class members develop their own glossaries for unfamiliar words in each chapter in Elizabeth George Speare’s The Sign of the Beaver. After recording the word, the page number on which the word appears, and its part of speech, they...
TV411
How Do You Read Your News?
Words carry baggage. Class members are asked to consider the weight of words in an exercise that contrasts the word choices in two versions of the same event. Consider following the exercise with an activity in which pairs craft positive...
American Psychological Association
How Psychology Benefits Society
How do people form their opinions about certain social issues? Scholars research current global issues to find out how psychology plays a role in swaying thoughts. Using blogs, writings, and presentations, they uncover why people think...
Curated OER
Village Descriptions
Students respond to teacher questioning about villages and how their senses help describe things. In this five senses lesson, students work in groups to make a written picture of another student in the class. Students find...
Curated OER
Turning Historical Descriptions into Causal Claims
Eleventh graders study different political processes. In this American Government activity, 11th graders read narratives about different political processes. Students write a sentence in their own words describing the concepts.
Alabama Learning Exchange
"Batty" About Bats!! (Writing)
Young writers identify the characteristics of a bat and write an essay about bats. They construct a book about bats that includes information that they have learned through print materials and online resources.
Curated OER
Food Descriptions
In this health worksheet, learners look for the right descriptions to describe the food items in the pictures and answer the questions for each one.
Curated OER
Editorial Writing
Students Write a persuasive essay that contains effective introductory and summary statements; arranges the arguments effectively; and fully develops the ideas with convincing proof, details, facts, examples, and descriptions. They write...
Curated OER
The Social Skill of Communication
Fifth graders explore communication by analyzing manners. In this social skills lesson, 5th graders review the different forms of communication and how to present yourself in a phone conversation, face to face meeting, e-mail, etc....
Curated OER
Writing to See
Students write descriptively and creatively after looking carefully at a work of art.
Curated OER
Writing a Formal Thank You Letter
Students research various formats for writing thank you letters in resource books and through a provided Internet site. They use these resources to write a thank you letter to a recent outside speaker who visited their class.
Curated OER
Proofreading and Revising Articles for a Class Newsletter
Students submit their newsletter articles and a newsletter team proofreads them. Revisions are suggested. Writers revise their articles. Using a template from a word processing program, articles are typed in final form.