Fourth graders prepare for the literary analysis. They locate, interpret, evaluate and analyze the relationship between a character and the theme. After a lecture/demo, 4th graders write topic and detail sentences, then correctly put...

Students construct a letter about a classroom issue as a class. They then write a letter individually that requests information, file a complaint or complement, or write a letter to the editor/legislator.

Students recognize predictable patterns in literature. They use the selected pattern to create their own writing using the same type of literary pattern. The new writing is proofread by other students and the editing is done until the...

Pupils study and discuss definitions of metaphor, simile, and personification. In small groups, they read a section of "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" and identify those devices. The group presents their examples with the class.

Hosseini Khaled's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns are the anchor texts in a semester-long course that explores Afghani culture and traditions.

Third graders create original design directions. Each student creates a design and composes directions for re-creating it. Then, when students form pairs, they take turns drawing from one another's written directions.

Pupils use general skills and strategies of the writing process to show their role in their family, school, friendships, the community and the world. They demonstrate their self-motivation and increasing responsibility for their own...

Students use abbreviations correctly in everyday situations. Activities include introductions to abbreviating names, titles, months, and more.

Middle schoolers engage in the writing of a magazine article. They focus upon the reading of a children's fiction book and create an informative narrative. They create main ideas and supporting details for the article. The supporting of...

Students explore the elements of film to analyze character, action, and the themes in the movie, "Quiz Show." The lesson encourages students to make personal connections and real life applications as they view the movie, critically.

High schoolers select a theme-related essay topic from Night, by Elie Wiesel, or The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, and develop an essay that relates the theme to modern-day personal experiences. The essay follows a preset rubric...

Fourth graders participate in an observation hike in this lesson. They orally share observations from their hike, and develop a paragraph in a shared writing exercise. Finally, the write their paragraph about process writing in their...

Students read a multicultural book called "This Is the Way We Go to School" by Edith Baer and Steve Bjorhman. They become culturally aware of the different nationalities around the world and different ways that they may do things on a...

Students study the concept of the westward expansion. In this exploration of the western U.S. lesson, students participate in different activities that explain economic hardships, jobs, and land opportunities. Students describe...

Students practice their writing and editing skills by developing a plan for and then writing a grammatically correct description of an item (car or otherwise) that they would like to sell.

Students write an adventure story. In this writing lesson, students listen to an adventure story and identify the elements of an adventure story. Students use story starters to create their own adventure story.

Third graders use ruler and tapes to measure classroom objects. After discussing measurement tools, have students complete sentences stating what they would use to measure various objects. Later in the computer lab, they type their...

Emerging writers create a response to their reading. They read Notes from the Trail and discuss whose perspective the journal entry is written from. Then, they write a response to the journal entry in first person perspective as if...

Third graders use a research checklist to gather information for a brochure of their local area. students then use a Brochure Data List and Brochure Rubric to edit their brochure. They discuss and revise and create their final brochure.

Alliterative adjective nicknames generate stories inspired by Rosemary Wells' book Noisy Nora (also a thematic complement to any class with children who make a ruckus to get attention). Class members explore basic story elements --...

Pupils write and solve various number stories. They solve number stories using one, two and three digit numbers. Students practice writing sentences using the following 6+1 traits, ideas and content, organization, word choice and...

Students find words that begin with the letters in their own names, using a variety of sources including word banks and online dictionaries. They create an acrostic poem. Pupils revise poems as needed, for meaning and conventions. ...

Middle schoolers write a short story set in a selected period of history. They conduct research on a selected period of history, write and edit a rough draft of their short story, and submit a final draft of their story that includes...

First graders use a thinking map to organize a paragraph. They write and edit their paragraph about popcorn and type the final copy on the computer.