Informative writing is emphasized in the standards. Help your learners reach that goal with the plan for paragraph writing outlined here. After reviewing the work from the day before and adding to their vocabulary notebooks, class...

That's just the style. Learners begin with a mini-lesson about formal writing style. They then use what they learned about formal writing to begin the body paragraphs for their End of Unit 1 Assessment Prompt: Adversity in the Middle...

This writing pre-assessment has minimal instruction but maximum support and encouragement. It begins with a review of the book, Rain School, through a think-pair-share and small group discussion. The discussion...

Anchors aweigh, it's time to write! After viewing an anchor chart detailing the parts of a position paper, pupils share their plans for their essays with a partner. Next, they write the rough draft of their body paragraphs. 

Revising, as opposed to editing, is the focus of a presentation that details this essential part of the writing process. The author of this PowerPoint suggests outlining the draft to determine if all the necessary elements are included...

Middle schoolers analyze how to use writing for generating and organizing their thoughts before communicating them. They use the questions on the first handout to organize a three-minute introduction of themselves to their small group....

Ready to introduce your young writers to the multi-paragraph essay? Here’s an illustrated presentation that models how to use the pre-writing notes on a graphic organizer to craft a personal essay. Color codes help viewers identify the...

Water, water everywhere. Readers revisit paragraphs six through nine in the article "Water is Life" to answer text-dependent questions. They then pair up to reread the article focusing on its structure and record their thoughts on...

Provide third and fourth graders with a persuasive writing example and this checklist. Have learners read through the persuasive writing example to find the characteristics included in the checklist. Is the passage a good example?...

In this language arts presentation, you will find some excellent tips for your writers who are about to try their hand at narrative writing. Each of the eights slides presents quite a few good tips such as, "Long paragraphs can be...

Considering a research paper for freshman and sophomores? Here's a template designed to meet the W.9-10.7 and 8 Common Core writing standards. Writers outline their research question, claims, counterarguments, support, commentary, and...

Use folk tales as inspiration for learning about and using personification in creative writing. Learners brainstorm together in order to practice personification before writing their own poems or paragraphs about a household object.

Invite your young writers to take the reins with writing dialogue. Using two characters of their own creation, kids work with partners and then individually to write short conversations.

As many writers know, you are your own worst editor. The 10th installment in the Writing the Paper series explains that getting feedback from others is crucial to the writing process. The handout highlights the best time to ask others to...

Write a story as a class.  In this writing instructional activity, each person takes turns writing one to two sentences onto the paragraph given about Kim the Kiwi bird, including characters and events.  Altogether, brainstorm...

Learn about Galileo Galilei's contribution to modern science with a reading passage that focuses on reading comprehension. After kids read several paragraphs about his life, they answer five questions about the information they have just...

Is there a connection? Scholars work to write a summary and theme to connect The Lightning Thief and myth of Cronus. They begin by looking at a model essay and then work on their own drafts. 

Sometimes words aren't the best way to get information across to the reader. The eighth handout in the 24-part Writing the Paper series describes different type of figures and charts to display complex information in a paper....

A four-part worksheet challenges scholars' knowledge of American, Australian, and British slang. Learners use context clues to decide which country a slang word is from, complete sentences, decipher a conversation, and answer...

For this frog paragraph worksheet, students color the picture of the frog given and write a paragraph about it on the lines. Students color 1 frog and write 1 paragraph.

In this writing worksheet, 2nd graders choose words to complete a paragraph so that it makes sense. They choose from a drop down menu of words to insert in the paragraph about a turtle and a parrot who were next door neighbors.

In this picture of a bird instructional activity, students view and color a picture of a bird and then can write a paragraph about it on the lines given. Students color 1 bird.

Encourage your class to consider a beautiful short film about a boy named Theo who happens to be visually impaired. Over the course of the lesson, pupils work in pairs, discuss their ideas and the film as a class, view the film,...

Who is Herman Melville? Read and discuss "Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street." Then, discuss the film adaptations of Melville's work and translate a passage of the text into modern-day English. Discussion questions are...