Curated OER
Outlining Essays (Grades 3-6)
Students brainstorm story idea in preparation of writing an expressive essay. They study how to outline essays to assist them in writing an expressive essay. Each students conclusion should summarize their main idea and restate their...
Curated OER
Essay on Themes
Students read the book THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London and discuss the different elements in the book. They then write an essay on a theme providing examples backing up their main point of their essay.
Curated OER
"I Want a Wife" by Judy Brady
The classic short essay "I Want a Wife" will probably surprise your class. After all, the way Judy Brady presents it, who wouldn't want a wife? After your readers complete the text, present them with this two-page document. Eight...
The New York Times
Writing Fiction Based on Real Science - NYTimes.com
Refuse to alienate your scientific-minded young scholars during your creative writing unit. Learners explore how literary writing can reflect observable fact, and be based in actual science. The links include examples of fiction and...
Curated OER
Persuasion and Parallel Structure
Discuss the definition of parallel structure with your high school class. In small groups, they read a section of "The Declaration of Independence" to identify examples of parallel structure. Each learner writes an essay explaining the...
Curated OER
APA and MLA Formats: Their Main Differences
What is the difference between MLA and APA format? This presentation is geared towards a college audience, but it could definitely be useful with an eleventh and twelfth grade audience in high school. Differences are highlighted, but not...
Curated OER
Thesis statements: The Six Basic Claim Types
Evaluative or Analogical? The wolf in the story of "The Three Little Pigs" and the wolf in "Red Riding Hood" represent what can happen to the unprepared. Despite his defeat in the end, the Big Bad Wolf is a good example for kids because...
Curated OER
Grammar Worksheets: Attribute Words and Ideas Correctly
What is a verb of attribution? Study the description and examples on the first page, and then let your classes attempt the second page. There's a list of verbs they can use to construct the sentences provided.
Curated OER
Fallacies of Relevance
Review more than nine verbal and written fallacies in arguments. Many definitions and examples are given to encourage your scholars to avoid fallacies such as ad hominem and red herring. By doing this, they will have stronger speeches...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
Defining Democracy and Freedom
This is a simple but effective introduction to democracy. It requires the class to generate working definitions of key terms (provided) and to determine the degree of democracy in various geographic locations today. After they conduct...
Curated OER
Persuasive Writing
Use a quick bell-ringer to interest your class in the art of persuasion. They brainstorm where they find examples of persuasion in their lives and identify who is trying to persuade them. Then they either fish through magazines or look...
Curated OER
Pricing Your Craft Worksheet
This cross-curricular activity could be used to teach economics, business, practical math, and more. Learners pretend they are craftspeople and choose a craft to market. Using a graphic organizer and provided models, class members...
Curated OER
Writing Traits Instruction
Students assess and critique a wide variety of writing samples for each of the traits of writing strands from literature, composition writing, reading and assessment tools. They create and design a descriptive definition piece of writing...
Curated OER
Oliver Twist By Charles Dickens
In this literature worksheet, students respond to 23 short answer and essay questions about Oliver Twist. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.
Curated OER
Richard III by William Shakespeare
In this literature worksheet, students respond to 25 short answer and essay questions about Shakespeare's Richard III. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the selection at the bottom of the page.
Curated OER
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 12 short answer and essay questions based on A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Students may also access an online quiz on the selection using the link...
Curated OER
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
In this online interactive reading comprehension learning exercise, learners respond to 37 short answer and essay questions based on The Woman Warrior. Students may also access an online quiz on the selection using the link at the bottom...
Curated OER
Keats' Poems by John Keats
In this literature worksheet, students respond to 41 short answer and essay questions about poetry by John Keats. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the selections at the bottom of the page.
Curated OER
Describe Environmental Interrelationships
Students describe environmental interrelationships using list of criteria. They are able to explain organism interaction, based on definitions provided. Also, students can use references and worksheets, to describe effects of pollution...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.4
Determining the meaning of a word based on context clues or marking how the meaning of a term evolves in the course of a document can be a challenge in more complex text. Give your pupils an opportunity to practice this skill with a...
Virginina Department of Education
Planning Persuasive Writing
A nice starting exercise that organizes a learner’s persuasive writing assignment by issue, claim, and hard and soft evidence. Definitions of the terms aforementioned are provided, as well as the worksheet needed by the class. The...
Curated OER
What is Culture?
Sixth graders study ancient cultures of the world. They describe the meaning of culture. Students distinguish between the material and non-material aspects of culture. They create a collage identifying the material and non-material...
Curated OER
Extreme Poetry Vocabulary
Challenge your class with this comprehensive list of literary vocabulary words. Learners take a pre-test, look up definitions, come up with an example, and then take a post-test. You might use this prior to a unit about poetic devices in...
Curated OER
Sentence Patterns
Supplement instruction on sentence patterns and types by providing this reference sheet for your class members. Included on this page are definitions of many different sentence patterns and an example of each. A useful item for pupils to...