Students read Arthur's Pet Business and  complete a pre-writing worksheet for expository writing.  In this paragraph writing lesson, students gather and organize material for a paragraph about pets.

Explore objective and subjective writing in this interdisciplinary lesson, which brings language arts and visual art together. Middle and high school learners examine the sculpture Head with Horns by Paul Gauguin. They then analyze the...

First and last impressions are important. Using the helpful resource, scholars draft the introductory and concluding paragraphs of their literary analysis essays. Next, they use a writing evaluation rubric to self-assess their work. 

Three wonderful questions will help your middle schoolers better understand the Byzantine Empire. They construct short essay responses to each of the three prompts, discuss the schism between the Greek and Roman Catholic church, the...

Celebrate Black History Month with this lesson, in which middle schoolers create an essay about a famous African-American. Writers conduct research online, take notes to write an essay in proper format, and use ideas, text, and graphics...

Human prehistory is an exciting topic for many learners! Engage your social studies class in critical thinking by having them answer the three short essay questions on this activity. They need to know why prehistoric people migrate, how...

Use this worksheet to check for understanding after your class reads materials related to Europe in the Middle Ages. There are three questions that ask them to describe Charlemagne as a prominent historical figure, the feudal system, and...

Those studying the history of India and the legacy left by the Gupta Empire will have no problem answering these three short answer questions. Learners compose three short paragraphs describing the Gupta Empire, the historical population...

Three questions in need of well-written answers await your budding historians. They put their reading comprehension to the test when they describe how the Crusades impacted Italian city-states, why kings like Richard the Lion-Hearted...

Learners compose answers to three questions related to the rise of the Renaissance. They will compare and contrast the Renaissance to the Medieval Period, consider why ideas from classical civilizations reemerged, and think about the...

For use alongside a complete lesson or as guided reading questions, this instructional activity provides three short-answer questions for consideration. Learners consider why the Tang Dynasty was considered a golden age, the role women...

Consider the factors and outcomes of societal changes that occurred during the Japanese Feudal period. Critical thinkers use what they know to answer three short essay questions. This helpful worksheet is a great tool for building...

Did your class finish reading about Feudal Japan and the Tokugawa Shogunate period? Reinforce their understanding with three essay questions focused on comprehension and critical thinking.

Looking for a way to bring prewriting into your informative writing unit? Use this lesson plan to reinforce writing skills in your eighth grade language arts class. Young writers use a web graphic organizer as a prewriting tool for...

It's no secret, writing is a lot more enjoyable when it's about something we care about. This simple exercise engages children in producing original writing, while allowing them to share their personal interest with others.

The big idea presented in this peer editing worksheet is that writers make use of the Criterion Online Writing Evaluation as part of the writing process. Criterion evaluates the skill level of writers and permits instructors to design...

Students create an expository essay. In this writing lesson Students are assigned a country and must conduct research surrounding a historic event that occurred in that country at the time of their birth.

Fourth graders write a "how to..." or an expository essay on building a snowman. They practice giving directions by explaining how to draw a person using shapes without mentioning that it's a person being drawn. They revise through the...

Learners identify the attributes of informative brochures. In this written communication lesson, students examine sample brochures and persuasive essays to investigate the layout and the information presented. Learners then create their...

Happy birthday! Celebrate everyone's birthday with this writing activity, which prompts seventh graders to research historical events in a country at the time of their birth to create an essay. Working in pairs, they proofread each...

Need a quick review of the format of the five-paragraph essay? The strength of this presentation is in the color-highlighted examples used to illustrate the terms. Consider adding additional slides that provide a model of a complete essay.

If your writers have already mastered the basic five-paragraph essay, consider introducing them to a broader application of this format. Writers consider sections instead of paragraphs, context/claim, and synthesis. Although no models...

Scholars explore an expository text to answer questions about its structure.

Get those middle schoolers ready for writing excellent reports. This outline provides instructions and organized space to help learners gather information in a thoughtful and useful way. They research the life and works of an artist....