Curated OER
Directed and Undirected Free-writing: An Activity in Brainstorming
Start the flow of writing with music! Help learners free-write and brainstorm by playing various selections of music. After each selection, scholars talk about the theme and mood and then practice free-writing on their own. Lighten up on...
Curated OER
My Mind is Blank
Investigate prewriting activities in this brainstorming lesson plan. Middle schoolers are divided into groups and are assigned a topic. They decide which prewriting technique to choose from, including free write, looping, brainstorming,...
Curated OER
Bringing Household Items to Life
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.
Curated OER
Directed and Undirected Free-writing: An Activity in Brainstorming
Let your writers take a break from formal writing and experiment with undirected freewriting. First they'll discuss the difference between directed and undirected freewriting. Then they'll put their knowledge to work and create some...
Curated OER
Peace Brainstorming Activity
Students study the topic of peace and use brainstorming techniques to create a clustering diagram. In this peace brainstorming activity, students organize brainstorming material to complete a writing assignment. Students create...
Curated OER
Dear Diary
Work on narrative writing with this lesson, in which middle schoolers analyze the characters from a selected piece of literature and write narrative diary pieces as the character. They work to understand the point of view of the...
Curated OER
Alicia Keys, Songs in A Minor
Need a musical lesson for your drama or performing arts class? VH1 has put together a really neat lesson, in which learners use biographical information about Alicia Keys to write and perform a one-act musical related to her life. This...
Curated OER
Directed and Undirected Free-writing: An Activity in Brainstorming
Analyze the free-writing method of brainstorming to explore how to write an essay. Middle schoolers plan their writing from the beginning after reading two samples of free-writing, then creating their own. The lesson plan includes...
Virginia Department of Education
Persuasive Writing
Grab a debatable (or controversial) moment from your current reading, and use this task to progress the persuasive writing skills of your high school scholars. Divide your learners into four small groups and let them collaborate, debate,...
Curated OER
Writing About Time: My Favorite Times
Start by clicking on the icon that says, "Download the Activity." The format is much easier to read and understand here! Then, encourage your class to write about some of their favorite things through a three-paragraph essay. Examples...
Curated OER
William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Fate versus Free Will
Tenth graders explore Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. After reading specific scenes, they brainstorm and discuss free will. Students observe a clip from the Dr. Phil television show entitled, "Afraid to Age" and make connections from the...
Film English
Coca-Cola Ad
Have your class members consider how their lifestyle choices may differ from those of their grandparents when they were younger. After brainstorming and discussing differences in lifestyle, pupils watch a Coca-Cola advertisement that...
Curated OER
Writing Strategies: Descriptive Words
Students discover the importance of using descriptive words in good writing. They brainstorm words to describe elephants and dogs then watch a video that describes different items. Each student writes a paragraph using descriptive words...
Bully Free Systems
Bully Free Lesson Plans—Eighth Grade
Middle schoolers are likely very familiar with the concept of bullying and cliques. Discuss their experiences and brainstorm ways to handle peer conflict and feelings of exclusion with a poem that focuses on bullying, and a second lesson...
Curated OER
Views on Downloading: Developing Persuasive Writing Techniques
Students write persuasively by convincing others of their point of view about music downloading.
Curated OER
Comic and Film Strip Writing
Students write a funny story and illustrate it in a comic strip. In this comic strip lesson, students study comic strips and determine the plot of each story. Students then write a short story and illustrate it using a comic strip...
Curated OER
Accordion-Book Summary
Introduce your young readers to the book review. Groups of writers practice the basic steps of writing a book report and complete an Accordion-Book Summary activity. The lesson includes book report basics and directions to make...
Curated OER
Terrific Topic Sentences
Capture the interest of your reader with terrific topic sentences. To practice hooking the reader, your class will be given writing prompts, and they must create topic sentences for each prompt provided. Encourage them to use different...
Curated OER
William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Fate Versus Free Will
Students relate legends of lucky objects such as a rabbit's foot and principles of Feng Shui to fate and free will concepts that are expressed in Shakespeare's play, "Julius Casear". In small groups, they redesign the palace of Casear to...
Curated OER
Male Image Building Utilizing the Writing Process
Introduce your class to the techniques of proper writing. In groups, they brainstorm their ideas on family structures and discuss the importance of having a male figure in their lives. After listening to an African-American poem, they...
School Journalism
Investigative and Data Journalism – Day One
A free press, free to investigate and report on responsibly, compelling stories, is essential to a democracy. A 10-slide presentation details where to get ideas, how to go about an investigation, gather data, and assure the accuracy of...
Curated OER
It's Under Discussion
Students create brainstorming webs to facilitate discussions about writing about an informational topic. In this writing lesson plan, students do this in groups and then free write about their topic.
Curated OER
Radio Free America?
Students explore the controversy over the recent FCC vote to loosen restrictions on media ownership. After researching the background and position of local radio stations, students evaluate and make recommendations about free speech.
Curated OER
Creating a Pamphlet/Brochure for a Party or Candidate
Students explore political persuasive writing. In this government and persuasive writing lesson, students work in groups to write text and create graphics for a brochure describing and promoting a predetermined political candidate.