Curated OER
Graphic Novel Writing Workshop
Khaled Hosseini’s video “Using Real People and Events” motivates learners to reflect on their own experiences and to use those experiences as the basis of a graphic novel that expresses a universal truth. The richly detailed plan...
Prestwick House
Writing Arguments in Response to Nonfiction
Emotional appeal or argument? That is the question. An informative lesson helps your class recognize the difference between a logical argument and an emotional appeal and learn how to craft an argumentative response. Writers develop a...
Dream of a Nation
Creating Awareness through Action Oriented Writing and Research
Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth graders...
EngageNY
Writing to Inform: Colonial Trades
Fourth graders who are studying life in colonial America engage in an instructional activity that has them create a "Help Wanted" ad that would have been written by a master craftsperson from back in the day. They utilize a graphic...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Writing Best First Draft of “Inside Out” Poem
As part of a mid-unit assessment, scholars draft their inside-out poems and then work on their "Back Again" poems. Learners use a rubric and graphic organizers to guide their writing.
EngageNY
Writing an Argument Essay: Planning the Essay
Pupils use a helpful resource to begin a Writing Improvement Tracker, developing awareness of their writing strengths and challenges. Additionally, they continue planning their argument essays about Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's...
EngageNY
End of Unit Assessment: Writing Best First Draft of “Back Again” Poem
Team up! Scholars begin working with their research teams to review the components of an effective poem. They then move on to independent work by beginning the end-of-unit assessment. Writers complete the draft of their "Back Again"...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: On-Demand Writing – Conflicting Interpretations of the 13th and 14th Amendments
The authors of the court's decision and the dissenting opinion on Plessy v. Ferguson disagreed on their interpretations of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. Scholars set out to show how with an on-demand writing prompt. They...
EngageNY
Planning Writing: Bullfrog Information Paragraph
Lesson ten in this unit for the book Bullfrogs at Magnolia Circle, prepares third graders to begin writing an informational paragraph about the adaptations of bullfrogs. First, young writers work either independently or in pairs to...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: On-Demand Informational Writing
Lesson 7 focuses on building academic vocabulary and writing an explanatory letter with supported textual evidence. For the first five minutes of the lesson plan, the educator reminds the class of how to read and refer to the accordion...
EngageNY
Paragraph Writing Instruction
Writing a paragraph from details found directly in a text is the central focus of this thorough and explicit lesson plan. Using the stories Nasreen's Secret School and Rain School, third graders are lead step-by-step through the basics...
EngageNY
Synthesizing Information: Writing an Apprentice Wanted Ad
Fourth graders view examples of help-wanted ads as they plan and create their own writing in the fourteenth instructional activity of this unit on colonial trade. The engagement of the class is captured when the teacher shares an actual...
Lakeshorelearning
Read and Write about It
Reading informational text is a skill that transcends subjects and grade levels. Practice reading about different topics in various formats with a language arts lesson that includes opportunities for writing and research as well.
EngageNY
Actions for a Position Paper: Identify, Discuss, Write
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.
EngageNY
Planning the Argument: Writing the Claim and Reasons
Step up! Using the resource, scholars discover the six steps to writing an effective position paper. Next, they work on a graphic organizer to begin planning their argument-based essays.
Newsela
Mexico: Art, Food and Culture
What can we pick up from the culture of others? Scholars learn much about people of Mexico by completing a close reading of articles about the country's culture. After completing the selection, readers carry out tasks, complete quizzes,...
EngageNY
Figurative Language and Word Choice: A Closer Look at Bud, Not Buddy (Chapter 2)
The difference between an average and an unforgettable writing can lie in the author's word choice. The figurative language in Chapter 2 of Christopher Paul Curtis's Newbery Medal Winner, Bud, Not Buddy, is the focus of a series of...
EngageNY
Writing an Argument Essay: Introducing the Writing Prompt and Model Essay
Scholars take a look at the difference between explanatory and argumentative essays by completing graphic organizers. They then determine how this difference applies to the Pygmalion writing prompt. Learners keep track of their writing...
EngageNY
Writing with Evidence: Percy and the Hero’s Journey (Chapter 7)
Read, set, write! Scholars participate in the first fully independent writing task of the unit as they write about how Percy’s experience in The Lightning Thief aligns with The Hero’s Journey. To begin their writing, they complete a...
Scholastic
Writing An Acrostic
Invite learners to introduce themselves through poetry. After brainstorming and choosing details, pupils draft two acrostic poems using their names as the base. They then evaluate and revise their poems.
EngageNY
Writing and Sharing: A Narrative of Adversity Plan
When life brings you lemons .. write about it! Scholars work with partners to complete graphic organizers analyzing two narratives. Next, they develop an outline for their narrative writing assignment about a personal experience with...
EngageNY
Revising the Informative Consumer Guide: Sentence Structure, Transitions, and Works Cited
Transitions are the glue that link paragraphs together. Pupils listen to a mini lesson plan on sentence structure and transitions and use what they learned to revise their informative consumer guides. Next, they self-assess their writing...
EngageNY
Writing: Drafting Body Paragraphs and Revising for Language
This is a formal affair. Scholars take a look at using formal writing in essays. They analyze the model essay Are We Medieval?: Opportunities in the Middle Ages and Today? They then begin working on the first draft of their own essays.
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Metamorphoses and Later Works of Art: A Comparison of Mythic Imagery
In a lesson on The Metamorphoses, scholars compare how graphic artists use mythic imagery to represent Ovid's tales. Each group selects a work of art paired with Ovid's version of a myth and compares how both present the story.