We are Teachers
Phrases to Outlaw in Students' Writing
If your writing classroom was the Wild West, what phrases would be "outlawed"? Here is one poster that every writing instructor, and really, any teacher of communication, should have in their classroom!
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Funny Epitaph Poem
What can happen if you eat too much cafeteria food? Or wear dirty clothes every day? Or talk back to your mother? Use a lesson on humorous poems as a way for students to practice silly rhymes as fictional epitaphs.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Clerihew
Writing funny poems is the best part about learning poetic forms! Young poets learn all about clerihews—humorous four-line poems about people—with an explanatory lesson.
Poetry4kids
How to Write Funny Poetry — Chapter 4: Making It Funny
You've got your topic—now how do you make your poem funny? Explore ways to make a poem humorous, including puns, exaggeration, silly words, and surprising endings, with a helpful poetry lesson.
Poetry4kids
How to Write an “I Can’t Write a Poem” Poem
Ever have students complain that they don't know how to write a poem? Turn those complaints into magnificent works of writing with an independent poetry lesson about not being able to write poetry.
Poetry4kids
How to Write Funny Poetry — Chapter 3: Choosing a Topic
Nothing's better than a really funny poem! Help young writers craft their funny poems with a lesson on one of the most challenging parts of writing: picking what to write about.
Poetry4kids
How to Write an Exaggeration Poem
The best poetry writing lesson of all time is here for you! Learn all about the art of exaggeration with a lesson on exaggeration poems, which instructs students to use wild imagery to convey their message.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Traditional “Mother Goose” Nursery Rhyme
There may be some little lambs, itsy bitsy spiders, and pumpkin eaters in your language arts class! An online poetry lesson takes learners through the steps of writing a nursery rhyme with easy-to-follow steps and explanatory examples.
Curated OER
Telling Our Stories of Giving - Writing to Persuade
After identifying the parts of a persuasive piece of writing, young writers explore different prewriting activities for the persuasive essay. They have the option to write a news article, personal narrative, or persuasive essay to...
Poetry4kids
How to Write an Apology Poem
Put a silly spin on making amends with an apology poem. Budding poets think of a time they were made to apologize although they didn't mean it. They then turn their experience into a poem that offers details and ends with an explanation...
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Silly Song Parody
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery—and it's a great way to learn about poetic structure! Young poets use familiar tunes to write a song parody based on straightforward guidelines.
Poetry4kids
How to Write Funny Poetry — Chapter 2: How to Rhyme
Funny poems don't have to rhyme—but it helps! Learn how to use rhyming words to add humor to funny, clever, or just plain silly poems.
The New York Times
Writing to Explain: Creating How-To Scripts and Demonstrations
Excuse me, can you give me directions? Scholars examine and practice technical writing to increase their ability to write directions. They participate in discussion, watch videos, and complete an assignment to create their own directions.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a “Backward” Poem
If you like poetry, wait till you try backward poetry! Young writers read Shel Silverstein's "Backward Bill" before writing their own funny poems that are full of backward imagery and phrasing.
Curated OER
"Humor" Afro-American Symphony (Third Movement)
A fun way for young learners to explore music and their personal reaction to it, this worksheet includes a short reading passage about musician William Grant Still, a word scramble, a matching activity and two short writing prompts. Some...
Curated OER
Writing Exercise: How to Spot a Loser Sentence
In this writing skills worksheet, class members read sentences about developmental psychology that need revisions and then revise them in order to make them better. The 11 sentences range from the humorous to the incomprehensible.
Teachers.net
How to Write a Movie Review from a Pet's Perspective
When would two paws up denote a blockbuster film in your classroom? Only when young writers create movie reviews from a pet's perspective in this imaginative expository writing practice. This engaging topic begins with a class discussion...
Tech Coach Corner
How to Write a Paragarph Or How to Build a Big Mac
Employing the metaphor of a Big Mac hamburger, this presentation explains how to put together a cohesive paragraph. The PowerPoint uses humor, animation, sound effects, and examples to get the points across. The main focus is on the...
Curated OER
Humor, Rhetoric, and Prose Styles
A handful of quotes are presented in these slides referencing writing and rewriting. Learners will be encouraged by well-known writers to practice, grow and refrain from perfectionism. Quotes also reference how to write for your audience...
Curated OER
Breaking News English: Humor
In this humor worksheet, students read the article, answer true and false questions, complete synonym matching, complete phrase matching, complete a gap fill, answer short answer questions, answer discussion questions, write, and more...
PBS
Satire, Parody, and Humor in Catch-22
Laughter is the heart of dark comedy. It makes the unbearable bearable. Joseph Heller crafted his dark comedy Catch-22 to enable readers to laugh at the painful realities and underscore the absurdities of a war where people you don't...
Poetry4kids
Writing Riddles
What's got 60 eyes, 150 fingers, and an endless number of ideas? Your language arts class! Challenge young writers to come up with clever riddles with an online poetry lesson.
Student Achievement Partners
"The Glorious Whitewasher" from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain with Mini-Assessment
It's the classic scene: Tom Sawyer is whitewashing a fence. Expose your learners to Mark Twain's humor while reinforcing reading comprehension. Eighth graders are encouraged to read and reread, achieving as much exposure to the text as...
Curated OER
Unit Plan for Mark Twain and American Humor
Students create brochures about the humor of Mark Twain. In this literature-analysis lesson plan, students read "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and other short stories by Twain. Students write analytical paragraphs and...