Endowment of United States Institute of Peace
Active Listening
Ensure that your pupils listen to one another in constructive ways by introducing them to active listening skills through discussion, role playing, and partner work.
New York City Department of Education
Grade 5 Literacy in Science: Ecosytems
How do humans affect ecosystems? Learners read two articles and interpret a graph to develop essays on the human impact on ecosystems. They read about human impact on tigers and manatees as a basis for their overarching papers.
Curated OER
A "Fresh" Approach to the District's 6+1 Traits Writing Assessment
One way to assess improvement in writing is to conduct a district-wide assessment program. This resource details the Wisconsin Dells approach to assessing freshmen 6+1 Traits writing. The format could be adapted to any district or used...
Curated OER
The Writing Process
Fifth graders analyze well written and poorly written essays and define the four steps in the writing process. In this writing lesson plan, 5th graders edit poorly written essays.
Curated OER
Lesson Eight: Revising
Second graders practice revising their narrative writing. In this editing lesson, 2nd graders revise a narrative paper with the teacher by focusing on re-reading and finding mistakes. They revise their own writing and then have a...
Curated OER
Improving Literacy in the Biology Classroom via Genetic Disorders
Students read, write and reflect on Science articles, this approach will promote both literacy and critical thinking skills. Critical thinking skills learned in the science classroom from these activities will impact students in many...
Curated OER
My Study Habits
Fourth graders evaluate their study habits and what works best for them when studying.
Curated OER
Sentence Revision
Students review the procedures for revising sentences. After viewing a PowerPoint presentation, they read a handout of common wordy phrases and discover how to jazz up their writing. They complete a worksheet in which they revise the...
Curated OER
Writing a Political Leader
Pupils peer edit a letter. In this editing lesson, students peer edit a letter written to a political figure by another student. Pupils discuss edits and revisions needed for improvement. This is a continuation lesson that is part...
Curated OER
Narrative Writing
Fifth graders study narrative writing. For this language arts lesson, 5th graders review how an author uses vivid verbs, imagery, and adjectives to capture reader's attention. Students explore literary devices of foreshadowing, flashback...
Curated OER
Educational Skills/Career Skills
How can you help first graders be aware of the relationship between work and learning? By having them think of five jobs that use math, reading, and writing you will help them understand the need for an education. Each job will be...
Curated OER
The Missing Link
What is the missing link? Provide your class with this incomplete essay (it's missing transition words), and have writers place words from the transition word bank into the essay. Also, since only three of the five paragraphs are...
Curated OER
Choosing Words Carefully
Use literacy tools to select precise vocabulary. High schoolers respond to discussion questions that require them to consider the denotation and connotation of words. They then read non-fiction passages and identify words in the passages...
Curated OER
Email Buddies
Collaborate with another class (or school) and have your learners share ideas about their reading through the use of email. Perhaps you'll create a specific question or a few questions for writers to choose from. Not only will they...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Nonfiction Texts
Explore nonfiction writing by comparing and contrasting two different texts. After reading two nonfiction books, articles, or magazines, young scholars utilize a graphic organizer to record their similarities and differences. They answer...
Curated OER
Capitalization and Punctuation
First and second graders explore writing conventions. They add question marks or periods to the end of teacher generated sentences on sentence strips. They locate punctuation marks in poems and write original sentences using appropriate...
San José State University
Avoiding Nominalization
Improve syntax with this explanatory handout. It clarifies one way to make writing more precise: avoiding nominalization. This resource provides four ways to find and change nominalization problems and 10 sentences to correct. There are...
Curated OER
Putting It Together in Writer's Workshop
This lesson about writing can be taught in small groups or large group settings. They examine basic writing techniques and practice using them to improve their writing.
Curated OER
The Two Sides of the Declaration of Independence
Budding historians read six documents related to grievances that led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. They then craft an essay in which they discuss the perspective of both the colonists and the king. This DBQ could be...
Mobile Education Store
Rainbow Sentences
Learners who struggle with grammar, foundational reading skills, and sentence composition can learn how to write proper sentences using an app that relies on research-based practice. It uses a color-coded formula that had been proven to...
Curated OER
Sentences for Sight Word Dictation
Improve your learners' reading and writing skills with a set of sentences designed to help pupils work with sight words. The teacher dictates while the pupils write; this is followed by discussion. ...
One Pot Learning
Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Three annotated passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay on "Nature" provide young philosophers a chance to improve their reading comprehension skills as they gain insight into Emerson's ideas.
Maine Content Literacy Project
Processes of Writing and Speaking
As this short story unit comes to a close, provide a day for a full examination of theme and allow some time in class for individuals to work on their various assessments. This final instructional activity before presenting iMovies and...
Bethel School District
Health Triangle Self Assessment
Measure health as a triangle, with each side representing different aspects of health: physical, emotional/mental, and social. High schoolers complete a self-assessment of their health in all three areas before scoring their progress and...