To prepare for crafting their own memoir, class members examine poetry by Margaret Atwood, Billy Collins, Robert Hayden, and Claude McKay, stories by Richard Rodriquez and Willa Cather, and Barry Levinson's film Avalon. They examine...

What would it be like to sell your eggs to a couple who can't have children on their own? Could you even imagine it? As most of us have never been in this position, this descriptive essay is really quite interesting. The reading itself...

Lois Lowry's The Giver is one of the most engaging and thought-provoking works of literature in the middle school curriculum. Round out your novel unit with a collection of reading activities, comprehension questions, memoir and...

Experiment with multimedia storytelling. After watching a segment of American Family, first, middle and high schoolers tell a story about their families, clarifying the setting, characters, and script. They work on setting...

Add a little glitter to your Mardi Gras celebration with a packet that includes information about the history of Mardi Gras. It also provides information about how different communities celebrate the holiday, as well as templates for...

When Ruby Bridges entered an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960, she also entered history. Scholars consider what the experience must have been like for the young girl using two books that document her experience as well as a double...

Sixth graders write a narrative. They choose options for plot and climax within the context of an outdoor survival story.

Young scholars research the lives of the Mirabel sisters, complete related graphic organizers, and watch the movie, "In the Time of the Butterflies." They write a narrative essay about one event in the Mirabel sisters' lives.

Students role-play as immigrants coming to America during the early 1900's. They conduct Internet research printing out pictures and reading biographies. Students use the information gathered to create scrapbooks in which the write...

Pupils explore the trait of voice. In this language arts lesson, students focus on the writing trait of voice. Pupils view a video and practice writing.

Students analyze the writing process through the ten lessons of this unit. The expository lessons address topic and detail sentences, paragraph organization and development, note taking, reports and letter writing.

Seventh graders examine historical perspectives. In this historical writing instructional activity, 7th graders discuss their definitions of history and then discuss perspectives of history. As a culminating activity, students write...

First graders explore the concept of multiple viewpoints. In this perspective lesson plan, 1st graders discuss the differences and similarities found within different cultures. Students then write a narrative about how something they can...

Students use a rubric to analyze their neighborhood and write a persuasive essay about changes that should be made. In this writing lesson, students use a rubric to grade their neighborhood and brainstorm improvements. Students write a...

Tenth graders experiment with poetry devices to write poems. In this poetry lesson, 10th graders participate in learning stations. Students create a word pool and select a word from the list to create a line of poetry. Students complete...

Students present the outline of the mystery story they are writing while working in reciprocal teaching groups. They respond to group members writing before they continue to finish revisions.

Young scholars complete a Web Quest on How to Write a Mystery. They listen to or read a short mystery story and discuss its elements. They write an outline of a mystery story using all of the elements.

Students create a photo essay and present it to the class. The students bring photos to use for their essay and develop a story using the photos. The students write captions including characters, setting, and plot for each photo. They...

Students interpret and analyze a work of art and write a narrative for the piece of art. In this narrative art lesson, students analyze a work of art and then write a short story 500-700 words long to narrate the art.

Students compose a short piece of creative writing based on a painting depicting a mythological narrative. For this creative writing lesson, students create a short piece of writing and then learn more about the mythological scene in the...

Fourth graders investigate the concept and take the opportunity to both identify and to construct point of view in narratives. Additionally, 4th graders practice identifying and sequencing main events.

Fourth graders read passages of Koya's Cousin Del before answering questions in a discussion setting. They listen to a variety of musical pieces before detailing how the music makes them feel in a short piece of writing. They share their...

First graders write a descriptive paragraph about a friend.

Third graders read The First Strawberries and complete a character chart. In this writing a tale instructional activity, 3rd graders discuss viewpoints and identify character traits. Students complete character charts and write...