Pennsylvania Department of Education
Informational Writing: Lesson 2 of 5
Introduce expository writing to your elementary learners. Young authors write a three-paragraph informational paper using the steps of the writing process. They follow guided lessons to experience each of five steps. Included are tons of...
Speech and Debate Union
Introducing Debate in the Classroom
Considering organizing a speech and debate club? check out this packet that contains all the information you need to get started.
Student Handouts
Four-Square Writing Method
Pupils produce paragraphs with planning and precision with the four-square writing method, which allows learners to organize the topic, supporting, and summary sentences of their paragraphs.
EngageNY
World Cafe: Analyzing Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?”
May I take your order? Scholars read "Ain't I a Woman" and participate in a World Cafe. They work in small groups to discuss text-related questions and then complete a Note-Catcher sheet to organize their thoughts. For homework, learners...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit 3 Assessment: Drafting the Position Paper
Organize your thoughts! Scholars work on the drafts of their position papers about sustainable water management. The draft serves as their mid-unit assessment. Before beginning, the class discusses the prompt and then learners work...
Curated OER
Shake, Rattle, and Roll
Students make an earthquake simulator and test their structure to see if it lasts through the earthquake. In this earthquake lesson plan, students make a structure and test and record the results from an earthquake simulator made out of...
Curated OER
Organizing Ideas
Students organize facts into categories and list the structure of a five-paragraph essay. They identify the main idea and outline the supporting details. In the class, students discuss how they organized their ideas and begin drafting...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit 3 Assessment, Part I: Short Constructed Response and Organizing Notes for a Public Speech
It's time to put pen to paper. Scholars complete the first part of the mid-unit 3 assessment, writing a short constructed response about international aid following a natural disaster. Next, pupils use informational texts and note...
Curated OER
Word Structure- Prefix and Suffix
Identify common prefixes and suffixes used in the English language and categorize the different kinds of information provided in a dictionary entry. Learners will write at least five pieces of information that they learn about a word...
Curated OER
The Last Word: Using Critical Thinking and Analysis to Reach a Decision
Want to explore the process of writing a persuasive essay and tie it in with the upcoming elections? Class members use Venn diagrams and the hamburger model of persuasive writing to write a five-paragraph essay on elections and...
Curated OER
Writing and Presenting a Fable Using Research
Elementary and middle schoolers research animal facts and use them in a fable. First, they pair-share to find animal traits to use in writing a fable. They then complete a prewriting worksheet. After going through the writing process,...
Curated OER
Can History Be Rewritten?
Can history be rewritten? Or, more precisely, is history documented accurately? High school juniors and seniors compare primary source material with secondary sources. For example, they compare President Roosevelt's December 29, 1940...
Scholastic
What Happened Next? (Grades K-4)
Explore the structure of narrative writing with this fun, collaborative lesson. Start by reading aloud a short story, asking small groups of learners to fill in key events on a large story board prepared on the class whiteboard....
Illustrative Mathematics
Right Triangles Inscribed in Circles I
One of the basic properties of inscribed angles gets a triangle proof treatment in a short but detailed exercise. Leading directions take the learner through identifying characteristics of a circle and how they relate to angles and...
ESL Holiday Lessons
Mardi Gras
Take a trip to Mardi Gras with a festive reading packet! After class members read an informational article about the history and celebration of Mardi Gras, they think about the structure of the passage by unscrambling words, filling in...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sentence Structure of Technical Writing
Most teachers and scholars look for a way to simplify information. Informational how-to slides simplify the process of technical writing into a step-by-step process. Learners gather information on what to do, as well as what to avoid....
Curated OER
Examining Ways to Organize Questions and Answers Within a Text
Students study questions and answers within a text to learn about writing structure and organization. For this writing structure lesson, students investigate books in class by asking questions for the text. Students then format their own...
Curated OER
Elements of Chemistry: The Periodic Table
Students examine the atomic structure of elements. In this chemistry lesson students organize elements of the periodic table according to their atomic mass, and compare their order within the periodic table.
Curated OER
Slice & Dice
Third graders participate in a variety of activities to practice grammar and sentence structure. Words are typed up and put in a hat for them to draw from. Once their word is selected, they write several sentences including that word. ...
BW Walch
Daily Warm-Ups: Grammar and Usage
If grammar practice is anywhere in your curriculum, you must check out an extensive collection of warm-up activities for language arts! Each page focuses on a different concept, from parts of speech to verbals, and provides review...
Learning to Give
Teaching Playwriting in Schools
The world is a stage, and so is your classroom! Hone the skills of the next generation of Tony® award winners with a set of exercises, reference pages, writing prompts, and excerpts from famous plays.
Curated OER
SATP Informative Essay I
Young scholars explore the basic steps of writing an informative five paragraph essay. Using a hamburger as an analogy, students discuss the five part method of writing and, given blank hamburger sheets, they fill in the main parts of...
Curated OER
Teacher of the Year
Now is the time to identify the great teachers in your school! Discuss the characteristics of persuasive writing and analyze an example. Then, each pupil chooses a teacher who they feel should be named teacher of the year. They plan and...
Curated OER
Visible Speech: A Short Course in the Fundamentals of Writing (Lesson 5)
Of these five slides, two consist of the title and directions; the other three list the parts of an essay and their purpose, as well as how to best begin an essay. In essence, this is a very brief PowerPoint that can be used as a...