Scholastic
Step-by-Step Strategies for Teaching Expository Writing
A carefully crafted, logically organized, 128-page packet is an excellent addition to your unit on expository writing.
Workforce Solutions
Professional References
To gain an understanding of the importance of professional references, class members engage in two projects. First, individuals examine an online review site (Yelp, for example), paying particular attention to the positive and negative...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
From Ben’s Pen to Our Lives
What would Ben do? Jumping off from the pseudonymous letters Ben Franklin fooled his older brother into publishing when he was still a teenager, young literary lovers dive into acting, writing, and addressing a local issue with wit and...
University of North Carolina
Book Reviews
Reading goes beyond taking in information—it also involves forming impressions about what we read. Sometimes we share those impressions through book reviews, a specific type of writing outlined in a handout on the topic. Using the...
Curated OER
Scumbelina
This cute and new imagining of the old tale of Cinderella comes complete with a beginning, middle, and end, audio, and comprehension questions. Learners will read along as you progress through each slide, then answer several questions at...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.5
Working on revision? Check out this resource on Common Core standard W.9-10.5, which focuses in particular on the writing process. After reading some information about the specifics of the standard and how to implement it in the...
Curated OER
Persuade the Aliens!
Why do we do what we do? Imagine that people on a faraway planet came to visit Earth. Could you convince them to adopt a custom or behavior that we participate in here? Learners of all ages write persuasive essays. If you're using this...
Curated OER
My Favorite Thing To Do
For this writing activity, students think about their favorite things to do after school, choosing ideas from the idea bank or coming up with their own. Students fill out 10 answers to questions, then write paragraphs about this topic.
Berkshire Museum
Meet a Naturalist: Researching, Writing, Interviewing
Young scholars reach out into the community and learn about different environmental science careers in this inquiry-based instructional activity. Beginning with a short research assignment, children gain background knowledge about...
Curated OER
Folktale Writing
Review literary analysis techniques with this reading lesson about folktale writing. Middle schoolers read different folktales from many authors, and write their own folktales to share with the class. They identify the plot, morals and...
Curated OER
Writing a Newspaper-Style Article
Help your secondary reader/writers assess texts by studying press releases from Statistics Canada and drafting articles based on them. They then compare the press release, their own articles, and actual news stories they find online. I'd...
Education Development Center
Writing Numerical Expressions—Hexagon Tables
Explore a basic pattern to practice writing expressions. In collaborative groups, learners examine a contextual pattern and write an expression to model it. The task encourages groups to describe the pattern in multiple ways.
Curated OER
Spanish Literature: Teaching the Course for the First Time
Are you a first year AP Spanish teacher? Will you be teaching literature this year? Read this article for some professional development; what can you do to ensure your Spanish learners build their skills and master Spanish literature?
University of North Carolina
Application Essays
There's a lot riding on good writing! Often, an application essay is the difference between acceptance and rejection. As part of a series on specific writing assignments and contexts, a handout helps scholars craft the perfect personal...
University of North Carolina
Conference Papers
In the world of academia, conference papers and presentations play a big role. It's through conference papers that professors and graduate assistants share their research with others in the field. A handout on conference papers, part of...
Curated OER
Who's Your Hero/Heroine?
Students use research skills on the Internet and write a biographical report and present it to the class. They utilize a worksheet that's imbedded in this plan to guide them in their research. students come to school dressed up as their...
Curated OER
May 28th Writing Prompt
In this daily writing prompt worksheet, students learn that athlete Jim Thorpe was born in this day in 1888. Students think of a famous American they could immortalize in a postage stamp.
Curated OER
What Can I Write About When I Can't Think of Anything To Write About?
Third graders write, illustrate, and publish a collaborative story. In this writing lesson, 3rd graders review story elements by reading stories written by professional authors and other students. They work in groups to write a...
Curated OER
October Writing Journal
In this writing worksheet, young scholars use a story starter for each day of October to keep a journal of daily writing. Students may make a book by coloring the cover sheet, stapling the story starter page and coloring the decorated...
Curated OER
Student Resource Sheet-- Using Verbs in Writing
In this language arts worksheet, students explore the use of strong specific verbs in their writing. Students first read the information and look at the examples given. Students then brainstorm strong verbs to replace common words and...
Nebraska Department of Education
Writing Emails That Matter
LOL! BRB! :-) The rules for business and professional emails differ significantly from online communications among friends. As part of a career readiness study, pupils learn the do's and don'ts of writing professional emails.
California Education Partners
Tuck Everlasting
An assessment takes a close look at the story, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, and tests writing abilities. Over the course of two days, scholars read an excerpt, answer questions on a worksheet pertaining to the author's purpose...
California Education Partners
We Are The Ship
An assessment sheds light on scholars' ability to read, gather evidence, and draft an original written composition. Learners read an informative text twice before taking notes and discussing their thoughts and textual evidence with a...
California Education Partners
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
A three-part assessment tests scholars' reading and writing capabilities. Young readers listen to and read an excerpt from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel. After drawing pictures of what is memorable, learners discuss their notes...