Curated OER
Passive Voice Exercises
What is the difference between the active voice and the passive voice? Focus on the latter with your middle schoolers to help them strengthen their writing. First, they identify which sentences are written in the passive. Then, they...
Curated OER
Active and Passive Voice
How are the active and passive voices different, and when should you use each one? The first page of this two-page worksheet contains the rules and several examples. On the second page, your grammarians will be able to put pen to paper...
Scholastic
Narrative Writing
If you're looking to start a unit based around narrative writing, make sure to consider this resource while you're planning. This book covers five topics: writing personal narratives, writing narratives about others, writing narratives...
Curated OER
Passive Voice Exercises
Strengthen understanding of grammar and syntax with this task. First, grammarians identify the active and passive voices, then they rewrite individual sentences to be in the active voice before manipulating an entire paragraph. Great...
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
Jeffrey and Sloth
Students listen to the story Jeffrey and Sloth and explore the six traits of writing. In this six traits of writing lesson plan, students practice doodling as a method of brainstorming ideas. Students then discover the importance of...
Curated OER
Nonfiction Genre Mini-Unit: Persuasive Writing
Should primary graders have their own computers? Should animals be kept in captivity? Young writers learn how to develop and support a claim in this short unit on persuasive writing.
Curated OER
Seedfolks Final Writing Assessment
Wrap up a study of Seedfolks with a final essay. Writers can draft their essays by following the steps and filling in the organizer provided here. The packet begins with a prompt, includes a few basic requirements, and provides an...
Curated OER
"In God We Trust": The Camden Man Who Put the Missing Motto on the Dollar Bill
Here is a fascintating lesson which relates how the motto "In God We Trust" came to appear on all US currency. It turns out that a man from Arkansas came up with the idea and petioned his congressman and President Eisenhower himself to...
Geography 360°
Poetry Writing
Put the tips and tricks in this guide into practice in order to encourage your pupils to blossom into poets. A wonderful reference material for teachers, this packet includes definitions of poetic terms and forms as well as step-by-step...
Smithsonian Institution
POWs
Why did Vietnam POWs and their families receive more media attention than POWs in previous wars? To answer this question, class members view artifacts, read articles, and engage in class discussion. Individuals then assume the voice of...
Curated OER
Peer Review Form for Scientific Writing
A peer review form just for science? Specifically tailored for science writing, this resource asks editors to give detailed responses to questions about the relevance of the study, the clarity of the hypotheses, the methods, materials,...
Novelinks
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Writing Strategy
How do your pupils believe others see them? Invite them to write narratives to explore the image they present to the word. The narratives, inspired by The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, are to be set at each pupil's hypothetical funeral.
Curated OER
Whose Voice Do I Hear?
Fifth graders examine the power of voice in writing by completing a story using words following a particular voice. They take simple nursery rhymes, then attempt to put their own voice to a revised version. An interesting lesson on writing!
Curated OER
Halloween Literature Unit: Creative Writing Project
Students practice their creative writing skills and build cooperative learning skills. In this creative writing project, students review parts of a story. Students reinforce the concept of sequencing and develop stronger writing skills. ...
Smekens Education Solutions, Inc.
Introducing the 6 Traits to Students
Put together an English language arts unit on the six traits of writing with this helpful collection of resources. From fun songs to differentiated writing exercises reinforcing each of the traits, great ideas are provided for developing...
Curated OER
The Metamorphosis During Reading Activity: Problematic Situation
Imagine waking up to find a giant bug staring back at you in the mirror! Think about the plight of Franz Kafka's Gregor in The Metamorphosis with a group discussion activity. Class members reflect on what it would be like to suddenly...
Little Stones
How Can Poetry Make People Think and Care?
Can beautiful words change the world? Literary scholars discover how to paint their visions of change using poetry in a series of three workshops. Each independent topic gives participants a chance to examine their feelings about...
Poetry Out Loud
Poems Put to Use
Why do we have to study poetry? Here is a lesson plan that demonstrates some of poetry's more practical and real-world applications for reluctant learners. Start by leading a brainstorming session about where poems or pieces of poems...
Curated OER
Putting Away Your Inner Editor
Personify your Inner Editor. After making a richly detailed paper doll of your Inner Editor, put him or her in your locker, under your bed or buried in a time capsule in your backyard, but not near where you like to write. Refuse to...
Curated OER
Unlikely Diary keepers Using Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
Put your class in the shoes of someone - or something - else with this lesson, which encourages writers to keep a diary from the perspective of a living creature or an abstraction. Use Doreen Cronin's Diary of a Worm and the Six Trait...
Curated OER
Have - Has
In this have or has worksheet, students fill in the blanks, put words in correct order, write sentences, and more. Students complete 7 activities.
Aspen Institute
The Voice That Challenged a Nation
Included here are step-by-step instructions for conducting a close reading of The Voice That Challenged a Nation by Russell Freedman. After an individual and class reading, class members read carefully through the text excerpt,...
Curated OER
Fun Along the Way: Technology and the Teaching of World Languages
Students record themselves saying basic biographical facts about themselves: : what their names are, where they live, how old they are, what languages they speak, and what activities they like to do. They practice their presentational...