Students write an effective conclusion for their essay.  In this conclusion instructional activity students restate the thesis of their paper and summarize three important points.  Students then write a final statement to wrap...

Third graders summarize a piece of nonfiction text. After reviewing the correct way to read in order to summarize, 3rd graders independently read a nonfiction article. They write a summary paragraph using the questions outlined by the...

Beginning botanists view slides of plant vascular tissue. They watch Magic School Bus Gets Planted, which you can find online, and then write a summary of what they have learned about plants. This lesson could be used with upper...

Here is a lesson on terrorism and 9/11. While outdated, it could be easily revised for today's teens. It includes targeted vocabulary, a background information activity, critical thinking questions, and step-by-step procedures for...

Students practice writing emergency reports. In this emergency reports lesson, students participate in a visit from a police officer or emergency technician. Students then write a historical report based on the fictional account the...

Students examine their geography skills. In this weather forecasting lesson, students select a location and research it. Students write a weather report or forecast for the chosen location based on their research.

Transition words in writing are the focus of the language arts lesson presented here. In it, learners cut out the word-sort cards (embedded in the plan), and put them into four categories: time, examples, space, and summary. They find a...

Students explore four Native American tribes from Nevada. In this Native American history lesson, students identify and generate important corresponding attributes of the Southern Paiute, Northern Paiute, Washoe, and Western Shoshone...

Students read a short selection of a story individually or as a class. On their own, they create a story pyramid for the selection and write a one page summary. They use text from the story for their supporting details. To end the...

Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address," which is available online, is used in the language lesson presented here. Middle schoolers read through the text for comprehension. Then, they reread the first paragraph and identify all the words with...

To better understand how to compose a clear and well-organized paper, learners read short passages, write summaries, and make colored graphic organizers. This is a fully developed three-day lesson with suggested assessments.

Students read and analyze a classic Eastern European folktale. In partners, they read the story, take notes, define vocabulary terms, and write a summary of the folktale.

Sixth graders write a paper. For this writing and retelling lesson, 6th graders read the book The Black Snowman and answer comprehension questions. Students learn how to write good paragraphs and how to retell a story. Students write a 3...

Students are introduced to informational text. Students explore nonfiction as a genre. They identify the components and text structure of text nonfiction. Students read a nonfiction passage and write a summary of the passage.

After a review of the steps involved in writing a summary, class members read The Physics of Baseball by Sarah Ives and use a story web to identify the important details to include in their summary. Class members then choose an article...

Students explore how to summarize a reading passage. They read non-fiction books. Students use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the two animals they read about. They write a summary using the information in their Venn Diagram.

“It was a dark and stormy night.” Thus begins the 1830's novel Paul Clifford and, of course, all of Snoopy’s novels! Encourage young writers to craft settings for their stories that go beyond Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s often-mocked phrase...

Seventh graders practice sequencing the events in a story they have read. After reading a short story, 7th graders sequence the events of the story using a timeline. Their timeline is used to create a summary paragraph of the story...

Students investigate entertaining characters within stories. In this writing lesson, students review nouns and adjectives and discuss magical characters. Students ask themselves questions about their selected characters and write a...

Third graders identify the skills that are important in performing helper jobs in the school and the skills that are possessed personally by the student. They write a short paragraph to summarize the information taught about their top...

Young mathematicians gather data on a topic, graph it in various forms, interpret the information, and write a summary of the data. They present their data and graphs to the class.

In groups, learners review one of four selected Supreme Court cases. The whole class watches a video introducing the four cases, and then small groups dive into Internet research in an attempt to write a two-paragraph summary of the...

Students compose a opening paragraph that sets the scene and foreshadows events. In this writing fiction instructional activity, students write an opening paragraph about a mugging and describe the scene in a way that foreshadows...

Young scholars read Arthur's Pet Business and  complete a pre-writing worksheet for expository writing.  For this paragraph writing lesson, students gather and organize material for a paragraph about pets.