Scholars use the model essay from the previous instructional activity to create their own argumentative essays. Readers make a claim about Atticus defending Tom in To Kill A Mockingbird. They then use graphic organizers to develop and...

Eeny, meany, miny, moe. It's time to choose a side. Scholars learn about taking a position by watching a video of a speech about local organic food. Next, pupils use graphic organizers to plan their speeches about which food chain is...

It's all about the introduction. Scholars work on the introductory paragraph for their essays, connecting the theme of a myth and The Lightning Thief. They use a graphic organizer to help focus their work and then move to working on the...

It seems that this presentation was designed for future educators, particularly those teaching a foreign language. Basic reading, writing, and organizational skills are presented, encouraging a discussion of strategies amongst your...

The proof is in the reading. Using the informative resource, scholars read a second article about either Althea Gibson or Roberto Clemente. As they read, they continue adding reasons and evidence to their graphic organizers to show how...

The difference between an average and an unforgettable writing can lie in the author's word choice. The figurative language in Chapter 2 of Christopher Paul Curtis's Newbery Medal Winner, Bud, Not Buddy, is the focus of a series of...

Fourth graders use a four-square graphic organizer to plan a paragraph writing about a wheelwright. Using gathered research from the previous unit, young writers discover how to organize a plot in preparation for writing a historical...

Let's get creative! With the fun resource, pupils continue working on their graphic novelettes about an invention, adding text and images to each section. When finished, they engage in a peer critique process, giving and receiving...

Eyes on the finish line. Serving as the first part of the end of unit assessment, learners answer questions based on a text about how to write a graphic novel. Using what they've learned, they then create a storyboard about the invention...

Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers. 

Class members practice their writing skills by completing a prompt about maturity. They develop a constructed response about something they once thought was important, but may not be as important now. 

Students write their own fables. In this writing fables lesson, students use handheld computers to write a fable. The class designs a spreadsheet to organize common elements of fables. Students also edit each others' work.

Poems carved into the wooden walls of the Asian immigrant prisons on Angel Island provide upper elementary graders an opportunity to study not only the story behind the poems but to also focus on the figurative language employed by the...

It's time to refine writing and word choice. Learners work on Part 1 of their end of unit assessment by creating an essay titled What Makes a Hurricane a Natural Disaster? They use glossaries and graphic organizers from previous...

It's all in the technique. Scholars revisit the model narrative they covered in lesson four to analyze the author's writing techniques. Readers compare techniques they spot in the narrative to those in the essay rubric. They then work to...

Halftime! Scholars write the rough draft of their position papers to serve as the mid-unit assessment. At the end of the sessions, pupils turn in their rough draft essays and work on independent reading.

Learners complete the end of unit assessment by writing an opinion essay about how Jackie Robinson changed America. They use evidence from the text, Promises to Keep, to support their opinions.

Fourth graders practice using a graphic organizer to record their notes and answer text-dependent questions while supplying evidence of how they found their answer. They focus on a machine called the wheelright, which was commonly...

As a summative assessment for this unit on colonial trade, fourth graders listen to and read informational texts in order to demonstrate their ability to take notes, write summaries, and draw connections. Young scholars first listen as...

Does your language arts class have a hard time with writing transitions? Use this organizational writing lesson to create three effective transition sentences that middle schoolers will use in their research of renewable resources.

To write an essay or not to write an essay—that is the question! Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment based on their study of Hamlet. They write essays analyzing how Shakespeare develops Hamlet's character about other characters.

How do learners use textual evidence from a close reading to write a well-developed essay? Scholars try it by completing a mid-unit assessment based on their analysis of the first 15 paragraphs from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia...

It's time to choose a position! Scholars read a model position paper about fracking to practice identifying the topic and argument. Then, working with a partner, they use a rubric to assess the essay. 

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,...