PBS
Write a New Year Poem Inspired by Amanda Gorman’s "New Day’s Lyric"
Here's a new take on a new year. After watching and discussing the video of Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman performing her "New Day's Lyric," young poets craft poems that reflect their feelings about the past year and their resolutions...
Curated OER
Project Peace Process
Students collaboratively write a peace plan as they role play citizens of foreign countries. In this current events lesson, students take on the role of Israelis or Palestinians, research background information and current political...
US National Archives
We the People Focusing on Details: Compare and Contrast
Even the most inspiring documents in American history had to go through a few drafts before they were ready for publication. Reinforce the importance of the writing process, as well as the collaborative nature of democracy, with an...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3
Teach your class the basics of narrative writing! The resource first describes the Common Core standard for narrative writing in-depth, and then moves into how to apply the standard. Show your class the example essay and quiz them...
Consortium for Ocean Leadership
Measure for Measure
How does your class measure up? Young scientists create a scale drawing of the JOIDES Resolution in a collaborative activity. The lesson incorporates mathematical principles with deep-sea exploration to focus on enhancing measurement...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 10: Character Development
Make a study of Timothy and his development as a character over the course of the first half or so of The Cay. This idea focuses in particular on chapters 10 through 12. Learners start out by working on double-entry journals created in...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 9: Climax
Conduct a close reading of chapter 9 of The Cay. Read the chapter again and ask pupils to respond to a list of included text-dependent questions. Finish the class with the provided writing assignment, which asks learners to use textual...
Sean Banville
New Year's Day
Focus on a passage about the new year with your English language learners. You can start with reading the passage aloud to your class, and then launch into the related activities. Pupils match phrases, complete cloze-style activities,...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 13: Character Development 2
Building upon prior lessons in the series, this reading and writing exercise requires pupils to look back at their own writing, track character development in the novel The Cay, and analyze how Phillip has changed. The reading focus is...
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
West Side Story Suite and In The Night Fancy Free
West Side Story and Romeo & Juliet—two classics in their own rights that help young literature lovers better analyze different works. Learners research and compare the characters and story elements of West Side Story and Romeo...
Curated OER
Resolution Box
Students decorate a shoebox with New Year's decorations. In thiis art lesson, students discuss what a resolution is, write down their resolutions for the coming year, and sign a paper dating it showing when the resolution was made.
San Diego County District Attorney
Girls Only!
Promote positive self-esteem in young girls with this educational toolkit—a thorough document that lists a wide variety of activities, from writing an I am poem or learning to give compliments to a conflict resolution role-play...
DocsTeach
To What Extent was Reconstruction a Revolution? (Part 1)
Some scholars consider the Civil War and Reconstruction a second American Revolution. Class members weigh in after examining primary sources, including a Congressional resolution calling for the Fifteenth Amendment and the credentials of...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Comprehension: Narrative Text Structure, Story Pieces
An activity boosts reading comprehension by challenging scholars to answer questions about a narrative tale detailing elements—plot, characters, setting, theme, problem, and solution.
Scholastic
Mindful Listening
Teach your middle schoolers to use their ears to their highest potential! Pupils practice active listening skills and reflect on how careful listening might prove to be important in and out of the classroom.
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 8: Character
Characters often change over the course of a story or novel. Use the sample graphic organizer provided here to track how the narrator has responded to the sequence of events in chapter four through six of The Cay. In addition to this...
Curated OER
We Can Work It Out
In this activity, students will learn how to consider alternatives before reacting to a conflict.
Curated OER
When the Going Gets Rough...
In this activity, students will reflect on what strategies they have used-and with what degree of success-when confronted with frustration or difficulty in an assignment, project, or activity.
PBS
Pbs Teachers:what I Want My Words to Do to You: Using Writing to Resolve Conflic
Use writing as a conflict resolution strategy and re-writing as a way to improve writing skills. Learn to respectfully critique another's writing and consider situations from a variety of perspectives.
Scholastic
Scholastic: 31 Writing Prompts for the New Year
These 31 new year writing prompts will inspire your students to reflect on the past year, set realistic goals and resolutions, and look ahead to a bright future to make 2022 even more successful!
NWT Literacy Council
Nwt Literacy Council: Writing Well: Adult Writing Contest [Pdf]
A poem, an essay and a story written by First Nations northerners are the winning entries in this adult writing contest held in Fort Resolution in the Northwest Territories. The essay talks of how a low literacy level affects one's health.
Live Wire Media
Good Character: Preventing Conflicts & Violence
Learn how conflicts arise, how to prevent conflicts, and how emotions and attitudes affect conflicts. Also, learn how to speak out against violence with the help of the discussion questions, activity ideas, and writing prompts provided...
British Library
British Library: 20th Century: Creative Activities
Channel your creativity with these writing activities.
Other
Bruce Hale: How to Write a Story
Author/illustrator Hale shows you how to put together a story by creating all the story's parts.