What makes writing literary? What comprises analysis? A 15-slide PowerPoint presentation, created by the Purdue University Writing Lab, tackles these questions. The explanations of what makes writing literary and what comprises analysis...

Boring dialogue can run a great story into the ground; get your novelists using dialogue as a tool to move their story into deeper and more developed territory. As part of a larger writing series, this activity has a worksheet that can...

Need a key to unlock writer's block? Introduce your writers to four easy steps that will release them from their mental prison. The brainstorming worksheet, designed to set free their imaginations, even has an answer key.

Here is a writing expressions worksheet in which learners write an expression to solve a set of 6 word problems; all problems relate to money.

To be used in connection with a group project or at the end of a unit, this handout contains two essay writing prompts. The first prompt asks a group of learners to work together to evaluate their groups' performance as well as each...

You could spend a full day discussing The Phantom of the Opera and not scratch the surface, but a set of lessons about the literary elements and themes of the musical production is a great start. Young thespians build upon the...

In this setting goals home-school worksheet, students work with at family partner to set three school goals for the coming school year. They decide what they need to do to achieve those goals. They write about their plan to achieve those...

Your class can take turns describing a well know location or setting without giving its name, and the rest of the class can try to identify the location, based on the details given.  They chart the elements that helped in the...

Place value is important as scholars begin ordering larger number based on their values. They order seven sets of numbers, ranging from three digits to seven digits. Then, they complete a word problem by examining four town populations...

A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...

There are mixed and whole numbers in these sets; can your scholars put them in order from least to greatest? For each set they put five numbers in order, paying close attention to the whole numbers attached to the fractions. Learners...

This is the culminating activity for a unit on energy balance for 3rd-5th graders created by Together Counts. Young learners make a plan to balance their energy in and their energy out for one month. They use the SMART steps in creating...

Creative writing allows your students to explore their imagination and connect to literature in a personal way. This presentation will help you discuss what a good writing lead, or attention grabber is. Included are a list of lead types...

Using numbers with varying units (money, length, volume, distance, weight), scholars put each set in order from least to greatest. There are five numbers in each set, and they are all whole numbers with units attached (numbers in each...

Can I say a number by its name, and can you write it for me? Working in small groups or with the whole class, give your kindergartners a piece of 1-inch graph paper and have them write numbers 0 to 10 and 11 to 20. Next, pass out blank...

Fun awaits both you and your class as you embark on a musical activity. After discussing different rhythmic meters they choose a poem to set to music. The poem must rhyme and be set to a melody in the key of C Major. Because the activity...

Your students will have no problem relating to this word problem involving a toy car race: there are three cars, and they come in first, second, and third place in a race down the driveway. Learners analyze the data by writing the...

When would two paws up denote a blockbuster film in your classroom? Only when young writers create movie reviews from a pet's perspective in this imaginative expository writing practice. This engaging topic begins with a class discussion...

How do good writers exhibit emotion in their work without using an emotion word (angry, sad, happy, etc.)? This plan offers learners model texts that describe an emotion without using an emotion word. A well-formatted writing activity is...

How can you incorporate drawing a dinosaur with printing practice? Here's how! Budding printers trace and write lowercase letters c and o, following guidelines to trace one set before trying another on their own. Then,...

Examine the differences between totalitarianism and democracy in this writing lesson. Using the same format and theme from Great Expectations, young writers work in pairs to compose their own short stories. They follow guidelines for the...

Technology has undoubtedly improved the lives of people around the world—but has it improved communication? Seventh graders read two informative passages about the rise of texting and emailing versus in-person conversations before...

Take your haikus to the next level with tanka poems, another form of Japanese poetry that regulates the length and rhythm of each line by syllables. Young writers read the explanation, examples, and tips for tanka poems before writing...