Good news articles are engaging, informative, and often compelling. In the first lesson of the four-part series, young journalists analyze and evaluate news stories about former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom. They learn about the...

"What's in a name?" Is it irrelevant, as Juliet suggests in Shakespeare's play, or is nomenclature deeply significant? Young scholars weigh in on the debate by examining the controversy over the NFL's Washington, D.C. Redskins. Groups...

Senior Spotlight! Read all about them! Young photojournalists put together their articles and photographs, craft a layout, and publish their interviews with a senior from their high school.

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...

Read it, hear it, see it, do it! Young poets experience Edward Hirsch's memory poem, "Cotton Candy," by first closely reading the poem silently, then aloud, watching a video of the poet reading it, and crafting their memory poem of an...

Young poets learn the value of using a thesaurus when crafting and revising poems. They examine poems rich in figurative language and then a revised version with the figurative language removed. To demonstrate what they have learned,...

Being a historian requires serious sleuthing. They examine primary source documents and look for evidence, for clues that reveal who wrote the document, when, and why. After watching two historians model the process, young history...

"Tell me a story!" Young storytellers use this planning sheet to block out their narrative, identifying the main idea, characters, setting, events, and ending they will incorporate into their tale.

The sixth in a series of poetry writing exercises asks young poets to craft a free verse poem.

Readers of Avi's young adult novel, Nothing But the Truth reflect on events in the story through a series of journal responses.

A short story is only as strong as its characters, development, and conflicts. Encourage the young authors in your class to plan their stories based on the elements of narrative writing, all provided in brainstorming graphic organizers.

Readers of Tunes for Bears to Dance to are asked to write a personal letter to Henry, the main character in Robert Cormier's young adult novel, offering Henry advice about whether he should do as Mr. Hairston wants.

After completing Juliet Marillier's young adult novel Wildwood Dancing, class members rewrite a traditional fairy tale, making three significant changes to illustrate a theme of their choosing.

The letter G is the focus of a worksheet that offers tracing and writing practice to perfect young scholars' handwriting ability. 

Give young scholars the opportunity to practice their handwriting skills with a learning exercise featuring the upper and lowercase letter X. 

Walk young writers through the process of creating an initial writing sample for their portfolio. They determine their purpose, organize their ideas, and then create a draft. The lesson includes worksheets and online resources to...

What is an analytical essay? Introduce this type of thinking to your young writers. First, discuss what it means to analyze something. Then, identify the different components of an essay and what details are embedded in each component....

Supporting characters need detail and characteristics just like a main character. Keep your budding authors entrenched in detail as they write their novels. This lesson focuses on developing supporting characters using personal...

Every good novel needs a solid beginning! Setting the stage can have your budding authors stumped, so use this lesson to get them thinking. After examining the plot rollercoaster image (included) they consider the four places...

It's all about using peer resources in this writing process lesson, which includes a fantastic novel revision worksheet packet. Learners have read a partner's story draft the night before, and groups have a "lightning round of...

Young scholars are introduced to women authors during the 19th century. In groups, they read about the criticism they faced during this time period by the public and literary community. Using the internet, they research one author to...

Everyone celebrates traditions in different ways. Young writers share the ways their families celebrate Thanksgiving with a journal writing prompt and discussion activity.

For this editing instructional activity about pecans, young writers read and then correct grammatical mistakes in a short paragraph. The errors range from punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling.

Use alliteration to describe people, ideas, and places. Young writers will write eight alliterations to describe people, places, or ideas.