Aspiring artists and budding writers combine their skills in an interactive lesson. Young scholars become authors when they create their own picture books focused on social justice. The resource guides learners through the writing and...

Young scholars are challenged to write a realistic analysis of Tennessee Williams' nonrealistic memory play, The Glass Menagerie. Writers use the evidence gathered on their worksheets to craft an effective thesis and concluding statement...

Young environmentalists learn how to craft a persuasive essay about an environmental issue they consider important. After studying the components of a persuasive essay and examining a student model, writers brainstorm possible topics and...

True! Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" makes readers nervous. But how? Young scholars create a drawing while listening to a reading of Poe's eerie tale to understand how writers create the mood of their stories and what their writing style...

Introduce young poets to Blackout Poetry. Much like Found Poems, Blackout Poetry challenges scholars to rethink the process writers may use to craft their poems. After watching a short video in which poet Austin Kleon describes his...

The third lesson in "The Story of an Hour" series introduces young readers to analogies; a literary device writers use to add depth to their stories. Instructors identify the three analogies in the tale, and class members consider the...

W. W. Jacobs' horror story, "The Monkey's Paw," is used to introduce foreshadowing. As they advance through the story, young readers make predictions about what might happen next and how the story might end. Pairs work through the...

How do writers develop a central idea in a text? How can readers identify this central idea? These are the challenges class members tackle as they continue their analysis of "Letter One" from Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet.

Where does a writer find inspiration? "Go into yourself," says Rainer Maria Rilke in "Letter One" from Letters to a Young Poet. Readers of Rilke's letter to Franz Xaver Kappus examine the words and figurative language Rilke uses to...

Class members continue examining how writers develop and support their ideas by comparing two texts about globalization. Alongside chapters from Sugar Changed the World, young scholars read an article by the World Bank entitled...

Young readers take a look at the conditional and subjunctive moods authors use. The Conditional and Subjunctive Mood handout defines the types of moods and gives them examples and practice. They then work with partners to identify...

Students read a text about women in Korean and their role in Korean literature. In this Korean literature lesson, students read a text by Helen Koh to learn about women writers in Korea.

Have you ever asked your young historians to write about a subject they have just learned, and were met with the response, "But what do I write about?" Next time, come prepared to meet them with this printable! For a general free-write...

Introduce your young readers to the book review. Groups of writers practice the basic steps of writing a book report and complete an Accordion-Book Summary activity. The lesson includes book report basics and directions to make...

Nonfiction texts about people on the move provide young readers with an opportunity to examine not only the problem-solving strategies employed by immigrants, but to also find examples of figurative language these writers use to tell...

Play with words and word meanings involving the suffix -er. After reading a sample list of words, young readers look up each one in the dictionary to decide which words refer to people, animals, or objects, or have three or more...

Character development, setting, and plot? Sounds like the makings of a good narrative story. Young authors read and analyze several narrative examples, and then they use what they know to pen an original composition. They work both in...

Six word searches help early readers and writers to practice writing and spelling typical classroom vocabulary. Each puzzle includes the same words, but the puzzles are each different.

One much-needed skill for young learners is direction giving. Have your class plan and draw a safe route for them to travel from home to school. They will also draw places and items that are in between home and school in order to build a...

Young thespians can try their hand at writing a script and acting out a scene, while gaining a deeper understanding of the universal topics presented in Shakespeare's wide array of plays. Begin the lesson by conducting a compare and...

If you teach health, sociology, ethics, or a class that addresses controversial issues, this resource related to schools' sex education programs may be useful. The New York Times' Learning Network provides a lengthy article on a unique...

Ask your learners this question as a quickwrite: why do you write? This prompt can begin a unit on writing and open up a dialogue about the motivations writers have. Tap into your scholars' reasons for writing and make the activity more...

What do a pot and a robot have in common? They both end in -ot! Kids practice their -ot words by reading the short poem included here and then tap into reading comprehension skills by answering the three questions.

Practice the short /a/ sound with your class. To get it down, they read a short poem that supplies many examples of words that include the short /a/ sound. Once they are finished reading, learners answer three reading comprehension...