Strength-Training for Both Body and Mind

Which do you use: that or this? Which or where? Me or I? Practice pronoun use with a series of activities that focus on personal and demonstrative pronouns.

Writing is a process, and lesson planning is, too! A personal narrative unit stresses the writing process to pupils, who first examine various stories and poems as a model of autobiographical writing and then write their own stories....

Have you ever felt trapped in your own body? That is likely how Melody in Sharon M. Draper's Out of My Mind feels. As scholars read to find out how Melody finally expresses herself, they complete sentences with new words, describe...

What do a girl in foster care and a 91-year-old widow have in common? A crossword puzzle related to Orphan Train highlights some of the similarities the two characters share in the book. The puzzle pulls out key details from the novel to...

Students complete writing lessons to help students select a writing topic, prepare a writing plan, and create an interesting beginning. In this personal narratives lesson, students complete intensive modeling activities to write their...

What is the difference between a news story and a personal narrative? This plan has learners write a personal narrative using the topic of service projects in their community. Consider completing a cross-curricular extension by bringing...

Illuminate your playground with chaulk images. Young aratists use the web to research the work of Keith Haring. Groups then design their own piece of visual art and recreate their images on the school sidewalks of blacktop.

Merge technology and wellness. Class members complete inquiry-based research on a personal wellness issue and create an annotated bibliography, uploading their completed work to their personal wellness websites. Prior to beginning, your...

Robots and their interactions with their human counterparts are the catalyst for a fun writing lesson. First, the class brainstorms what they'd like to have their personal robot do or be capable of. Then, they each write a humorous story...

How does Hamlet's state of mind change over the course of Shakespeare's most famous revenge tragedy? After a close reading of Hamlet's soliloquies in Act III, scene 1 and Act IV, scene iv, class members engage in a Paideia/Socratic...