+
Website
Better Lesson

Better Lesson: W.2.1 Write Opinion Pieces...

For Teachers 1st - 3rd Standards
Choose from a variety of lessons to help your students write an effective opinion piece.
+
Lesson Plan
Better Lesson

Better Lesson: And the Author Is...using Digital Tools for Writing

For Teachers 1st - 3rd Standards
Empower students to recognize that they are thinkers and writers! They will collaborate on a writing piece to brainstorm, organize and publish ideas with a digital tool. This lesson highlights different website creations as examples of...
+
Professional Doc
Queen's Printer for Ontario

Ontario Education: A Guide to Effective Instruction in Writing

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
This comprehensive guide is designed to provide classroom teachers of Kindergarten to Grade 3 with practical approaches and resources for delivering an effective writing program. Sample lessons are included for each topic discussed.
+
Lesson Plan
Better Lesson

Better Lesson: Topic Sentences

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
Often, we ask students to find the main idea in the story- this helps when re-telling. Why not apply this idea to writing? Find the main idea and introduce your writing with that idea; just like with a book, it helps with re-telling!...
+
Article
Reading Rockets

Reading Rockets: Descriptive Writing

For Students 1st - 5th Standards
This is a comprehensive article about what descriptive writing including what it is, why to teach it and strategies to teach it. It also features two videos Five Senses Graphic Organizer and Writing Poems as well as an annotated list of...
+
Lesson Plan
Michigan State University

Michigan State University: Intervention for Reading: Summarization Strategy

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Improve understanding of expository materials by summarizing the main ideas. The summarization strategy helps young scholars recall the main ideas and specific facts of materials they read. There are five rules for writing summaries.
+
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Introduction to Nature Journaling

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
In this activity, students will be introduced to nature journaling and discover the importance of detail accuracy in scientific drawings when used to observe and identify objects.
+
Lesson Plan
Writing Fix

Writing Fix: If You Give a Student an Animal

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
For this lesson plan, the book If You Give a Moose a Muffin, written by Laura Numeroff, is used as a mentor text for word choice. The content focus of the lesson is to teach the students to take ownership of scientific and descriptive...
+
Lesson Plan
Writing Fix

Writing Fix: Write About Something Real at School

For Teachers 1st - 9th Standards
In this Writers Workshop lesson, students look around themselves and think about their daily lives at school to find relevant writing topics.
+
Activity
Writing Fix

Writing Fix: The Wacky "I Will Not" Chalkboard

For Students 1st - 9th Standards
Students can use this writing idea from the book Wacky We-Search Reports by Barry Lane to demonstrate understanding in any content area. Students use the idea of writing "I will not " sentences to show their knowledge of various...
+
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Classify and Summarize Information [Pdf]

For Students 2nd - 8th Standards
This learning module contains a link to graphic organizers that will help students categorize content and comprehend short and extended texts. The graphic organizers are designed to be applied to reading nonfiction passages in science...
+
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Writing Workshop: Helping Writers Choose and Focus on a Topic

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
Students engage in writing workshop, using a timeline to focus in on and write about a specific event.
+
Lesson Plan
Writing Fix

Writing Fix: Story Starters: Intriguing Titles

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
In this lesson, an interactive link included to help generate ideas for stories. A button is clicked and a topic is given. In a writer's notebook or journal, each student will use the topic given and develop it. [Requires Adobe Reader.]
+
Lesson Plan
Writing Fix

Writing Fix: Question and Answer Books

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
Beginning writers work through a Writing Workshop format to create Question and Answer books. A series of mini-lessons, graphic organizers, possible texts, and samples of student work are all provided.
+
Website
Scholastic

Scholastic: Math Journals Boost Real Learning

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Discover how writing in a journal can boost your students reading skills when you read this article. This article sites ways to integrate writing with teaching math skills.
+
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Great Ideas!

For Teachers 2nd Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about some good ideas that became inventions. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
+
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Ideas That Pop

For Teachers 2nd Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about an invention made by a 10-year-old girl from Texas. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
+
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Steps to Inventing

For Teachers 2nd Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text listing the four steps kids can follow to become inventors. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
+
Lesson Plan
Writing Fix

Writing Fix: Writing a Roundabout Story

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
In this lesson plan, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Numeroff, is used as a mentor text to highlight the trait of organization. The content focus of the lesson is to highlight that authors' story structures can be imitated. Story...
+
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Weather: A Journey in Nonfiction

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
Questions about weather clear up when students use what they learned from their books to create a presentation to share with the rest of the class.
+
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Using Curiosity for Descriptive Writing

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Lesson plan which allows kindergartners to combine their experiences and curiosity into developing beginning descriptions. Students use memories and illustrations in writing.
+
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Reading/writing About Whales Using Fiction and Nonfiction Texts

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
Students will have a whale of a good time in this lesson in which they use fiction and nonfiction texts to write a letter to an online scientist.
+
Activity
Other

Kim's Korner: Six Trait Analytic Writing Model

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st Standards
Check out this comprehensive website featuring ideas for teaching writing based on the six trait analytic writing model.
+
Activity
Other

Boggle's World: Creative Writing Worksheets

For Students 2nd - 8th Standards
A large collection of downloadable writing prompt worksheets to encourage students to develop their writing skills. Includes a variety of themes and some on special celebrations, such as Christmas and Halloween.