Other
Hong Kong Polytech: Functions in Academic Writing
Provides a wealth of interactive exercises dealing mainly with the structuring of sentences in different kinds of academic writing.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Weather Is Frightful
Students are asked to explain how climate and extreme weather events affect people's lives in this writing exercise provided by Science Now!
Department of Defense
Do Dea: English 4; Order and Chaos
A learning module asking students to analyze different types of texts, use literary terms, write a persuasive essay, and practice grammar and vocabulary skills all within themes related to order and chaos or war and peace.
Department of Defense
Do Dea: English 4; Utopia
A learning module asking students to analyze different types of texts, connect literature to events and experiences, use various writing skills, deconstruct media, practice grammar and vocabulary skills, and analyze point of view,...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Communicating at Work
In this interactive lesson, students will learn the importance of interpersonal communication skills, listening skills, and making a good impression. Students will gather information through reading, activities, and video excerpts from...
TESL Journal
The Internet Tesl Journal: Reading Nonfiction Texts Fast
Article lists a series of steps and tasks to make reading texts more efficient and clear. Written primarily for teachers of ESL students but tasks work for all students.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Out of Proportion
Students are asked to explain how natural disasters affect environmental health.
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Fiction: Short Story & Novel Fact Sheet
This is a short story or novel fact sheet offered as a Word document or a PDF. It includes places for title; author; URL; list of important nouns, verbs, phrases, and clauses; setting (includes definition); characterization (including...
Ted Nellen
Cyber English (By Ted Nellen): Characterization
This is a glossary entry for the term "Characterization" including a definition and the characteristics to be developed: Character's appearance, actions, thoughts, voice, and reaction from others.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: You're on a Gigantic Roll
In this lesson the writer will imagine and compose a descriptive paragraph that focuses on a gigantic object moving through a specific setting and leaving destruction in its wake, modeled after the book James and the Giant Peach by Roald...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Show What Your Mind Sees
This writing activity asks writers to make use of both showing and telling as they create a well-organized paragraph of description. After reviewing showing versus telling by building a writer's notebook page, each writer will show what...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: A Picture Book Writing Lesson: Start With What Isn't There
In this lesson, students will describe a setting, attempting to set a mood for their readers in two paragraphs. Borrowing a technique from Stephen Kramer's two-page introduction to Caves, they will begin with a paragraph that explains...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Serendipitous Character Descriptions
In this lesson, students create a unique character and develop a descriptive paragraph utilizing strong word choice.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Alliterative Insects
In this lesson students develop a story about an insect while utilizing previously written sentences with strong word choice.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Painting Places With Words
In this instructional activity students learn how to paint a setting with their descriptive choice of words.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Emotions and Colorful Days
In this lesson learners will learn to write descriptively.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: So Much Depends Upon
In this instructional activity students will write a descriptive short story based upon 16-word imagery poems they have previously written.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Action Words Bring Life to Setting Details [Pdf]
Students learn how to develop their ideas through description and action words through a story scavenger hunt. [PDF]
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Inventing Stories for Your Favorite Clothes
After reading several clothing descriptions and stories from the J. Peterman Clothing Catalogue, students imitate the voice of the catalogue to write descriptions and stories of their own clothes. Teacher instructions, printable graphic...
The Write Place
Literacy Education Online: Sensory Details
This site provides several sample sentences which show sensory details and aid students in writing specific rather than general sentences. It is a good site for someone preparing to write a descriptive essay. W.9-10.3d Precise/sensory...
Harold D. Underdown
Derailed by Details
A helpful site for writers which gives the proper perspective in assessing the detail involved in your writing. Provides examples of how to include exciting, relevant details when writing fiction.
Harold D. Underdown
Write Descriptive Passages to Die For
Provides excellent examples of descriptive writing for one needing inspiration. Site is written for those who write literature for children, but can also be applicable to other genres.
Robin L. Simmons
Grammar Bytes: The Modifier
Printable information is provided that demonstrates how to identify a modifier in the context of a sentence.
English for Everyone
English for Everyone: Sentence Completion 2: Level 5 [Pdf]
English for Everyone provides a printable quiz to assess Level 5 vocabulary. Students will use context clues to place words, or word pairs, into compound and complex sentences.