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Create a Holiday for Your Favorite Hero
Students create a holiday for a hero. The person may be someone in history who is not currently honored with a holiday, another famous person, a family member, a friend, or someone else they admire.
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Create a Holiday
Students create their own holidays, describing them in booklet form. They develop the holiday's name, symbol, colors, food, and historical significance.
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Writing Bug - Food Ad
In this writing worksheet, students create an ad for their favorite food. Students are encouraged to use adjective to describe it's taste, give details about how it is prepared and write a catchy phrase about that food.
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Poetry Gifts
What kind of shoe is this person? What time of day is this person? Aspiring poets’ responses to a list of questions provide descriptive words and phrases that can be crafted into a blank verse poem. A link to sample poems is provided.
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Descriptive Writing - The Hobbit
Hobbits, dwarfs, wizards, trolls, and goblins. Readers track these fantastic creatures through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit noting passages of character description and scenery changes. Using specific passages from the novel, class...
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When A Story Met A Sandwich
How is a story like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Use making a sandwich as a metaphor to remind your writers that a good, solid beginning, a rich and rewarding middle, and an ending that brings everything together spices up a...
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Shakespeare 2000
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...
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"Knot" the Whole Truth: Writing a Modern-Day Story with a Tall Tale's Voice
Beyond Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, tall tales can be a great way to teach young writers about word choice and voice in their writing. Using Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee and the Six-Trait Writing process, they begin to write their own...
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Lesson Plan 3: Great Book, Gross Book
It's time for your scholars to become book reviewers! Start with a fun review of foods: are they good or gross? Learners apply these evaluation techniques to books, recording their thoughts on large pieces of butcher paper. Simply have...
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Academic Writing Worksheet
Academic writing is characterized by certain phrases. Young writers are asked to indicate where, in an academic paper, phrases like, having said that, most experts agree that, the generally accepted view is that, etc. would appear....
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Blank Story Board
While this resource doesn't look like much at first glance, it has the potential to become anything your class can dream up. It is a blank story board template which you can print and use for a wide variety of lessons. Tip: Have learners...
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Improving Your Writing
As a writer, how can you show your audience a certain character is showing a certain emotion? Use this activity to practice giving detailed descriptions of your characters and their feelings. Writers complete a chart that lists seven...
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Lesson Plan 8: Setting and Mood
What mood does this story evoke? How are setting and mood linked? Young novelists explore the different emotions brought about by writing, starting by journaling things that inspire their own feelings. Examine the word mood, looking into...
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Daily Writing Prompts April
A great resource that can be used every year during the month of April. This handout includes over 30 writing prompts, one or two for every day in the month of April. Each writing prompt is tailored to its specific day, as they are...
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Lesson Plan 10: Writing Really Good Dialogue
Boring dialogue can run a great story into the ground; get your novelists using dialogue as a tool to move their story into deeper and more developed territory. As part of a larger writing series, this lesson has a worksheet that can...
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Plot/Poetry Review
Before a writer can create a well-composed piece, he/she needs to know the ropes. Review parts of speech, plot, and elements of poetry with this set of questions presented as a PowerPoint. The text, being white, is kind of difficult to...
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Tyrone, the Horrible
Read a Hans Wilhelm story and complete creative writing activities. Start by reading Tyrone, the Horrible and discuss the behavior in the book. Then split your class into groups to create a "bully" situation and discuss possible...
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Ready, Steady, Cook!
When paired with a trip to Aston Hall's kitchen, this activity is a good way to practice recall and descriptive language. Without literally being in the kitchen, it could actually be an even better activity! Students could use their...
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Writing Bug - A New Holiday
What we need is another day off! Pupils use a one-page worksheet to present their ideas for a new holiday celebration. After choosing a name and date, they describe how the holiday would be observed and what people would do to celebrate...
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Bumper Stickers: A Matter of Focus
Honk if you love bumper stickers! Long used as a persuasive tool, bumper stickers are used to launch this study of persuasive writing. Each class member is given a bumper sticker and asked to formulate three questions the strip might...
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BECOME A LOGOPHILE
It's time to write! First, lead your emerging writers in a power writing activity. It takes six minutes and focuses on creative brainstorming. The class is given two words (duck and apple are suggested, but alter the words for different...
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Poetry Workshop: Putting Feelings into Words
Poetry is a wonderful way for learners to express themselves and develop writing skills. A comprehensive PowerPoint presentation defines, and provides examples of, the types and components of poetry. The presentation concludes with a...
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My Opinion Template
Fourth and fifth graders identify opinions and supporting details with this graphic organizer. Consider giving your class different categories to create opinions around. There is space to identify four different opinions.
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A Wanderer's Point of View
High schoolers write an imaginative story using a specific point of view. Students imagine what life along the Mississippi River is like and pretend they are there. High schoolers may use the scenario provided, or create their own for...