Curated OER
Thesis Statements
A good thesis is hard to craft. Model for your writers how to develop and refine thesis statements with a series of slides that discuss the purpose and format of this all-important sentence. Viewers following along as the process is...
Curated OER
Pirate Poems
Students increase their awareness of the fundamental of poetry. They write their own poetry on a familiar topic. Students create a paper-bag puppet on which to display their poem. They are told that poetry is a special way to tell a story.
Curated OER
Basic Guide to Writing an Essay
Introducing your class to essay writing? The gentle tone, concise explanations, and clear examples provided by a 17-slide presentation introduces young writers to the expository essay format. All that's missing is a complete essay with...
Curated OER
Genres, Genres Everywhere
Young readers assume the role of Genre Sleuths to investigate the characteristics of folktales, fantasies, and mysteries. For this session you will need to collect a variety of books on a topic you have been studying. Groups then examine...
Curated OER
Hands-On Outlining
In order to write an effective outline, children must be able to identify main ideas and supporting details, which is the aim of this fun and kinesthetic activity. The class works on the floor to organize sentence strips prepared by the...
Curated OER
A Sentence for Life
What is a sentence? Second graders will explore the components of a sentence in the ten lessons of this unit. The subject, predicate, the process of proofreading, punctuation, and sentence sequence are analyzed in this unit. Handouts and...
Curated OER
Cloud Sequence
Students write or draw events inside a cloud to show sequence. Students draw pictures or write to explain a topic in the center cloud. This is great for many grade levels.
Curated OER
My Favorite Thing
Students write about their favorite thing using all five senses, where possible.
Curated OER
Writing ABC Poetry
Third graders discover the background of alphabet poetry and as a group construct a poem on the board. Using all the letters in the alphabet, they individually create their own poems.
Curated OER
Focus on the Topic When Writing
In this focus on the topic when writing worksheet, students read how to select and narrow a topic, check resources and write a thesis sentence.
Curated OER
Theme vs. Topic
Students use Aesop's fables to examine theme and topic. In this theme and topic lesson, students read different fables and discussing as a class. After hearing more stories students work in pairs to determine the theme or topic.
Curated OER
AWP 3 Unit 5 Word Search
In this language arts worksheet, students locate and identify various vocabulary terms related to literature. There are 20 words/phrases located in the puzzle.
Curated OER
Online Museum Worksheet
In this technology worksheet, students research an online museum and select a topic within that museum. They read the story section and summarize it in a paragraph. Then students list five important things that they learned about the...
Curated OER
Using a Time Focus- Owl Moon
Students practice writing on a specific topic. Students read "Owl Moon." They chronologically and comprehensively list all events occurring in the story. Students choose one specific event in the story on which to write.
Curated OER
Designing the Perfect Science Fair Project Webquest
Sixth graders examine the Scientific Method and define their topic of interest. Students familiarize themselves with how to utilize their resources and create note cards. Students create their written report and display of their...
Curated OER
Impromptu Speeches
Pupils brainstorm their favorite summer activities and volunteers five impromptu speeches. They review the rubric for impromptu speeches and discuss possible topics for speeches. They give impromptu speeches and evaluate each other.
Curated OER
Giving Second Graders the Write Skills
Second graders analyze the steps taken in writing a paragraph in the ten lessons of this unit. Writing for a particular purpose is developed as the conventional grammar skills utilized.
Curated OER
Writing: Planning and Organizing
Twelfth graders examine the five step prewriting process used before writing essays. They select a common topic and determine the purpose,and audience for the essay. They list examples in daily life where planning and organizing are...
Curated OER
Newsprint Activity
Students identify the main question behind their paper and narrow the focus and purpose of their paper. They view their topic from a variety of perspectives and determine their own interest in a particular aspect of a topic. They...
Curated OER
Collaborative Poetry
Students work together to write poems on familiar topics such as tree, river, love, etc. Working in groups, each student writes a line about their topic and passes it to another student. When the poem returns to the originator, the...
Curated OER
Musical Chairs Topic Critique
Students create topics for other students to write about in the computer lab.
SUNY Empire State College
Empire State College: Thesis and Shaping Information
This tutorial on writing essays contains several sections pertaining to the thesis. These include thesis definition, characteristics, analysis of thesis to gather and shape information, and topic sentences. Many examples given. W.9-10.2...
Online Writing Lab at Purdue University
Purdue University Owl: Choosing a Topic
This Purdue University OWL (Online Writing Lab) provides information related to writing a research paper. This guide explains to choose an appropriate research paper topic.
Joe Landsberger
Study Guides & Strategies: Writing Basics
This site by University of St. Thomas focuses on the basics for writing any paragraph. It is developed in outline fashion and is very easy to follow. This site provides a basic overview of the process of writing without going into a...