Pace University
Short Stories
A reading of Kevin Lamb's short story "Lost in the Woods" launches a study of how writers use elements such as foreshadowing, mood, character development, setting, and conflict to engage readers. Class members then demonstrate what they...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Candidate Position Research
As part of their study of the US Presidential election process, class members research a presidential candidate's position on a specific topic or topics. Formatting their research as a pro/con question ("Should the Death Penalty Be...
Curated OER
Writing Workshop: Writing Process
If reading seems to be going out the window due to television or other influences, it follows that writing might be close behind. Here are suggestions for setting up a writing workshop in your classroom to keep writing going strong.
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Common Core Writing Strand: The Research Paper Template for Standards 7-8
Considering a research paper for freshman and sophomores? Here's a template designed to meet the W.9-10.7 and 8 Common Core writing standards. Writers outline their research question, claims, counterarguments, support, commentary, and...
Tiny Mobile
Poetry Creator | Verses
Construct from a canvas of words, lyrical expressions that your budding poets can share and post. Based on refrigerator magnet poetry, creative writers can develop their poetry independently, or from a given prompt from their instructor.
K12 Reader
Winter Attack
A pack of hungry wolves surround a panicked buffalo – who will come out alive? Have your young writers narrate this nature scene, taking the point of view of either a wolf or the buffalo. Perfect for a narrative writing unit or for your...
Curated OER
How Do Authors Use Imagery to Shape Their Writing?
Esther Forbes' award-winning Revolutionary War novel, Johnny Tremain and excerpts from Julie Otsuka's When the Emperor Was Divine are used to model how imagery brings alive the setting of a story. The young writers then craft their own...
Scholastic
Leads in Narrative Writing
The beginning, a very good place to start, is also a very difficult thing to craft. Provide your writers with this handout that identifies, and provides examples of, six different types of narrative leads.
Virginia Department of Education
Grade 8 Writing Prompts
Imagine four pages of writing prompts. Although designed specifically for eighth graders, the topics could be used for upper-elementary and high school writers as well.
Nancy Fetzer's Literacy Connections
Expository Paragraph
Upper elementary and middle school writers learn how to craft an expository paragraph by following the six steps detailed in a 48-page instructional guide. Learners learn how to write six different types of informational paragraphs: to...
Curated OER
Using Figurative Language
Adding details and figurative language makes any story more fun to read! After reading two versions of the same story, one devoid of figurative language and one embellished, young writers are asked to add alliteration, hyperbole,...
K12 Reader
The Magic Egg
A butterfly? A dragon? A golden fairy? Young writers create a tale about a magic egg, its contents, and what happens next. No yoke.
K12 Reader
A Special Summer Day
Young writers craft the story of a special summer day, detailing the event and why the day was so memorable.
K12 Reader
Something Green
Kermit would really enjoy this prompt. Young writers select something green, describe it, identify where it is found and how it is used, and then illustrate their something.
K12 Reader
Tell the Story - The Cows Go Shopping
Will Casey get a can of clover? After examining the provided writing prompt about Casey's trip to the grocery store, young writers must decide what happens next and tell their story with words and pictures.
Student Handouts
Why Does an Author Write?
To get to the heart of a writer's purpose, just remember to have some PIE (Persuade, Inform, or Entertain)! And appropriately, here is a PIE chart that leaves room for pupils to identify each letter of the acronym and any other ideas or...
Curated OER
Tangerine: Writing Assignment: Paul’s Witness Account
As a final assignment in a unit study of Edward Bloor's Tangerine, individuals assume the voice of Paul Fisher and craft the witness report Paul mentions in the final pages of the novel. A great way to assess the writer's understanding...
Premier Literacy
Point of View
Incorporate technology into a literature lesson with an innovative language arts lesson. Middle schoolers read an electronic version of original stories or fairy tales, and after determining the point of view, rewrite the tale from a...
Dream of a Nation
Writing an Analytic Essay
After researching an issue introduced in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, writers develop an original thesis statement and craft an analytic essay using evidence collected in their research.
EngageNY
Publishing Historical Fiction Narratives
Class members discover what it means to publish their works. Working on a computer, young writers use an online dictionary to edit their spellings and conventions based on the information added to the rubric. From here, and most of the...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 10
To prepare for the end-of-unit multi-paragraph essay, class members review Rainer Maria Rilke's collection, Letters to a Young Poet, and David Mitchell's Black Swan Green and identify central ideas in both texts. Writers then formulate a...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 2, Lesson 11
As an end-of-unit assessment, class members craft a formal, multi-paragraph essay identifying a similar idea found in Rainer Maria Rilke's collection, Letters to a Young Poet, and David Mitchell's Black Swan Green. Writers state and use...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 2, Lesson 7
As a mid-unit assessment of a series of lessons that use Ethan Canin’s short story “The Palace Thief” as an anchor text, writers craft an in-class essay discussing how Hundert's character has developed throughout the text.
Fisher Reyna Education
Personal Narrative Writing Prompts
Looking for stimulating writing prompts that won't make young writers cringe? A set of five personal narrative writing prompts engages pupils in analyzing, thinking, connecting, and writing about particular topics. Each prompt begins...
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