Curated OER
poem "Smart" by Shel Silverstein from "Where the Sidewalk Ends"
Students incorporate their conceptual understanding of proportions to write a creative piece similar to the example poem.
Curated OER
Understanding Human Rights Through Music And Poetry
Tenth graders discuss human rights. They brainstorm and listen to and read examples of music and poetry that deal with human rights and oppression. They choose one poem or song to analyze, looking for theme, oppression, and historical...
Curated OER
POETRY LESSON ON LANGSTON HUGHES AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Eighth graders read the short biographical sketch and selected poems of Langston Hughes, 8th graders examine the hardships historically faced by Black Americans through class discussion, interpretation, and journaling.
Curated OER
Rebus Writing
Fifth graders write rebus stories using technology. They share the rebus stories with younger students
Curated OER
Creative Story Writing
Learners recognize predictable patterns in literature. They use the selected pattern to create their own writing using the same type of literary pattern. The new writing is proofread by other students and the editing is done until the...
Curated OER
Haiku: An Introduction to Writing and Discussing Poetic Form
Tenth graders are introduced to the vocabulary that is acceptable and unacceptable in writing a haiku. Individually, they are given a set of instructions in which to write their haiku and discuss how these limitations have affected...
Curated OER
Creative Writing Inspired by Paintings
Third graders view a PowerPoint presentation of the images by Maxfield Parrish. They wirte a short story based on one image and create drawings of an imagined character.
Curated OER
"Name Game" Poetry
Students write a poem by choosing a word and then creating a poem out of the individual letters of their word. They brainstorm words for each letter of their poem then create it and publish it using a word processor.
Curated OER
The Language of Surprise
Aspiring writers complete and discuss fill-in-the-blank cliché expressions, define cliché as a form of predictable writing, take cliché expressions and turn them into new, unpredictable ones, read poetry that illustrates writer's use of...
Anti-Defamation League
10 Ideas for Teaching Black History Month
Celebrate Black History Month with the help of 10 ideas that delve deep into the history, major events, contributions, famous African Americans, and sheds light on how scholars today can take a proactive stance on current civil rights...
Novelinks
Oedipus the King: Biopoem
The biopoem is a great way for instructors to get to know class members, classmates to get to know each other, and readers to flesh out their understanding of a character. Why not create a biopoem for a character from Oedipus the King?
Curated OER
American Civil Rights Movement, Photo Essay
Students view photographs from the Civil Rights Movement and write an essay from the point of view of someone in the photograph. They artistically represent various aspects of the Movement.
Curated OER
Show Don't Tell
Students review the Show Don't Tell method of writing haiku poetry. They practice distinguishing poetic language from academic language and create poems based on images, not explanations.
Curated OER
Mountain Creation: A Drama Exploration
Students explore mountain formation. In this cross curriculum earth science and legend writing activity, students listen to the poem "The Way to make Perfect Mountains" by Byrd Baylor and identify examples of vivid language used....
Curated OER
Do You Haiku? We Do!
Third graders try their hands at writing Haiku, a form of Japanese poetry. Haiku is usually 17 syllables in three-line form. This engaging lesson has many excellent worksheets and website imbedded in the plan. They share their finished...
Curated OER
Anatomy and Physiology "Quickies"
Students use a variety of creative writing tools within this assignment: poems on particular organ systems, write a short story and/or create a word graph. They are involved in a demonstration of lactic build up in the muscles, a...
Curated OER
All About Me Poem
Eighth graders write a poem that introduces them to their class. In this poetry writing lesson, 8th graders use the format for the 'All About Me Poem" to write a poem about themselves and use it as get-to-know-you activity.
Curated OER
Music in Words
Your class can build strong, well-represented opinions about the music they hear. They listen to, and share thoughts about, a piece of classical music. Then they write a piece of music or a poem, and analyze their peers' work and their...
Curated OER
Ornithology and Real World Science
Double click that mouse because you just found an amazing lesson! This cross-curricular Ornithology lesson incorporates literature, writing, reading informational text, data collection, scientific inquiry, Internet research, art, and...
Curated OER
Comparing The Odyssey and "The Lotus Eaters"
Ninth graders compare the development of text in Book 5 of "The Odyssey" to Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "The Lotus Eaters." After discussing the comparison's of the two text within a group, they create an original piece of work or...
Curated OER
Horatio's Drive
Students assess the literary quality and elements of Jackson's journey to write a ballad about his automobile adventure.
Novelinks
The House on Mango Street: Biopoem
Young poets demonstrate their understanding of a character from Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street by crafting a biopoem that captures the essence of this person.
Curated OER
"Leap, Plashless": Emily Dickinson & Poetic Imagination
Students read and explore one of Emily Dickinson's nature poems, "A Bird Came Down the Walk-" through interaction with a variety of art forms. Clips of a hymn to hear meter and the viewing of bird images exposes them to the language and...
Curated OER
Liberty Defined
Fourth graders express their views of liberty through creative writing. They view video segments about the history of the Statue of Liberty.