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The ABC's of the Three Little Pigs
Writers use varied sentence patterns. They listen to the story of Cinderella rewritten so that each sentence starts with the next letter of the alphabet. They create their own version of The Three Little Pigs using the same concept.
Virginia Department of Education
The Writing Process for Persuasive Writing
Get your junior high writers stimulated with the strategies and ideas available in this activity. Learners discuss and debate controversial subjects, and outline their reasons with an online graphic organizer (link included) that creates...
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Which One Doesn't Belong?
Third graders identify words that are related with 80% accuracy. Given a list of four vocabulary words, 3rd graders identify specific relationships between three of the four words. They also identify which of the four words are not...
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Yes, No, Maybe So!
Students view various pictures and identify those that show action verbs. They write sentences to summarize the actions shown in the pictures.
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Look It Up!
Sixth graders improve their writing skills by finding, defining, and correctly using new and interesting vocabulary words. Groups of students work together to find, define, and use in sentences ten words with which they are all unfamiliar.
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The Class Garden Essay
Fifth graders use a class garden as inspiration for a specific writing assignment. They conduct research into different types of flowers in photo images taken with a digital camera. Students write a creative essay and draw a picture to...
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Help! I Need Some Editing
Learners write their own story using as much descriptive language as they can. They peer edit each other's stories and create illustrations to accompany their writings. They place their story in a booklet and give it to a needy recepient.
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Euro English
Eighth graders read a short essay and cull out the directions. Then students rewrite the essay using standard English spellings. They create a paragraph of their own using Euro English and ask fellow students to translate to standard...
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Animalopedia Poetry
Students reseach animals while working in groups. They write poems to be included in a class Animalopedia book.
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A Study of Japan with the Haiku of Basho
Sixth graders explore haiku poetry and the works of the Japanese poet Basho. They review characteristics of haiku poetry and other forms of poetry. After they write three or more haiku poems, they illustrate one of them and share with...
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Re-Name That Tune: A Vocabulary Activity
Students build vocabulary skills by rewriting the names of some popular holiday songs, and create a fun "Holiday Tune" bulletin board display.
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What is Your Story?
Students listen to Picnic In October and Memory Coat to explore the concept of memoirs. They interview a family member and write a personal memoir that reflects their own family history.
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Design a Soda Bottle Label
Students make a mind web to describe their favorite soda. They then make thumbnail sketches of their labels. Tehy create a unique font with which to write the mane of their soda.
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Richie's Rocket
Fourth graders, after reading with intonation and expression the book, "Richie's Rocket," by Joan Anderson, circulate in centers to create a puzzle with emotions and experiences from the ideas in the story, write the definition of words...
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How to Express Actions
Students use online resources to practice and master the use of the most commonly used Spanish verbs in the infinitive form. They develop an understanding of how verbs work, and follow a set of patterns to conjugate them.
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A Heritage Study: Using Information Resources to Research Family History and Traditions
Students research their family history through ethnographical study. They locate information through a variety of sources, interview people, write a report and present an oral presentation to the class.
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Richie's Rocket
Fourth graders, while working in centers read Richie's Rocket by Joan Anderson, and then create a puzzle using ideas, emotions, and experiences from the story. In addition, they write specific definitions for certain words, use those...
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Laurence Yep's Dragonwings
Students read independently the novel, "Dragonwings," by Laurence Yep and make connections between a text and the world. They summarize, paraphrase, analyze and evaluate skimming and scanning techniques when reading a novel. Each student...
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Thanksgiving Writing Activities
The holiday season is an opportunity for students to create meaningful Thanksgiving writing activities.
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Tom's Tempting Tongue Twister Truly Tangled My Tongue
Young scholars explore what makes a good tongue twister. They identify parts of speech in different tongue twisters and create a tongue twister that truly tangles the tongue.
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Synonyms
Students discover the defintion for synonyms and how they describe similar situations. They start with a common word such as "happy" and brainstorm different words that mean the same as happy. They draw pictures or write sentences to...
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Vivid Verbs
Learners find vivid verbs in the story Thank You for the Thistle, by Doree Durston. They add vivid verbs to an existing story to make it more interesting.
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"All About Me" Paragraph
Fifth graders write a paragraph titled "All About Me" in the computer lab after they have drawn graphic organizers to fill in background information about themselves and used a "10-Point Writing Checklist" to do peer editing.
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Hopi Culture: Parts of the Corn
Pupils identify the parts of the corn stalk in English and Hopi. They discuss the significance of corn to the Hopi culture, and examine a diagram of the corn stalk. They discuss the purposes of the parts of the corn stalk, then label a...