Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Career Portfolio
Climb the career ladder! Using a guiding resource, pupils develop an individual career plan including goals, a resume, and self-assessments. Additionally, scholars write a cover letter to a company of choice.
Literacy Design Collaborative
Exploring Character Development in The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
How did the Civil Rights Movement affect young people in the United States? Scholars read Christopher Paul Curtis' novel, The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963. Next, they write compare and contrast essays showing how the main characters...
Curated OER
Redistricting: Drawing the Lines
Difficult redistricting concepts are covered in a context that will make it understandable to your government scholars. They begin with a KWL on the term redistricting and then watch a video to answer some questions. They analyze...
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Creative Writing
Eleventh graders write a persuasive letter to the editor using the writing process.
Curated OER
Social Letter
Students write social letter to friend or penpal in target foreign language to demonstrate knowledge of vocabulary and complex language structures, write with understanding and facility, and use appropriate presentational strategies to...
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Living The Life of a Scribe
Students write a descriptive letter about life in ancient Mesopotamia. Through video streaming, students discover the history of Mesopotamia. They assume the role of a scribe and compose a three paragraph essay using main ideas and...
Curated OER
The Great Gatsby Historical Background Using Multi-Genre Research Project
Before beginning F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, create a historical context of the Roaring 20s with this lesson. Set up a gallery walk with the provided PowerPoint, which features 10 topics related to the 1920s. Then begin a...
Curated OER
Responding to Literature: James and the Giant Peach
Fifth grade reader/writers create an alternate ending to an episode in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach in which our protagonist "loses" the chance to magically solve all his problems. Prompts students not only to write creatively...
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Key Pals
Second graders analyze the proper form of friendly letters and write emails to a key pal. In this friendly letters and email instructional activity, 2nd graders discuss sending friendly letters and view examples of the letter format....
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Alien Pen Pals
Students write a friendly letter to an Alien Pen Pal including details about the planet Earth.
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Write Right Back
Third graders explore communications by utilizing technology. In this e-mail writing lesson, 3rd graders identify important elements to include when writing an e-mail based on whether it's to a friend, colleague or employer. Students...
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Writing Applications: Different Types of Writing and Their Characteristics
Twelfth graders rewrite a story in a different format to understand the effects of the author's style. In this writing style instructional activity, 12th graders read Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and...
Curated OER
Why Thank You!
Fifth graders listen to a read aloud of Patricia Polacco's, Thank You, Mr. Falker! students examine the use of voice in the book, discuss the writing and theme ideas. They write a thank you not to their hero.
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LETTER FROM ONE CHARACTER TO ANOTHER
Fourth graders read stories and pick one with characters they find interesting. Then students create a dialogue of writing a letter from one character to another. The letter must relate to the original story in some way that can easily...
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Pen Pal Party
Second graders write letters to students in other areas of the state, country or world focusing on using the correct friendly letter form. They describe their lives and ask questions to explore someone else's life.
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Critical Literacy in the 21st Century: Sitti's Secrets
Fourth graders write persuasive letters. In this letter writing instructional activity, 4th graders read Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye and discuss their areas or topics of concern. Students select a person to write a letter to and...
Curated OER
Writing Persuasive Letters
Students write persuasive business letters to candy companies suggesting ways to change their products to make them more enjoyable and increase sales. Prior to writing their letters, they conduct Internet research about the companies and...
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Dear FCAT Checker
Students practice writing business letters by writing a letter to the person who grade their FCAT test.
Council for Economic Education
Satisfaction Please! (Part 1)
The topic of consumerism seems easy to those who participate actively in the US economy, but pupils who are new to economics may see the idea as foreign. Help them understand their rights as consumers and what to expect when interacting...
Curated OER
During Reading Strategy for Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations
Readers create a literary scrapbook for one of the characters in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and fill it with mementoes, journal entries, letters, etc. A great way to get kids to think about characterization.
Alabama Department of Archives and History
A College Student's Perspective on WWI
Some things remain the same, such as the world being on the brink of war, or college attendees writing home requesting money. As part of their research into events that led up to President Wilson's declaration of war on Germany, class...
National History Day
Leland Linman’s War: A Look at Soldiers’ Daily Lives in World War I
Hunkering down in the trenches of World War I, Leland Linman decided to write a journal about his experiences. By reading Linman's entries in the fourth installment of an eight-part lesson series, scholars get a firsthand look at life in...
Curated OER
Classifying Information About a Main Idea
Elementary learners explore language arts by completing a text identification activity. They discuss the importance of a main idea in a story or paper and how to present it properly. Then they practice identifying the main idea in sample...