Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Using Maps to Inspire Personal Narratives
A solid description of one way to teach narrative writing, this resource outlines the writing process from concept to completion. Class members create concept maps of moments in their lives and follow the writing process to publish their...
Curated OER
Borrowing Narrative Skills from Mr. Fletcher: Using a "Prompts in Reverse" Technique to Inspire Your Writers
Help your class find their writing voices with this instructional activity which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher...
EngageNY
Character Confessions: Peer Critique of Narratives
Shake up the writing process with a peer critique. The second of four lessons in the Grade 8 ELA Module 2B, Unit 3 series first has young writers compare their interpretations of a scene from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's...
Curated OER
Point of View and Mentor Relationships
Tenth graders analyze the role of mentors, point of view, and prejudice using the texts of To Kill a Mockingbird and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. For this literature analysis lesson, 10th graders review Scout's...
Curated OER
Creating Transitions
Fourth graders analyze the use of transitions in text. In this transitions activity, 4th graders determine how and why a transition is used at a specific time in a piece of writing. They show transitions by using movements before...
Curated OER
Through The Looking Glass
Students examine the time period of westward expansion. In groups, they use the internet to research the reasons why people moved west during the 1800s. They write their own narratives playing the role of a member of a pioneer family...
Curated OER
Batter Up! Rediscover the Poem "Casey at the Bat"
The baseball themed poem, "Casey at the Bat" is a great summertime focus for reading and writing.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Revision Lesson: Re Shaping Narrative Writing
This lesson, inspired by the novel Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes is a fabulous classroom mentor text that helps teach a very powerful revision strategy: rewriting an idea in a completely different genre. Grimes' book shares short...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Writing a Roundabout Story
In this lesson plan, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Numeroff, is used as a mentor text to highlight the trait of organization. The content focus of the lesson is to highlight that authors' story structures can be imitated. Story...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Camping Sentences
In this lesson, Teaching Grammar in Context by Constance Weaver provides foundational information for this lesson. When I Go Camping with Grandma, a book by Marion Dane Bauer, is used as the mentor text of this lesson. Students will...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Smart Math and Writing
In this lesson, the poem "Smart" from Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein, is used as the mentor text. Students will write a map of the poem and then analyze it to discover what happened when trades with money were made and...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Unique Metaphor Collections
In this instructional activity, the first chapter of the novel Girl with a Pearl Earring is used as a mentor text. Students will identify metaphors and then create their own unique metaphorical descriptions that they will begin to...