Curated OER
An Anecdote is Worth a Thousand Pictures
Pupils identify anecdotes in speeches and the purposes that politicians use the anecdotes for. They create personal anecdotes for the class to hear, and students decide if the anecdote is real or fabricated.
Curated OER
Elaborate It
Learners read writing samples and discuss the differences between the writing with and without anecdotal examples. They write expository essays that include personal anecdotes.
Curated OER
Creepy Read Week
Here's a clever technology twist to writing in the round. Participants rotate through a series of computers adding to stories and editing by keystroke and mouse click. "Locked" forms prevent the loss of stories filled with suspense and...
Curated OER
Introduction to Drama
What plays will your high schoolers read this year? Before starting your drama unit, show this PowerPoint to your class. Consider making minor edits to make it more applicable to your class (For example, give your own personal anecdote...
Thomas Jefferson Foundation
Personal Morals vs. Political Moves Document Based Essay
Was Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite? Tackle this question with primary source analysis and an essay. The packet includes historical background, a writing prompt, a combined outline and checklist, and ten primary documents paired with...
Curated OER
Using Spatial Organization in Writing
In this using spatial organization in writing worksheet, students read the explanation of spatial organization, interactively explore a photograph, record their impressions, compare various impressions, then write an essay telling an...
Curated OER
Point of View to Ponder
Students view (or read) The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty. They
discuss other literary pieces that include the misleading first person narrator. They
role play fictional characters from literature and present a short anecdote in a...
Curated OER
Arkansas Photographs as Research Tools
Middle and high schoolers look at historical photos and written materials, and they develop questions which they use to interview an elder in their community. Learners are divided into groups and given sets of historical family photos...
Curated OER
Narrative Journal Prompts
Need some possible writing topics for your class? Look no further, this resource consists of a list of 24 writing prompts. Perfect for journal writing or quick writes, all 24 prompts ask about pupils' personal experiences and thus elicit...
Curated OER
History of English
Providing both a history of English before England (Sino-Tibetan, Finno-Ugric, Hamido-Semitic, Indo-European) and a history of English in England, this presentation includes charts and many examples of the changes in the English language...
Curated OER
Teaching Others About Being Deaf
Students read two articles about how college students taught others about being blind or deaf. In their school, they interview students with a physical challenge and use the internet to research how to write about those with...
Curated OER
Writing Catchy Introductions
In this introductory paragraph worksheet, students learn techniques for writing an attention-catching introductory paragraph. Students then read several introductory paragraphs and determine which strategies were used.
East Side Union High School District
Biographical Narrative: Journal Prompts
The opportunities are endless with a worksheet containing 24 biographical narrative writing prompts. Although there are no directions or specifications for the writing process, the prompts promote the use of narrative writing...
Curated OER
Brainstorming Time
Students brainstorm a list of possible topics for their essay. As a class, they review the characteristics of anecdotal writing and the form they take in newspapers or autobiographies. To end the instructional activity, they decide on...
Curated OER
From America, With Love
Students research the experiences of specific immigrant groups in the United States. Letters are written from imaginary immigrants to relatives in their countries of origin, including historically accurate details.
Curated OER
Can You Make a Difference?
Students write and present a speech. In this service instructional activity, students read an anecdote adapted from The Star Thrower and discuss their feelings about their ability to make a difference in the world. Students make a...
Curated OER
The Road to Success
Students chronicle the main events in their lives so far. They draft, revise, and publish an anecdote. Students get to know their fellow classmates and they build a nurturing learning community. Students take an interest inventory and...
Curated OER
Pair-Share: Constructing Paragraph Order
Students write with controlled and/or subtle organization. They identify the main idea and explicit details. Students analyze paragraph and essay structure. They utilize context clues to identify organization.
Curated OER
Voices of Our People: A Patchwork of Cultures
Students view a gallery of photographs online and list objective and subject observations of the photos. They develop questions about the photos and write first person narratives about them.
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For the Fun of It
Middle schoolers investigate author's purpose in autobiography by reading Amelia Earhart's autobiography entitled The Fun of It. Learners examine character traits needed to fulfill personal goals.
Curated OER
Folktales Reflect Daoist and Buddhist Traditions
Tenth graders compare three Chinese folktales for their "messages" and literary techniques to see how they reflect Chinese Confucian and Taoist values. They discuss how folktales share certain subjects, characters, plots and themes.
Curated OER
The Final Word
Although this lesson is based on “Final Word,” Craig Wilson’s USA Today column, the strategies could be adapted to any local columnist. After reading three articles independently, groups share observations about content and style used by...
Curated OER
Flying Freudian Fun: A Look At Ethical Decision Making
There are not many more apt examples of ethics gone awry than William Golding's Lord of the Flies.. Ninth graders focus the ethics of decision making with the examples provided in the plot. They focus on the...
Curated OER
Enough to Make Your Head Spin
Students investigate the world of nonverbal communication by analyzing body language around the world. In this cultural communication lesson, students research the Bulgarian language and how we could easily misinterpret their...