Curated OER
Brainstorm This!
Students discuss the advantages and types of brainstorming as a prewriting tool. They experiment with different styles of brainstorming and produce prewriting samples for assessment.
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The Argument
After brainstorming, middle schoolers write an expository essay for a writing project. They focus on supporting points, organization, and writing conventions to develop a well-integrated paper. In addition, they revise, proofread and...
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Web It!
Looking for a way to bring prewriting into your informative writing unit? Use this lesson to reinforce writing skills in your eighth grade language arts class. Young writers use a web graphic organizer as a prewriting tool for expository...
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The Writing Process
Introduce young writers to the writing process. Activities model the steps in the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, polishing). A logic tree template is also included.
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What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
Participate in authentic career research, and make effective and realistic career/academic choices entering high school. Develop communication skills, demonstrate English language arts proficiency, and share a group presentation with...
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Self-Portrait
Build a sense of self while honing prewriting and fine motor skills by having your learners with autism draw a self-portrait. The lesson is intended for younger pupils but could be used with learners of any age in need of motor and...
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Family Tree Community Project
Fifth graders answer questions such as: Where does my family come from? What was it like for my ancestors to grow up as America developed? What differences in society were present then? What was similar to today? students conduct...
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Expository Writing
Fourth graders create Inspirations webs with graphics, and write five paragraph essays.
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Reading/English Language Arts/ Instructional Strategies
Students are given a line drawing that only that students sees. They are asked to describe the drawings to the reset of the class to see if they can draw it as the teacher describes it. Students work with a partner, and they are given a...
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The Old Man and the Sea: Guided Imagery
What do you imagine when you think of the sea? Put on some ocean sounds, close your eyes, and listen to a guided meditation based on the imagery from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. After class members listen to the...
Novelinks
Words by Heart: Guided Imagery
Sad, depressed, miserable, inconsolable, forlorn: so many synonyms have a lot of variety with their connotations. Through the guided imagery activity, writers explore the use of connotation and its influence on imagery and description by...
Novelinks
Wildwood Dancing: Guided Imagery
Reader's of Wildwood Dancing engage in a guided imagery exercise designed to encourage them to visualize the setting of Juliet Marillier's young adult fantasy novel.
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Writing Process-- Revision and Editing
As guided practice, class members work together to revise a model persuasive paragraph. Then they practice independently with their own writing. The included rubric looks at prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, nonfiction text...
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Upside-Down Books
Students read various examples of literature. In groups, they brainstorm a list of views that go against what was in one of the stories. They illustrate the opposite ideas and compile them into a class book. They use each other to...
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Make a Difference
Students review the previous lessons on the history of their city and county. Using their community, they identify issues in which they believe needs to be addressed. They develop their own plan of action and present their ideas to the...
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Nudging Questions
Students choose one topic to write about. They brainstorm ideas about their topic or incident. They use sensory details to visualize their topic. They answer a variety of teacher directored nudging question to help them describe their...
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Follow a Bill!
Students participate in an activity to discover how a bill becomes law in California. In groups, they create a school program based on their own ideas for change. They develop and conduct a survey within their community and present their...
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We the People
Students create a map illustrating the three branches of goverment. They identify the branches of government and the shared or exclusive powers of each. Students use mapping as a prewriting stategy. They discuss our national...
Novelinks
The Dark Is Rising: Guided Imagery
To launch a reading of The Dark is Rising, the second novel in Susan Cooper's award winning contemporary fantasy novel sequence for young adults, class members engage in a guided imagery exercise that asks them to visualize the setting...
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Formal Essay Process
Pupils identify and use the four types of brainstorming techniques used in essay prewriting. They select an appropriate attention getting statement to attract the essay reader. Students explore the purpose and methods of selecting...
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Poe ... in the Real World?
Eleventh graders work in groups to choose a project/presentation from a list of approved activities to develop. They select and use appropriate software for organizing and refining their product. Groups produce a short...
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ESL Autobiographies
Students develop collaborative skills while creating a vocabulary word list. They work together to take each others photos using a digital camera. Students access a website to copy and paste their photos into a word document. They create...
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Narrative Writing Outline
Learners explore the elements of a narrative for its purpose, type of audience, mood, main character, minor characters, setting, and conflicts in the story. A story outline is developed and a five paragraph essay composed in this lesson.
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Voting Adventure
Students discover the requirements they need to be able to vote in a democracy. Using that information, they discuss the importance of voting in an election. They use the Internet to analyze voter participation numbers in their county....