Curated OER
Sentence Structure: Avoiding Choppy, Run-on, and Stringy Sentences
Use this as a reference sheet for peer- or self-editing, or as a guide when teaching sentence structure. Defines and gives examples of choppy, run-on, and stringy sentences, and provides corrected versions of each. Check revised examples...
Curated OER
Exploring the Sonnet
Students research English/Shakespearean and Italian/Petrarchan sonnet forms. They write an original sonnet on their preferred form (English or Italian), write the poem on the wordprocessor and publish and post it on the net at the Sonnet...
Curated OER
Would You Like to Become a Millionaire?
Students answer questions written by other teams about literature in an attempt to become "millionaires." In small groups they write a motivational introduction to their teams selected books, publish their questions as a HyperCard...
Curated OER
Setting Goals for Success
Students construct SMART goals. In this goal-setting lesson plan, students discover how to write a SMART goal for their student portfolios. Working in pairs students write short-term goals that will build towards a long-term goal.
Curated OER
Senior Scrapbook Assignment
Twelfth graders write creatively and reflectively on 20 different events or memories that shaped their senior year. They organize memorabilia into a scrapbook with 20 entries and create a cover that represents their senior year. They...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
6 Traits: conventions
Students watch a video and write using conventions. For this conventions lesson plan, students edit their writing for the correct spelling, grammar, and paragraph usage.
Curated OER
Snow Day
Third graders examine the effects of a snow day on various people in the community. They listen to the book "Snow Day" by Betsy Maestro, complete a graphic organizer of people affected by the snow day, and write a story from the point of...
Curated OER
The Diary of Anne Frank
Eighth graders apply knowledge of the Holocaust in general and The Diary of Anne Frank in particular to their writing. Acting the play out in class provides them an almost firsthand knowledge of Anne and the other characters.
Curated OER
Round Robin Suspense
Pupils, in groups, write suspense stories. At the end of a timed period, they pass the story to the next student to continue it. At the last writing session, the papers are returned to the originators and they share the stories with the...
Curated OER
Top Ten List
By writing a list of "The Top Ten Ways to Lose a Best Friend", students explore the true meaning of friendship by defining "how not to be a friend".
Curated OER
Greeting Card to A Character
Learners create a greeting card from one character to another after finishing a novel. Individually, they use their imagination to write the paragraph using the text to support their ideas. They share their greeting card with the class...
Curated OER
Creating Hate: The Power of Words
Students explore why authors choose to use hate words in literature. In this power of words lesson, students complete group participation, journal entries, and written assignments to investigate the use of inflammatory language. Students...
Curated OER
Building Literacy Through Character
Second graders connect reading to writing by making predictions, completing text to world connections, solving problems, and more. In this reading and writing lesson plan, 2nd graders draw conclusions after reading and write them down.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
6 Traits: Organization
Learners make logical patterns in their writing to demonstrate the trait of organization. In this organization lesson plan, students focus on events proceeding logically.
Pennsylvania Department of Education
6 Traits: Word Choice
Students explore language arts by participating in a vocabulary usage activity. In this word choice lesson, students read examples of great word usage in literature and discuss with the class why some words appear stronger than others....
Pennsylvania Department of Education
6 Traits: Sentence Fluency
Students practice writing with sentence fluency in order to make the story more enjoyable for the reader. In this sentence fluency lesson plan, students focus on rhythm and flow.
Curated OER
Roughing It in the Backwoods
Students have the opportunity to practice research and essay-writing skills using primary and secondary source materials. They explore aspects of early settlers' lives in the backwoods of Upper Canada.
Curated OER
YANG AND THE YOUNGEST AND HIS TERRIBLE EAR
Students perform a web scavenger hunt to find information about the author of the book, YANG THE YOUNGEST AND HIS TERRIBLE EAR. They develop an understanding of how writers use personal experience to add voice to their writing.
Curated OER
Create a Poem
Students write three simple rhyming poems and read them aloud with rhythm. Students select two adjectives that are opposites and two rhyming verbs to create rhyming lines of the same length with an adjective-noun-verb pattern.
Curated OER
The Odyssey
Students write a dramatic scene based on The Odyssey and perform it for the class. In this living literature activity, students work in small groups to discuss the way the characters look, act, and sound. They then choose scenery and...
Perkins School for the Blind
I'm Thinking Of...
Learning how to describe an object or a person is a great way to develop verbal and written expression. Learners with special needs improve their verbal expressive skills and concept development skills while playing a guessing game. The...
Curated OER
Defining Character Traits
Students read and analyze an extended definition in preparation for writing an extended definition of a CHARACTER TRAIT. They use analogy as a definition strategy to tailor writing to a particular audience. Finally, students SHARE...
Curated OER
Interview! Magazine
Students interview a subject and write a biographical sketch for a fictional magazine. In this interview lesson, students choose a person to interview and create two sets of questions. Students conduct the interview. Students then write...
Curated OER
Mardi Gras Madness
CStudents create a sensory chart in on the topic of Mardi Gras. They design a brainstorm web using Inspiration and complete creative writing assignment. Students write a poem about Mardi Gras that is presented to the class at the final...