ReadWriteThink
A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words: From Image to Detailed Narrative
A picture's worth a thousand words—and even more inspiration! A visual activity uses photographs to inspire writers. The process teaches aspects of narrative writing, such as point of view and characterization.
Curated OER
What is American Culture
Students create what they feel is American Culture using a video camera and capturing 5 frames. They are animating parts of a poem in small groups. They decide the set up, create movable figures, and have a music section. Each person...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Common Core Reading Standards: Understanding Argument
What does your class know about logical fallacies? They can find out quite a bit and practice identifying logical fallacies if you follow the steps and use the resources provided here! After reviewing ethos, pathos, and logos, ask small...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 7: The Elements of Story
Budding novelists work on character development by relating to the characters in their stories. They imagine their own hopes and dreams and recall those of characters from books they've read. Learners also consider struggles the...
Curated OER
Magic Pencil Story Starters
While mentioning adult learners in the description, this lesson could be used at any grade level. This activity gives a list of procedures and writing prompts to help unlock the writer in everyone. Learners of all ages could benefit from...
Curated OER
"Take my Advice": Poems with a Voice
Discuss the meaning of the phrase tone of voice with the class. They respond to a variety of scenarios where a particular tone would be prevalent. They then read "Mother to Son" without knowing the title and answer some questions about...
Curated OER
Twisted Tales
Experience how a story can drastically change when the point of view is altered. Young scholars first read a review of Disney's film Tarzan, focusing on how the point of view in the classic story is important. They then select another...
Museum of Tolerance
Creating an Ideal World
To conclude a study of social justice and tolerance designed to prepare classes for a visit to the Museum of Tolerance, class members brainstorm a safe and peaceful world. They then write about their own vision of this world.
Global Oneness Project
Documenting Architectural Heritage
Imagine going from being one of the richest, most important cities in the world to one of the poorest. Imagine the history captured in the architecture of such a city. Imagine these same now abandoned buildings being destroyed. How would...
Syracuse University
Civil War
What was it like to enlist as a soldier in the Civil War? By using enlistment papers, young scholars consider this question. After they've looked at the primary source and discussed it, they create a short story of a fictional soldier to...
Rainforest Alliance
Sounds of the Rainforest
Do you hear what I hear? Encourage scholars to use their listening skills and participate in a series of activities that demonstrate how the sense of hearing is crucial to the human and animal world. Activities guide learners on nature...
Curated OER
How Do Authors Use Imagery to Shape Their Writing?
Esther Forbes' award-winning Revolutionary War novel, Johnny Tremain and excerpts from Julie Otsuka's When the Emperor Was Divine are used to model how imagery brings alive the setting of a story. The young writers then craft their own...
Curated OER
Complete Novel Guide: James and the Giant Peach
Before your class reads the book James and the Giant Peach, check out this very handy set of learning activities. The reading guide provides you with several excellent ideas for building vocabulary related to the text and reading...
Curated OER
What to do Between AP Exams and Semester Finals
Trying to write your end-of-year exam while encouraging scholars to begin reviewing? Do both using this study-skills strategy, which has scholars writing their own test! Although this lesson is intended for AP classes, it is applicable...
TELEC
What's Your School Like?
S1 and S2 language learners practice the skills of predicting and scanning as they examine images and read the script of interviews with two young students.
Curated OER
Dr. Seuss Author Study
Students listen to a story, then use the same format to write a class book.
Pulitzer Center
Facing Risk: Journalists and their Families
Facing Risk is a powerful film that urges journalists who are committed to reporting from the world's hotspots to engage in difficult but essential conversations with their families before leaving on assignment. Interviews with kidnapped...
Poetry Society
Imaginary Words
Oh, what fun! Young logophiles and neologists create a dictionary-sounding definition for imaginary words and try to fool their classmates.
Curated OER
Flight of the Imagination
Students study the success of video games by reading an online article. They work in groups to design settings, storylines, characters and technical features for their own fantasy video games. Finally, they write scripts for previews of...
Curated OER
Yakety-Yak
Do talk back! The transcript of one side of a telephone conversation launches a study of dialogue. Class members imagine the response of the speaker on the other side of the conversation and record these responses on the provided...
Curated OER
What is Money? Learn the Role of Money in a Free Market System
Pupils view a seashell and listen as the teacher explains that these were sometimes used as money. They listen as the teacher lectures on medium of exchange, barter, and commodity. Students determine the number of chickens it would take...
Curated OER
Blogging To Create A Community of Writers # 5 of 7
Here is instructional activity 5 from a 7 instructional activity unit on using blogging to create a community of writers. The aim of this instructional activity is to get students writing about what Archaeologists do and how they use...
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...
EngageNY
Mixture Problems
What percent of the mixture is juice? Pairs use their knowledge of proportions to determine what percent a mixture is juice given the percent of juice in the components. Pupils use the procedure learned with the juice mixture problem to...