Virginia Department of Education
Determining Purpose and Audience
Build the writing skills of your junior high wordsmiths with activities that introduce many essential skills of writing. As a class, they develop working definitions of formal vs. informal writing, explore different categories of...
San Francisco Symphony
Dear Mr. Copland and Mr. Ellington
After a teacher-led demonstration on the lives and music of Aaron Copland and Duke Ellington, learners write a letter to them which shows their understanding of how a person's life experiences can be reflected in a composer's music. They...
Curated OER
Letter of Introduction to Training Sites
Learners brainstorm ways in which to properly introduce themselves to their supervisor. Using a word processing program, they use a business letter format to write their letter and have a classmate review it. They share their letter to...
Curated OER
Make reading cool
Students look at ways of encouraging others to read and write a letter to Jacqueline Wilson. Students read a a news article on Jackqueline Wilson. They discuss ways or promoting reading. Students imagine they are an author invited to...
Curated OER
Analyzing Folklore: Redwall
Brian Jacques’ novel Redwall provides the focus for a series of lessons involving the analysis of folklore. Adopting the persona of a character, groups write letters in the voice of their character, assemble a collage using Microsoft...
Curated OER
Summer Fun! Vacation Destination Postcards
Students design a postcard with a graph and text. They research their favorite vacation spot. Pupils write a friendly letter to their parents requesting to visit this vacation destination. Students use a Circle Map, to help fill in their...
Curated OER
Folk Tales Thematic Unit
Second graders read different folk tales and discuss them. They are given a template of a letter and they are to write a friendly letter. Special education students are paired with advanced students to help them.
Curated OER
Why Are Thinning Trees Important?
Young scholars investigate thinning trees and why they are important to the forest. In this sustainable environment lesson, students role-play as if they are trees in the forest and simulate the overcrowding and inability to move...
Curated OER
A Soldier's Valentine
Students create Valentine's for soldiers in Iraq. They review how to write a friendly paragraph and discuss the military and duties of soldiers in Iraq. They create postcards and write reasons why they are rpoud of the military and how...
Curated OER
Pumpkin Writing Paper
In this writing worksheet, students use the blank lined paper with a colorful pumpkin border for any kind of writing: reports, poetry, stories or letters.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Respect: Looks Like, Sounds Like, Feels Like
Respect is the focus of a lesson designed to encourage social awareness. Following a whole-class discussion, scholars list what they believe respect looks, sounds, and feels. Pupils turn their new-found knowledge into a plan of action....
Museum of Tolerance
Immigration Journeys
Through the journey of four stories of immigration, scholars complete graphic organizers and apply knowledge to create a visual representation of their findings on a large poster. Third and fourth readers write a letter to their family...
Curated OER
Reading Primary Source Documents: Historical Content
Why do we read primary source documents? What can they give us that other writings cannot? Provide your learners with any of the primary sources attached here (there are seven), and have them complete the graphic organizer (which opens...
Curated OER
Landscapes of the Mind
High schoolers review Emily Dickinson's biography and examine themes and forms of some of her poems. They measure ways Graham integrates aspects of Dickinson's life and the themes and forms of her poetry into Letters to the World.
Curated OER
It's Magic: Understanding the Roles, Responsibilities, and Requirements of Workers
Fifth graders investigate the world of work in relation to knowledge of self and to make informed career decisions. Then they break into groups to complete the training and education for two careers selected from a listing in the lesson....
Curated OER
Business writing--Responding to Requests for Information
Students take part in several guided discussions to determine the organization of the information required in a business letter.
Project SMART
Rocks and Minerals: Touch the Earth
Students complete a unit of lessons on rocks and minerals. They conduct research, write e-mail questions to geologists, write daily journal entries, label maps demonstrating types of rocks/minerals found, and create a web page that...
Curated OER
Industrial Waste Management / Enforcement
Students discover the role of industrial waste enforcement units in the wastewater treatment process. They demonstrate active listening skills and produce a formal letter of thanks that addresses 3 points of information gained from the...
Curated OER
Dear Philanthropist
Students differentiate between philanthropists and celebrities. They brainstorm a list of philanthropists and write formal letters to them. They can write to past or present philanthropists from a teacher-provided list or the one...
Curated OER
Commas vs. Semicolons Lesson Plan
Ninth graders use correct punctuation when writing. After defining the use of commas and semicolons, they discuss how punctuation can help eliminate confusion. They listen to a letter, first with correct punctuation, and then without...
Curated OER
What is Your Story?
Young scholars listen to Picnic In October and Memory Coat to explore the concept of memoirs. They interview a family member and write a personal memoir that reflects their own family history.
Curated OER
"Environmental Activism and its Components"
Students explore how an individual has power and voice in all levels of the government as well as in the making of laws that involve environmental issues and regulations. They assess the steps involved in turning a bill into law. In...
Curated OER
Introduction to the UN
Students read the story UN wins Nobel Peace Prize, this is a way to introduce the United Nations and find out what Students already know. Students draft a formal letter to Kofi Annan the UN Secretary-General which include personal...
Curated OER
Polymers
Students explore online tutorial on polymers. In this chemistry lesson, they create two polymers in the lab and compare their properties. They write a sales letter about their new and improved polymer product.