Curated OER
Revision
Young poets learn the value of using a thesaurus when crafting and revising poems. They examine poems rich in figurative language and then a revised version with the figurative language removed. To demonstrate what they have learned,...
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Beginning With Writing; Convey Ideas in Writing
Walk young writers through the process of creating an initial writing sample for their portfolio. They determine their purpose, organize their ideas, and then create a draft. The lesson includes worksheets and online resources to...
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Analytical Essay
What is an analytical essay? Introduce this type of thinking to your young writers. First, discuss what it means to analyze something. Then, identify the different components of an essay and what details are embedded in each component....
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Creating Supporting Characters
Supporting characters need detail and characteristics just like a main character. Keep your budding authors entrenched in detail as they write their novels. This instructional activity focuses on developing supporting characters using...
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Lesson Plan 11: Beginnings
Every good novel needs a solid beginning! Setting the stage can have your budding authors stumped, so use this lesson plan to get them thinking. After examining the plot rollercoaster image (included) they consider the four...
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Lesson Plan 17: Novel, Take 2
It's all about using peer resources in this writing process activity, which includes a fantastic novel revision worksheet packet. Learners have read a partner's story draft the night before, and groups have a "lightning round of...
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Writers of the 19th Century
Students are introduced to women authors during the 19th century. In groups, they read about the criticism they faced during this time period by the public and literary community. Using the internet, they research one author to...
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Thanksgiving Traditions
Everyone celebrates traditions in different ways. Young writers share the ways their families celebrate Thanksgiving with a journal writing prompt and discussion activity.
Education World
Every Day Edit - Nuts for Pecans
For this editing activity about pecans, young writers read and then correct grammatical mistakes in a short paragraph. The errors range from punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling.
Curated OER
Alliteration
Use alliteration to describe people, ideas, and places. Young writers will write eight alliterations to describe people, places, or ideas.
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Establishing a Strong Authorial Voice, Worksheet 2
Young writers are asked to revise and modify a series of sentences to make them stronger and relay a sense of voice. No definitions or models are given. You might use the worksheet to check for understanding after a discussion of...
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How to Diamond Poem (2+)
Ever heard of a "diamond poem" format? Neither had I, until I came across this lesson. Young writers are shown a format which results in a poem that comes out in the shape of a diamond! This is a simple, yet effective lesson.
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Computer Mysteries
Who has been messing with my trampoline? Young writers choose local events as the basis for their own “Who Did It?” mystery. They then devise a plot, problem, and cast of characters and write an introduction explaining the problem and...
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Teaching Writing on a Computer
Walk your young writers through the basics of typing and saving their work on a computer. Step-by-step instructions not only help you prepare classroom computers for this exercise but also provide specific instructions so that class...
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Friendly Letter Writing
Have your young writers compose a letter with a greeting and a salutation and using this template. This worksheet provides a model greeting and salutation as well as lines on which pupils can write their letter. The formatting of the web...
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Basic Skills: Personal Info
Tell us about yourself! Get your young writers familiar with their personal information with this simple graphic organizer. Students fill in basics such as their name, address, birthday, parent's name, and phone number. This would make a...
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Reading List: And
Young writers trace the four examples of the word "and.". They read the five sentences that use the word"and," then attempt to write sentences of their own that use this common conjunction.
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Narrative Paragraphs
Young writers use the provided Halloween-themed template to record information gathered after researching a topic related to the October holiday. Six different expository text structures are suggested as a guide; however, information on...
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Critical Thinking & Writing: Brainstorming
Have your young writers organize their thoughts before writing. They generate ideas through various brainstorming activities prior to writing a mock feature news story for USA Today. A series of USA Today articles debating the level of...
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Strip-Teasers: A Collaborative Writing activity
Young writers engage in a fun writing activity. They write three different sentences on three strips of paper. Then they get into groups of three, and take a look at all nine sentences that have been written. Their task is to write a...
Roanoke County Public Schools
Be a Sequence Detective!
Authors are constantly leaving clues that help the reader to understand the sequence of events in a story. Teach young readers how to pick up on these key temporal words and phrases with this slide show. After an introduction to commonly...
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Under Construction
Young readers examine the elements of story structure that are included in all stories. They include these elements in their own written pieces. This phenomenally-designed plan has everything you need to easily implement it in your...
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Marketing to Teens: Marketing Tactics
Enlighten young consumers to advertising techniques aimed specifically at their generation. Have learners answer questions about how advertisements are geared for a younger audience, then have them practice selling to other teenagers....
EngageNY
Researching and Note-Taking: Becoming an Expert on a Colonial Trade
Fourth graders work in small groups to become experts on different colonial trades in the eighth instructional activity of this unit. Working toward the long-term goal of writing a piece of historical fiction, young scholars read...