Practice descriptive language in this activity, which prompts elementary and middle schoolers to write detailed descriptive sentences describing a seashell. They write a description of a shell, create an illustration, and other students...

Dander from the show Twisted Whiskers and characters from My Little Pony are featured in this three part lesson that explores using story pyramids to scaffold ideas, adding sensory details to enrich writing, and editing using common...

Students observe their environment and write detailed, sensory-specific sentences about that environment. This activity can be extended to include the creation of a personalized story or movie of the experience (student examples are...

Explore figurative language with your secondary class. Extending a language arts unit, the lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine how an author's word choice establishes a story's tone, possibly using metaphors, similes,...

Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...

Students complete multi-curricular to learn about senses and sensory words. In this sensory words lesson, students discuss the five senses and the anatomy of a tongue. Students complete a food tasting activity and find descriptive words...

Students write descriptive paragraphs using adjectives based on the use of their five senses. They use sensory impressions to improve their writing.

Students read slave narratives and retell the stories to the class, identifying sensory details. In this slavery lesson, students discuss the importance of sensory details, then read the slave narratives looking for specific examples. ...

Students explore a sense of place by considering the abstract ideas represented by a place, the concrete demonstration of these ideas in architectural elements, and the sensory experience of being in a place and the way that experience...

Young scholars participate in a creative writing activity in which they write about a scar they have on their body. They discuss where they got the scar and describe sensory details about the experience and also how it made them feel,...

Students explore the wonders of bugs. In this bug lesson, students examine various types of bugs. Students make crafts, sing songs, discuss nutrition, and investigate different types of insects.

Students explore two pathways for information through the nervous system. The pathways for involuntary action or reflex and voluntary responses are built and related to the element of choice.

Learners 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...

Young scholars examine how the brain sends and receives messages by assessing PET scans. They diagram areas of the brain that evaluate various situations. They discover that individuality is due to different responsesnin the brain.

Students create a storybook about Texas missions including the history of why they were built. They research and create pictures depicting how and why the missions were built. They write and illustrate the primary groups of people found...

Imagine using narrative essays to encourage change. This multi-week unit plan does just that. After reading a series of articles from Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, class members examine the...

Students explore acrostic poems. In this interactive poetry lesson, students visit the ReadWriteThink.org website to view characteristics and samples of acrostic poems. Students develop acrostic poems by using the interactive site.

Second graders use their senses to explore a prairie or imaginary prairie. They draw pictures to represent the five senses and discover how an artist describes non-visual sensations in a visual way.

Young scholars use examples of narrative and expository text to analyze and compare the two styles. Young scholars read articles on life in Lesotho and Madagascar and use graphic organizers and discussion to compare them. Young scholars...

Eighth graders study poems to see how punctuation, line length, rhythm and word choice can be used to create a memorable moment. They read and discuss poems by Shel Silverstein.

Eighth graders study personification in published works of poetry, then create their own through the use of diamante or cinquain poetry. They read and discuss poetry by Shel Silverstein, William Jay Smith, and Elinor Wylie.

Eighth graders study poetic devices included in conversation poems and explore their eloquent messages. They read and discuss poems by Langston Hughes and Don Marquis.

Third graders identify ways that ocean animals grow, survive, reproduce, and adapt. They use computer Internet skills to acces and collect information. They create a PowerPoint presentation. They demonstrate writing skills throughthe...

Students write an autobiographical essay. In this writing lesson plan students read a narrative, Panic in Paris, and review the elements of a narrative as a class discussion. Well-known stories are used as examples for writing their own...