Writer's workshop is an idea that's been around for years. Students write, read, and comment on each others writing in an authentic and thoughtful way. Here is a 21st century twist, 6th graders will use the class blog to create a...

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...

Sixth graders write multiple pieces and create a writing portfolio each marking period.  In this writing lesson, 6th graders spend several weeks developing each piece of writing, conference with their parents at home, and decide...

Help your class find their writing voices with this lesson which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher what they...

After completing an essay on the American dream, learners revisit their thesis statements. To remind your class what a good thesis statement should look like, show them the rap video, and flip through the PowerPoint presentation. Then...

Strengthen your high schoolers' writing with a series of steps for writing successfully. With sections on organizing an essay, choosing a topic, crafting a thesis statement, and revising a draft, the lesson encourages your class to...

Using this lesson on blogs, you can lead your class through the process of setting up a blog, writing a blog entry, editing their work, and more. There is a link to the blog site used, and attachments of blog entries.

Looking for a good social media lesson for your class? Then, this lesson is for you! They study various written reviews, then must choose an item to review of their choice. They can choose from: a book, restaurant, CD/musical...

Everyone is a writer! Youngsters compose an original piece of writing. In this writing lesson plan, they come up with their own idea for a piece of writing, revise it, and then publish it with illustrations. This lesson plan includes...

Upper elementary schoolers examine the concept of synonyms and how using a variety of vocabulary through synonyms can expand their writing skills. They revise a paragraph using synonyms located on the Visual Thesaurus and participate in...

Practice being concise. Exercise your vocabulary. Improve your editing skills. The contention in this instructional activity is that by imposing a 140 character limit, the Twitter format actually helps improve writing skills. And of...

One of the keys for successful teaching is connecting curriculum to real-life experiences. This lesson on blogging does this, by making writing, revising, and publishing a reality. Pupils create a character for a story, write about their...

There are so many authors of short stories, and your class can have the chance to study quite a few. This seventh lesson in a series of fourteen continues the decision-making process for the final assessment: a short story author study....

Incorporate technology into a literature instructional activity with an innovative language arts instructional activity. Middle schoolers read an electronic version of original stories or fairy tales, and after determining the point...

After researching an issue introduced in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, writers develop an original thesis statement and craft an analytic essay using evidence collected in their research.

The author study gets an update in a research project designed for high schoolers. Scholars search for information about literary figures that connects them to their times, their works, their themes, and other writers. Researchers also...

Students examine how a hook grabs the readers attention. They read an example of a hook from the book "Charlotte's Web," and discuss the process of writing a hook. Students listen to the story "Hey Al," identify the hooks in the story,...

Eighth graders are introduced to the concept, What Makes Good Poetry? They are asked to explore the writer within.

Designed as a professional development exercise to introduce teachers to the Internet, the activities in this resource ask novice web surfers to access a series of sites, bookmark them, and answer question about information found on the...

Use hypertext to make a multimedia choose-your-own adventure story! Young writers incorporate knowledge of story writing elements to write their own stories, and rewrite the adventure with various scenarios and endings. Use technology to...

Learners explore the writings of Anne Frank. They discuss how Anne did or did not change during her two years in the Secret Annex. Students take a stand on how much Anne has in common with contemporary young people.

Lensey Namioka’s Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear provides an opportunity for young readers to observe how writers bring their characters to life. Each class member selects a character to trace through the novel, recording...

Here is a great instructional activity on how to make a complete sentence. Young writers "drag and drop" the words using the mouse. This is a fantastic activity to use with "Word Wall Words." It provides practice in making sentences, as...

An interesting article on editors helps young writers understand the conventions of written English. They read a news article about an editor traveling America correcting spelling and punctuation errors on signs.  They discuss...