Using the song "My Favorite Things" from the musical, The Sound of Music, as inspiration, learners will create their own song or poem (to the same tune) that lists their favorite things. Each verse will focus on their favorite things...

Using the song "Live Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw from the soundtrack for The Bucket List as a model, students will take a look at their values and the things they would like to accomplish in their lives before they run out of...

This is a great math writing assignment. First, students learn about the patterns and shapes of polynomial equations and their inverses by making their bodies imitate mathematical concepts, using popular disco & 80's dance moves....

Jack Johnson's "Inaudible Melodies" creates an interesting paradox of how society perceives itself versus the reality of how society really behaves. After listening to a second song using paradox in order to further understand the...

After listening to Van Morrison's "Days Like This" and Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance " and reading Dr. Seuss' Oh, the Places You'll Go! students will consider their choices in life. After asking students, "Who decides your lives are...

This is a great writing lesson for math teachers. The picture book Take Me Out of the Bathtub by Alan Katz demonstrates his love of familiar songs and nursery rhymes by writing new lyrics that can be sung to them. For this assignment,...

By listening and then responding to multiple versions of the song "Summertime," students will understand how songs can convey various moods. Writing about a personal summertime memory, students will try to mimic a mood from one of the...

This is a writing activity perfect for a math class, it's designed to help students see the differences between linear (arithmetic, adding) and exponential (geometric, multiplying) growth. Students explore the ideas of linear and...

Using "Science Times" at NewYorkTimes.com, students will listen to podcasts to learn about and share science ideas that are currently in the news. By organizing and summarizing science thoughts, students will be able to effectively share...

For this lesson, young scholars will be exploring self image. They will be analyzing how they would like to ultimately be remembered by writing a eulogy, inspired by Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You." They will then explore a...

After listening and analyzing song lyrics and, subsequently, doing the same analysis with poems, students will discover how similar song writing and poetry writing can be. Students will get their own chance to write a small version of...

After reading several animal poems by Ogden Nash, students imitate Nash's writing style to write animal poems of their own. Teacher instructions, printable graphic organizers, student instructions, student writing samples, and an idea...

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem discover that their seemingly "feeble" father has an astonishing ability with a rifle. For this assignment, writers will compose a letter to a parent or loved one, asking for a return letter that...

Using the song "Where Is the Love" by the Black-Eyed Peas and "Excuse Me, Mr." by Ben Harper, students will begin to think about injustices that exist in our world. Ultimately, student writers will compose an essay based on a persuasive...

Using two songs by India Arie as well as an excerpt out of Sharon Flake's The Skin I'm In, students will explore their own self image. After analyzing the qualities that each student feels that they embody, they will compare these to the...

In this lesson plan, the book Dear Mr. Henshaw, written by Beverly Cleary, is used as a mentor text. Each student will generate a list of questions for his/her favorite author. Then each student will write a letter to the favorite author...

Inspired by "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)," this lesson asks students to think about memorable writing--writing that has, in some way, touched them personally. Students will make multiple drafts of simple advice in order to make...

This writing assignments asks students to decide how they will make a difference in the effort to save our oceans. First students will listen to several episodes of "This I Believe," the NPR weekly pod cast where authors describe their...

In this lesson, the first chapter of the novel Girl with a Pearl Earring is used as a mentor text. Young scholars will identify metaphors and then create their own unique metaphorical descriptions that they will begin to collect in their...

In this activity, young scholars will use a the rap song about prefixes, suffixes and roots and the song "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. Students will be engaged as they are practice their understanding of prefixes, suffixes and...

An exhaustive look at the arts projects funded by the WPA Federal Arts program in Minnesota. These included music, writing, and pictorial projects throughout the state. This PDF file includes pictures and extensive footnotes.

This is a printable PDF template page for 6 Trait Post-it Notes for Revision and Editing for descriptive and narrative writing.

This lesson plan and prompt encourages students to show information about themselves as they set the things that they love to the music of Tom T. Hall's, "I Love." Students will be further inspired after hearing Brigitte Minne's book, I...

In this lesson, students will use the song "The 3 R's" by Jack Johnson to develop ideas about how to "green" up their own classrooms; they will learn two songs (written to the tune of old classics) that will inspire them to brainstorm...