Some 60 activities in language arts for use in the out-of-doors are described. Categories for these middle school activities include oral activities, factual writing, fictional writing, and poetry. (JC)

This book discusses basic craft elements of writing, illustrates from adult and children's literature what constitutes an engaging passage of description, and then illustrates how that craft can be taught in a workshop environment. In addition, this book includes involvement experiences that help teachers experience these craft elements. After an…

The writing and art program described in this lesson plan employs scientific observation, descriptive writing, sketching, reading, investigation, and poetry writing to train middle school students to use their senses and focus their attention. During the four 45-minute lessons, students will: make careful observations of natural objects; write…

When students write in response to literature, they make reading a creative act. Recording their personal reaction to a poem or an excerpt from a larger work, students become aware of the complex web of past experiences, associations and ideas triggering their responses; they learn to interact more fully, more consciously, with the text. Besides…

Aimed at elementary school teachers interested in promoting their students' enjoyment of and skill in writing, this guide offers a number of ideas for writing activities. The guide focuses on the creative use of language and suggests ways in which students can be stimulated to write poems and stories, create metaphors, write descriptions of people…

Using the newspaper to provide opportunities for students to learn current events and further develop writing skills is described. Seven activities outline how to use cooperative learning to teach current events. Four types of assignments based on newspapers develop various types of writing skills: (1) personal writing; (2) descriptive writing;…

The Water in Africa Project was realized over a 2-year period by a team of Peace Corps volunteers, World Wise Schools (WWS) classroom teachers, and WWS staff members. As part of an expanded, detailed design, resources were collected from over 90 volunteers serving in African countries, photos and stories were prepared, and standards-based learning…

This book presents a range of activities for writing instruction that develop different composing skills, attend to the social processes of reading and writing, involve the peer group in evaluating and responding to drafts, focus on different types and formats of writing, and stimulate these activities through diverse techniques and methods. The…