Writing

Want students to understand how a paragraph fits together? Explode one and make them reassemble it using the clues in each sentence! I even wrote a little app to bust a paragraph up for you.

We tell students to "show, not tell" in their writing, but this advice isn't effective until they experience the difference. In this video, we'll put a famous character (of students' choosing) into a mundane situation and develop a fun scene to show off their main traits.

"Add more variety!" I'd say to my class. But I never really knew what this actually meant. Suprise! This bad advice never improved students' writing. In these videos, students learn nine specific ways to add variety just by changing the beginning of their sentences. This was easily one of my students' favorite writing tools - because it actually helped them.

We'll start with the cliché "as cold as ice" and go somewhere much more interesting.

Want something to do during the holiday season that is both fun and involves thinking? Get students writing about what a snowman would think about Halloween or what a ghost would think about Thanksgiving.

We'll take two seemingly unrelated pieces of content (say volcanoes and the human body) and then build analogies to connect the two ideas. In the end, students can create a skit, comic, or story relating the two concepts.

Context clues lessons can be a disaster. Here, we expose students to a delightful classic packed with nonsense words ("Jabberwocky") and ask them to decipher the meanings and parts of speech. Then, it's only natural for students to write their own nonsense poems.

Your students will turn the iconic painting The Scream into a vivid, sensory poem.

Ever ask students to create research questions? Were their ideas a bit… blah? My own students had a very hard time writing questions they didn't already know the answer to! This video is how I solved that problem: upgrade research questions with depth and complexity.

What if an inanimate object could express thanks for a special person in your life? What would it write?

Sure, Dr. Seuss wrote for young students, but can older students analyze his writing and learn to mimic his style? THEN, they can produce Seuss-style poetry about any topic: Ancient China, the electromagnetic spectrum, Pride and Prejudice, and (yes) fraction division!

Are students' characters a bit flat? Archetypes give them a strong foundation on which to build their own characters as well as a tool to analyze existing stories.

In a sentence, punctuation may seem meek when compared to those mighty words, but punctuation has incredible power over the meaning of a sentence. Students will try re-punctuating sentences to find new meanings - without changing a single word!

Let's write a summary. A very short summary. With VERY strict rules.

Let's take a classic Christmas poem and remix it to work with another holiday!

Click up an interesting, visual writing prompt suitable for any grade or purpose.

What if... Edgar Allen Poe wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?

We open our unit on narrative writing with a big idea: "structure increases creativity." I show how this is true by bringing in examples from across all disciplines.

Let's go roller skating in a Halloween costume! What could possibly go wrong?

Can your students come up with a one-syllable word to sum up their time away from school? And then rewrite The Beatles' song Help!?

Pi can go beyond circles! What if you wrote using the digits of pi as your guide?

A typical student narrative includes plot and characters but lacks a larger idea to hold it all together. This is where a lesson on themes comes in…

Ever read a student's story that was just event after event after event and then a very sudden ending? They lack an understanding of a plot's structure. With the help of Finding Nemo, I break down how to set up a well-structured plot.

Let's see how propaganda techniques can make even something great seem bad.

Starting with an old-timey photo, students will write from a particular item's point of view.

Let's write from multiple perspectives using an old timey holiday photo!

What happens when we switch out a "but" with a "so"? An "and" with a "for"? How can such tiny words make such big differences?

What is bobbing for apples like… for an apple?

What if Kylo Ren wrote a love letter to Abe Lincoln or the Sahara Desert wrote one to the Moon?

Upgrade compare and contrast writing with just a couple of key words.

What if we rewrote a piece of writing without using certain letters?

We'll show students how to add more variety to their writing by starting sentences with a reason, a prepositional phrase, and a simile.

Did you ever notice that the structure of an essay is very similar to the structure of a paragraph? Hmm…

If your students' stories are packed with endless ninja fights or arguments between frenemies, it's time to expose them to a wider range of conflicts.

Can you write directions so clear that a group of kids can put a toy together with no illustrations?

What happens when a pronoun could refer to more than one noun? Big problems!

Ready to push kids beyond the boring, old ABAB rhyme scheme and into something a bit more complex?

One painting of a bridge. Three robots. Who wrote it best?

Wouldn't some holidays be better on a certain day of the week? Should Thanksgiving have a set date?

When students learn about alliteration, it's hard to steer them away from goofy tongue-twisters. Certainly, there must be more powerful and practical ways of using alliteration. In this lesson, I draw on delicious examples from Shakespeare to show how a very advanced writer used alliteration. Then, I break those ideas down so students can try them out.

When we try to solve a problem, sometimes we end up creating new problems. Which lead to new solutions. Which lead to new problems.

We'll show students how to add more variety to their writing by starting sentences with gerunds, participle phrases, and absolute phrases.

Put a grumpy character next to a joyful one and they make each other stand out even more. Opposites are powerful!

Let's write a holiday song about order and chaos!

Rather than just demand that students "write clearly," we'll explore the hazards of poorly written sentences… and maybe create one of our own!

Students will read three paragraphs about the same topic, decide what makes each one different, and then create a super-paragraph!

In this lesson, students will not just fix passive sentences, but break active sentences as they learn to put the star of the sentence first.

Let's start with "As cold as fire."

Dig into the common elements of the fantasy genre.

Imagine that Poetry and Prose meet for the first time at a party? What would they say to each other? How would they feel? In this video, I guide kids through the process of writing a script in which these two forms of writing interact.

A specific technique to help students add some spice to their writing. We'll be contrasting two ideas using synonyms.

What if we started a sentence with the simile?

Students will look closely at a piece of art and then write a structured poem about it.

Can your students help The Bard? We'll fix five Shakespearean run-ons in three different ways.

Students will create a surprisingly good poem based on Monet's Impression, Sunrise.

Students will look closely at this old image and write a short, structured poem.

Read three pieces of writing from three different robots about the same beautiful painting of a volcano. Who wrote it best?

What if we rewrote a story's climax into a totally different genre?

Students will create a story about 🎃🕯️📖💥👻.

Get your students writing some pretty darn impressive poetry based on Japan's most famous artist.

Students will read three paragraphs about the same topic, decide what makes each one different, and then create a super-paragraph!

What if we rewrote a piece of writing without using certain letters?

Students will write about a beautiful painting from Frederic Edwin Church.

Let's write the cleverest Mother's Day cards you've ever seen!

A specific technique to help students add some spice to their writing. We'll be writing sentences with three dependent clauses.

Students will read three paragraphs about the same topic, decide what makes each one different, and then create a super-paragraph!

Students will create a story about 🚚🎁🤔🐶🫣

Students will create a story about 🕷️🕸️📩🔑🚪.

A specific technique to help students add some spice to their writing. We'll be using antonyms to describe the same topic!

Is your students' use of repetition limited to, "The girl was very, very, very fast."? Let's borrow some ideas from Shakespeare!

Repeating words can be what you want, if what you want is an interesting effect. (Psst, that's an example of anadiplosis!)

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about earthquakes back into the correct order?

Students will read three paragraphs about the same topic, decide what makes each one different, and then create a super-paragraph!

Students will create a story about ⛷️🌨️🌲🐻🤝

Have students mastered the art of anadiplosis: ending one sentence with the beginning of the next? Now it's time to take it to the next level!

Students will read three paragraphs about the same topic, decide what makes each one different, and then create a super-paragraph!

Students will create a story about 🏰📚🔍🔐🚪.

What if your students rewrote Dickens in the style of Hemingway and vice versa?

Students will create a pretty darn interesting poem about Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons.

Students will make this slimy broccoli simile seriously specific.

A passage from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Let's make this simile about a quick baby even more specific.

Students will create a story about 🎅🛷🌀🚀🌍

Given twelve random phrases, students will pick four and then write about the strange situation.

Students will create a story about 🌕🌲👣😱💨.

Students will create a story about 🍪🥛🔍🐾🦌

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about the coral reef back into the correct order?

One painting of ruins. Three robots. Three pieces of writing. Who wrote it best?

Students will create a story about ☃️👑🏔️🔭✨

Read three pieces of writing from three different robots based on a beautiful painting and decide who wins!

Students will make this simile about stinky seaweed super specific.

Let's take a starting phrase about St. Patrick's Day and get specific. No, even more specific!

A passage from The Wind in the Willows to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

A passage from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Given twelve random phrases, students will pick four and then write about the strange situation.

Given twelve random phrases, students will pick four and then write about the strange situation.

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about The Great Sphinx back into the correct order?

How would real people feel about the legends that have been created about them?

A passage from "Peter Pan" to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

A passage from The Velveteen Rabbit to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Given twelve random phrases, students will pick four and then write about the strange situation.

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about The Moon back into the correct order?

A passage from "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about automobiles back into the correct order?

Let's make this simile about a loud class super specific!

Students will create a story about 🤖💃🎵🕺🐔.

An intriguing passage from Anne of Green Gables to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about rain clouds back into the correct order?

Let's make this simile about a strong uncle even more specific.

Students will write a story about 🚗🗺️🌋🐉🌉

A passage from White Fang to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about Washington, DC back into the correct order?

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about trains back into the correct order?

Students will create a story about 🐻🎩🎙️🐰🤣.

A passage from "The Fall of the House of Usher" to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

A passage from Moby Dick to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

A passage from The Jungle Book to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about great sloths back into the correct order?

Students will create a story about 🏟️🏹🍞🐦🔥

Given twelve random phrases, students will pick four and then write about the strange situation.

Given twelve random phrases, students will pick four and then write about the strange situation.

Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about Pluto back into the correct order?

Let's help William Shakespeare with his use of repetition.

Students will create a story about 🕰️🎩🐀💎🕺

Students will create a story about 👁️🔮🌩️🚷🌲

Students will write a story about 🛥️🏊🌊🐙🤝 .

Students will create a story about 🚚🤖📻🛸🌌

Students will create a story about 🐌📬✈️🏛️ 📜

Students will create a story about 🦁👑🐗🎶🌄