Serving advanced learners (and their teachers) since 2012.

Arizona ELA Standard: 2.W.5

With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

Power and Traditions

Power and Traditions

We compare the power of traditions shared by millions with smaller traditions shared by perhaps just one family.

Halloween Worksheets

Halloween Worksheets

Crosswords, image analysis, and writing prompts for Halloween!

Writing Haiku in Primary

Writing Haiku in Primary

Your youngest students will learn to write Japanese Haiku poetry.

That Quote’s Not Quite Right: Albert Einstein

That Quote’s Not Quite Right: Albert Einstein

When I see a quote, I often think, “That’s not quite right!”

Characters’ Faults Can Also Be Strengths

Characters’ Faults Can Also Be Strengths

Strength and weakness are often two sides of the same coin. Students will explore how a character’s flaw can be a benefit.

Improving Shakespeare’s Repetition

Improving Shakespeare’s Repetition

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

St. Patrick and Other Legends

St. Patrick and Other Legends

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

Getting Specific With St. Patrick’s Day Writing

Getting Specific With St. Patrick’s Day Writing

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

Order, Chaos, and the Holiday Season

Order, Chaos, and the Holiday Season

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

Student Introductions With Depth, Complexity, and Frames: Level Two

Student Introductions With Depth, Complexity, and Frames: Level Two

Once students know the prompts of Depth and Complexity, let’s take them much higher up Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Mother’s Day Cards

Mother’s Day Cards

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

A Halloween Costume Gone Wrong

A Halloween Costume Gone Wrong

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

Super Specific Similes: Stinky Seaweed

Super Specific Similes: Stinky Seaweed

Start with a basic simile. Now make it more specific. Now even more. Watch how much better writing gets with each round.

What If… No Sleep?

What If… No Sleep?

What would the consequences be if no one had to sleep anymore?

New Uses For A Pencil

New Uses For A Pencil

So, what can a pencil be used for other than writing and drawing?

Random Emoji Prompt Generator

Random Emoji Prompt Generator

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

Lipogram: Rewrite “Mary Had A Little Lamb”

Lipogram: Rewrite “Mary Had A Little Lamb”

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

Lipogram: Rewrite “Twinkle, Twinkle”

Lipogram: Rewrite “Twinkle, Twinkle”

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

Holiday Writing: Packing Crates

Holiday Writing: Packing Crates

An old photograph. A holiday scene. Pick one object in the picture and write from its point of view.

Thanksgiving Photo Writing

Thanksgiving Photo Writing

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

Back to School: Rewriting The Beatles’ “Help!”

Back to School: Rewriting The Beatles’ “Help!”

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!?

Writing About Art: Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons

Writing About Art: Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons

Look closely at Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.

Writing About Art: Impression, Sunrise

Writing About Art: Impression, Sunrise

Look closely at Impression, Sunrise. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.

Writing About Art: Chōshi in Shimosha

Writing About Art: Chōshi in Shimosha

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

Writing About Art: Twilight in the Wilderness

Writing About Art: Twilight in the Wilderness

Look closely at Twilight in the Wilderness. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.

New Uses for a Paperclip

New Uses for a Paperclip

So what are some new ways to use a paperclip?

Ultimate (or Inception) Tic Tac Toe

Ultimate (or Inception) Tic Tac Toe

What if each square on a Tic-Tac-Toe board had another Tic-Tac-Toe board inside of it?

Self Portraits Part One: Line Drawings

Self Portraits Part One: Line Drawings

Anyone, yes anyone, can create a (somewhat) realistic self-portrait using these steps. Anyone!

Doubling Up Writing: Anadiplosis

Doubling Up Writing: Anadiplosis

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

Writing Technique: Opposite Adjectives

Writing Technique: Opposite Adjectives

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

Writing Sample: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Falling)

Writing Sample: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Falling)

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

Writing Sample: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Shrinking)

Writing Sample: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Shrinking)

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

Writing Sample: The Velveteen Rabbit (The Toys)

Writing Sample: The Velveteen Rabbit (The Toys)

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

Writing Sample: White Fang (The Wild)

Writing Sample: White Fang (The Wild)

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

Writing A Thanksgiving Letter

Writing A Thanksgiving Letter

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

Remixing A Holiday Poem

Remixing A Holiday Poem

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

SCAMPER: Scaffolding Creativity

SCAMPER: Scaffolding Creativity

Asking students to “think creatively” won’t get you far. They won’t know how to start, they’ll get stuck with simple ideas, or they’ll just go completely wild. SCAMPER is a tool for scaffolding the process of creativity.

Paragraphs: Systems of Sentences

Paragraphs: Systems of Sentences

Blow up a paragraph into individual sentences. Now reassemble it. The clues hiding in each sentence will surprise you.

Writing Sample: Peter Pan

Writing Sample: Peter Pan

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

Run On or Not? – What’s In My Brain

Run On or Not? – What’s In My Brain

Can your students spot the run-on sentences?

Dots and Boxes

Dots and Boxes

Who can make the most boxes from dots in this strategy game?

Academic Love Letters

Academic Love Letters

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

“Its Big Day” – A Children’s Story About Its and It’s

“Its Big Day” – A Children’s Story About Its and It’s

Let’s spice up a typically dull lesson about the difference between “its” and “it’s” by asking students to write a children’s story about the adventures of a critter named It.

Create A Creature

Create A Creature

Create a new creature based on the adaptations of existing creatures from the same biome.

An App For A Historical Figure

An App For A Historical Figure

What kind of an app could have helped Abe Lincoln accomplish his goals?

Creating A Classroom Motto

Creating A Classroom Motto

Starting with specific examples of fantastic classroom behavior, your class will end up with one sentence summing up their expectations. It’s a classroom motto!

Writing Clear Directions

Writing Clear Directions

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