Writing ＊ Byrdseed.TV

Showing A Character’s Trait

We tell students to ‘show, not tell’ — but that advice is useless until they experience the difference. This lesson makes it click.

Ways to Start a Sentence – Level 1

‘Add more variety!’ teachers say. But how? This lesson gives students actual techniques instead of vague advice.

Paragraphs: Systems of Sentences

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

Fancier Figurative Language: Start with a Cliche

We’ll start with the cliché “as cold as ice” and go somewhere much more interesting.

Advanced Alliteration and Consonance

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.

Writing Sample: The Jungle Book (Bagheera)

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

Ways to Start a Sentence – Part 3

Your students’ sentences all start the same way. Here are three techniques that fix that overnight.

Robot Writing: The Bridge

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

Academic Love Letters

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

Automobiles – Mixed Up Paragraph

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

Better Stories Part 3: Literary Themes

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…

Upgrading Compare and Contrast Writing

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

Story Starter: Somewhere In Space

Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place in space!

Fixing Shakespearean Run-Ons

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

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.

Story Starter: Amusement Park

Students use 12 random phrases to write a story that takes place in at an amusement park.

Pluto – Mixed Up Paragraph

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

Analyze Paragraphs: Empire State Building

Three paragraphs about the Empire State Building. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.

Writing About Art: The Scream

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

Writing Haiku in Primary

Your youngest students will learn to write Japanese Haiku poetry.

Great Sloths – Mixed Up Paragraph

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

Literary Technique: Juxtaposition

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

Emoji Stories 🐻

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Punctuation Power

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!

12 Phrases: The Zoo

Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place at the zoo.

Writing in Pilish

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

That Quote’s Not Quite Right: Albert Einstein

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

Coral Reef – Mixed Up Paragraph

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

Better Stories Part 1: The Big Idea

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.

Emoji Stories 🚗

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Ways to Start a Sentence – Level 2

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

Improving Shakespeare’s Repetition

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

Emoji Stories 🤖

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Studying and Remixing “The Raven”

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

Better Stories Part 2: Types of Conflict

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.