“This website is my sub plans.” ~ a teacher describing Byrdseed.TV
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We tell students to ‘show, not tell’ — but that advice is useless until they experience the difference. This lesson makes it click.
‘Add more variety!’ teachers say. But how? This lesson gives students actual techniques instead of vague advice.
Blow up a paragraph into individual sentences. Now reassemble it. The clues hiding in each sentence will surprise you.
We’ll start with the cliché “as cold as ice” and go somewhere much more interesting.
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.
Read three pieces of writing from three different robots about the same beautiful painting of a volcano. Who wrote it best?
Can you use the context clues to get these sentences about trains back into the correct order?
Three paragraphs about cucumbers. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
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.
A passage from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Can you write directions so clear that a group of kids can put a toy together with no illustrations?
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?
A passage from White Fang to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Three paragraphs about baseball. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.
Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?
Let’s make this simile about a quick baby even more specific.
How does a drink’s packaging affect us emotionally and logically?
What happens when a pronoun could refer to more than one noun? Big problems!
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.
What if we rewrote a story’s climax into a totally different genre?
What if a capybara and a kangaroo rat switched homes? Would their adaptations be helpful at all?
Broken windows? Enjoy plenty of fresh air! Your students are real estate agents with a very hard house to sell.
What if we rewrote a piece of writing without using certain letters?
Let’s take a classic Christmas poem and remix it to work with another holiday!
When we try to solve a problem, sometimes we end up creating new problems. Which lead to new solutions. Which lead to new problems.
Poetry and Prose meet at a party. What would they say to each other? How would they feel about each other’s style?
One painting of ruins. Three robots. Three pieces of writing. Who wrote it best?
Let’s go roller skating in a Halloween costume! What could possibly go wrong?
Let’s write from multiple perspectives using an old timey holiday photo!
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.
Look closely at Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.
A specific technique to help students add some spice to their writing. We’ll be contrasting two ideas using synonyms.
Is your students’ use of repetition limited to, “The girl was very, very, very fast.”? Let’s borrow some ideas from Shakespeare!
Let’s start with “As cold as fire.”
A passage from “Peter Pan” to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
An old photograph. A holiday scene. Pick one object in the picture and write from its point of view.
Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place in at a magical school.
