“I use Byrdseed TV to differentiate for my clustered students. I LOVE all the ideas!” ~ a teacher in Washington
Students will re-write a nursery rhyme using increasingly difficult letter restrictions.
First, students rewrite “Mary Had A Little Lamb” without the letter O.
Students rewrite ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ without using the letter A.
Now, students rewrite the poem without the letters T or S.
Students rewrite ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ without using half of the alphabet.
Students will analyze the clues in these mixed-up sentences and determine their correct order.
Students will analyze the clues in these mixed-up sentences and determine their correct order.
Students will analyze the clues in these mixed-up sentences and determine their correct order.
Students will analyze the clues in these mixed-up sentences and determine their correct order.
Students will analyze the clues in these mixed-up sentences and determine their correct order.
Students will analyze the clues in these mixed up sentences and determine their correct order.
Students will read three paragraphs inspired by the same painting and then decide on their favorite. And their least favorite!
Students read three robot-written paragraphs about a scene and choose their favorite and least favorite, giving specific feedback.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads INK’s paragraph about the volcano scene.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads ESSAY’s paragraph about the volcano scene.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads PENN’s paragraph about the volcano scene.
Students will read three paragraphs inspired by the same painting and then decide on their favorite. And their least favorite!
Students read three paragraphs and choose their favorite and least favorite, providing specific feedback to each writer.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads EPIC’s paragraph about the Acropolis image.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads ERASE’s paragraph about the Acropolis image.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads SCRIBE’s paragraph about the Acropolis image.
Students will read three paragraphs inspired by the same painting and then decide on their favorite. And their least favorite!
Students read three paragraphs written by robotic writers and choose their favorite and least favorite while giving specific feedback.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads RATT’s paragraph about the bridge painting.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads WRITER’s paragraph about the bridge painting.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads QUILL’s paragraph about the bridge painting.
Students will read three paragraphs inspired by the same painting and then decide on their favorite. And their least favorite!
Students read three robotic writers’ paragraphs, choose their favorite and least favorite, and provide specific feedback to each author.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads WILL’s paragraph about the orchestra performance.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads PAPER’s paragraph about the orchestra performance.
Students listen as Mr. Byrd reads TYPO’s paragraph about the orchestra performance.
Students will study the styles of Dickens and Hemingway and then try to write like them.
Students analyze opening sentences by Charles Dickens and Ernest Hemingway to identify differences in their writing styles.
Next, they’ll re-write Dickens in Hemingway’s style.
Now, they re-write Hemingway using Dickens’ style.
I share my final example.
Students will analyze the clues in these mixed up sentences and determine their correct order.
Students use clues from each sentence to reorder a jumbled paragraph about automobiles and explain their reasoning.
Students read the original paragraph to understand how car features evolve and the challenges they present for drivers.
Students will analyze the clues in these mixed up sentences and determine their correct order.
Students rearrange a jumbled paragraph about Washington, D.C., using clues from each sentence to determine the correct order.
Students identify the main details in the original order of the paragraph about Washington, D.C. and its significance.
Students will analyze the clues in these mixed up sentences and determine their correct order.
Students organize the mixed-up sentences about trains using clues from each sentence to determine the correct order.
Students read and discuss the original paragraph about trains to understand its structure and content.
Students will analyze the clues in these mixed up sentences and determine their correct order.
Students use sentence clues to rearrange a jumbled paragraph about earthquakes into the correct order on their worksheets.
Students read the original paragraph about earthquakes and their effects on the Earth’s surface, including building techniques for safety.
Students scramble a paragraph and put it back together.
Students analyze sentences in a paragraph, using clues to rearrange them into the correct order, forming a cohesive system.
Students will reorder sentences about Roman Bridges.
Students look for patterns for how to reorder sentences in their clues.
Students write a mixed-up paragraph using patterns from clues and share it with classmates to rearrange the sentences.
Students will read three paragraphs about the same topic, decide what makes each one different, and then create a super-paragraph!
Students identify differences in the three introduction paragraphs about baseball and create a super paragraph using the best elements.
Students will read three paragraphs about the same topic, decide what makes each one different, and then create a super-paragraph!
Students read three introduction paragraphs about cucumbers and identify the differences between them to create a super paragraph.
Students will read three paragraphs about the same topic, decide what makes each one different, and then create a super-paragraph!
Students identify differences in three paragraphs about the Empire State Building and create a combined super paragraph.
Students will read three paragraphs about the same topic, decide what makes each one different, and then create a super-paragraph!
Students identify unique details in each paragraph and combine them to create a new, cohesive super paragraph about picking tomatoes.
Students will read three paragraphs about the same topic, decide what makes each one different, and then create a super-paragraph!
Students compare three introduction paragraphs about Wolverines and identify their differences to create a combined “super paragraph.”
A passage from White Fang 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.
A passage from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 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.
A passage from White Fang 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.
A passage from The Wind in the Willows 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 “Peter Pan” to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
A passage from “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
A passage from “The Fall of the House of Usher” to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
An intriguing passage from Anne of Green Gables to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.
Students decide which adaptations would help an animal if it switched locations – and which would hurt it.
First, students research how one animal is adapted to its environment.
Then, they pick a related animal from a totally different biome and research its adaptations.
Students categorize animal adaptations as advantages, neutral, or disadvantages based on imagined location changes between two different species.
Finally they write the story of the two animals switching places.
Students will create a story showing that solutions can often create more problems.
Students choose a Halloween scenario and identify several problems that need solutions in that situation.
Students choose one problem from part one and write a solution that creates a new problem on their graphic organizer.
Their final problem will bring them back around to the original situation.
Students will turn their chain of problems and solutions into a story, song, poem, or other product.
Students will write a conversation between a person and the legendary version of that person.
First students brainstorm people who have had legends develop around them.
Next they’ll write about how those original people might feel about their legendary versions.
Finally students will write a conversation between a person and their legendary self.
Students will rewrite the climax of one story using a difference genre.
Students pick a new genre, then note what they’ll need to change, and what can stay the same.
They’ll rewrite just the climax of the original story into the new genre.
Finally, they write a pitch to convince the publisher Byrd ‘n’ Mifflin to publish their new version of the story.
Students write about bobbing for apples from an apple’s perspective.
Students write from an apple’s perspective who thinks it’s at a relaxing pool party.
They continue writing from an apple’s point of view as the bobbing begins!
Students will write a story about going roller skating in a Halloween costume that is not designed for roller skating!
Students choose a Halloween costume and describe three parts that create challenges while roller skating.
Then, they’ll write a draft of their story featuring three moments: false hope, losing balance, and, yes, a spectacular fall.
Finally, students will revise their writing to add some spice and pizzaz!
Students pick two seemingly unrelated pieces of content (say volcanoes and the human body). Then they build analogies to connect the two ideas.
Students will learn about analogies and practice some simple ones.
Students brainstorm vocabulary related to human bodies and volcanoes to create connections and develop unique analogies.
Then, they flesh out the connections between the vocabulary, writing definitions and connections.
Students create a comic, short story, or skit to show the similarities between two unrelated topics through their analogies.
Students will re-write passages in the style of various authors.
I introduce the concept of “voice” and then students work with a piece from Lewis Carroll.
Now they analyze the voice in a piece from Edgar Allen Poe.
Students re-write one author’s language using the voice of the other author.
Students work practice writing in a specific voice about a random topic.
Students write a scene that shows a trait, and another that just tells it.
Students brainstorm actions and movements that show a character’s feelings and traits in a specific location.
Students write a scene that shows Darth Vader’s actions instead of telling how he feels.
Dig into the common elements of the fantasy genre.
Students learn about the fantasy genre by identifying common elements found in popular fantasy stories.
Students brainstorm creative ways for their realistic characters to enter a fantasy world filled with unique elements and themes.
Students will analyze pairs of opposite characters who have to work together.
Students think of opposite characters from stories, shows, and movies that highlight their differences through juxtaposition.
Students sketch their chosen characters and explain how their differences create juxtaposition in both appearance and personality.
Students will add structure to their plots using the time-tested, five-act model. I introduce it using several student-friendly stories.
Students identify the exposition and denouement in their favorite stories to see how characters change throughout the plot.
Students plan their story’s beginning and ending by identifying key events that show their character’s big change.
Students break down their story’s rising action into adventures that show how the character changes before the climax.
Students plan three adventures for their main character to help prepare for the climax of their story.
Students will learn to apply a range of conflict types to their stories.
Students will identify stories featuring each of the four types of conflict.
They’ll begin writing their own tiny stories.
Students will become familiar with four literary themes, learning to identify them as well as use them to create their own stories.
First, students will identify stories from each of the themes.
Then, they will continue writing their story from last time.
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.
Students will use four repeating types of characters as the starting point for their own interesting characters.
Students group characters based on their roles, like mentor or protagonist, to understand different character archetypes in stories.
Students identify their story’s protagonist and compare it to another character from the same archetype to deepen their understanding.
Let’s rewrite Einstein’s quote about simplicity to make it more accurate.
Students rewrite Einstein’s quote to make it simple for a five-year-old and identify when the quote might be incorrect.
Now they’ll rewrite the quote, creating a rough version and a few “catchy” versions.
Next, they write to Einstein, explaining their revised quote.
Finally, they write back as Einstein who defends his original wording.
Students will make an argument that a holiday should be on certain date or a certain day of the week.
First, students list holidays in categories based on their date.
Next they come up with pros and cons for the different categories of holidays.
Now they’ll decide which holidays would work better in a different category.
Next they’ll write out an argument for one holiday.
Finally they’ll develop a slogan and a poster to help make their argument.
Students will write a clever paragraph connecting how their mom helps them and something else she’s great at.
First, students brainstorm things that their mom is great at and ways she helps them.
Then, they combine those ideas to write small blurbs about their mom.
Next, they’ll pick a blurb or two and sharpen their writing, getting increasingly specific.
Finally, they’ll turn their best idea into an illustrated card.
Using old photos as a starting point, students will write about Thanksgiving from a particular item’s point of view.
Students spend time noting details in their photo.
They brainstorm possible perspectives within their photo.
Next, they write down sensory details using that perspective.
Students write a piece from the perspective of their chosen object, using sensory details to bring it to life.
Students will write from the perspective of an object using specific details about a special person.
Students choose a person to thank and an object that appreciates what that person does.
They revisit their initial letter to get more specific about why the object is so thankful for their special person.
Students will analyze and judge a holiday from the perspective of another holiday’s mascot.
Students choose their two holidays and the mascot they’ll be using.
Students brainstorm facts about both holidays using three categories that they choose (food, songs, decorations, clothing, etc).
Using their mascot’s perspective, students write about each of those categories.
Students take that writing and turn it into a final product of your (or their) choosing.
Students upgrade their bland research questions using prompts of depth and complexity and then create a sequence of questions using concepts from Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Students pick a topic and create 3 – 5 questions.
They upgrade those questions by adding in a prompt of depth and complexity.
Students create a sequence of questions by comparing their topic to another related topic to deepen their understanding.
Students will use key words to upgrade their compare and contrast writing from a mere list of facts to a deeper analysis.
Students brainstorm details about two ideas, aiming for at least twenty-five interesting facts while avoiding obvious or trivial information.
Students look for three patterns in their brainstormed facts, these will eventually become the paragraphs students write.
They add one of five keywords to their patterns to add a layer of analysis.
Students write out a paragraph using the keyword plus pattern.
Students will use propaganda techniques and logical fallacies to argue against something great.
Students identify and discuss examples of ad hominem arguments, focusing on how they attack a person instead of the topic.
Students learn about the Slippery Slope technique, see some of my examples, and brainstorm some of their own.
Next, students learn about Stacking the Deck.
The fourth technique is Bandwagoning.
And the final technique is Appeal to Fear.
Students create posters, skits, or videos that use logical fallacies to argue against something universally loved and respected.
Students will decide what one piece of content would appreciate about another.
Students will analyze the package of a healthy drink, searching for evidence of ethos, pathos, and logos.
First, students are introduced to the concepts of ethos (authority), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic).
Next, they will survey their peers about healthy drinks.
Finally, they’ll redesign the drinks’ packaging, building on the persuasive tools they have learned.
Students will notice the parallel between an essay’s overall structure and the structure of an individual paragraph.
Students will write (and re-write) directions to build a simple toy.
Students design a simple toy using ten random pieces and name it as if it were a real set.
Students write clear directions outlining how to assemble their small toy using simple terminology for easy understanding.
Students read their toy directions aloud while their group follows along, identifying confusing parts to improve the instructions.
Now, they practice with groups of younger students, take notes, and then revise again.
Finally, they publish a final version of their directions.
Your youngest students will learn to write Japanese Haiku poetry.
Students will look at the holidays through the lenses of order and chaos, eventually re-writing a favorite song.
First students will brainstorm as many holiday characters, items, and activities as they can think of.
Next, they’ll pick several of those ideas and decide which ones represent order and which ones represent chaos.
Students identify the opposite traits of holiday items, searching for order in chaos and chaos in order.
Students rewrite a holiday song to show elements of chaos and order through at least one creative verse.
Students will re-write a nursery rhyme using increasingly difficult letter restrictions.
First, students rewrite “Mary Had A Little Lamb” without the letter O.
Students rewrite ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ without using the letter A.
Now, students rewrite the poem without the letters T or S.
Students rewrite ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ without using half of the alphabet.
Students will re-write a nursery rhyme using increasingly difficult letter restrictions.
First, students rewrite “Twinkle, Twinkle” without the letter A.
Students rewrite the poem by removing all words that contain the letter E while trying to keep the rhythm.
Finally, they’ll rewrite the poem without using A or E.
Students rewrite ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’ without using half of the alphabet.
Starting with an old photo, students will write about a holiday scene from a particular person or item’s point of view.
Students spend time noting details in their photo.
They brainstorm possible perspectives within their photo.
Next, they write down sensory details using that perspective.
Students write free verse poems using sensory details from their chosen photo and perspective to bring the scene to life.
Students will consider what makes something a “holiday photo” and then write a short, structured poem.
First, students will simply look at the photo, noting interesting details that pop out to them.
Then, they’ll consider how this photo is both a strange example of a holiday photo, but also a perfect example.
They’ll write a draft of a five line, structured poem about this photo.
Finally, they’ll revise their writing and add some sizzle.
Students will sum up their breaks using a one-syllable word and then rewrite the song Help! based on that word.
Students choose a one-syllable word to summarize their time off and begin creating an introduction for their song.
Next, each student will write about their own experiences around the one-syllable word and rewrite a verse of Help!
Then, groups will rewrite the chorus of Help! to be about their experiences.
Finally, students can create artwork, do a photoshoot, film a music video, or even learn semaphore!
Students will write a structured piece of poetry based on details in Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons.
First, students just notice interesting details about this piece.
Then, they answer a few focusing questions to get them thinking deeper.
Now, using a six-line structure, students will write the first draft of their poem.
Finally, they will revise their writing to make it sizzle!
Students will write a structured piece of poetry based on details in Impression, Sunrise.
First, students just notice interesting details about this piece of art.
Then, they answer a few focusing questions to get them thinking deeper.
Now, using a six-line structure, students will write the first draft of their poem.
Finally, they will revise their writing to make it sizzle!
Students will write a sentence (or more) in which each word’s length matches the next digit of pi.
Students come up with at least one six-letter word to finish my sentence.
Now, then are free to write as much as they’d like in Pilish.
Students will write a structured, sensory poem based on a woodblock print from Japan’s most famous artist.
First, students just look at the print and notice interesting details.
Then, they answer a few focusing questions.
Now, your students will use a six-line structure to write a brief poem based on the print.
Finally, they revise their writing to add some sizzle!
Students will write a structured poem about Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog.
Students notice interesting details about the painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog.
They answer several questions to focus their thinking.
Then, students will write six lines about the painting.
Finally, students will improve their writing with small revisions.
Students will create a piece of poetry based on the painting Twilight in the Wilderness.
First, students just notice details about the painting.
Students answer questions about the painting, imagining details and experiences outside what they see in the image.
Now, students write a six-line poem using the structure provided in the video.
Finally, they add a little sparkle and upgrade some of their writing.
Students will write a sensory poem inspired by The Scream.
Students study Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ and record 15–25 details they notice.
Students will answer a few questions about the painting to help to transition to writing.
Next, students write using a specific structure which I model.
Finally, they look for places they can add a bit more detail to make their writing sparkle.
Students will use the patterns of A Visit From St. Nicholas but rewrite the poem to work with another holiday.
Students examine the first stanza of “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” identifying details and patterns in the poem.
Students look for moments when the poet deviates from his rhythm.
Students choose a holiday and brainstorm vocabulary for that holiday.
Students break those words and phrases down into their stressed and unstressed syllables.
Finally, they rewrite at least one stanza from the original poem to fit their holiday.
Students will write a poem about a topic of your choosing in the style of Dr. Seuss, focusing on his use of rhythm and stressed syllables.
Students analyze Dr. Seuss writing, looking for the details that make him sound Seuss-y.
Students identify important words related to their chosen topic and break them into syllables, underlining the stressed syllables.
Students create a Seuss-style stanza using his line length, rhyme pattern, and (most importantly) rhythm.
Students write a conversation between Poetry and Prose.
Students compare and contrast lines of poetry with sentences from prose.
They compare and contrast stanzas with paragraphs.
Students create a table to organize how poetry and prose agree or disagree on various topics through dialogue and actions.
They write the actual script for the exciting encounter between Poetry and Prose.
Students guess what the nonsense words in Jabberwocky mean.
First students will try to define nonsense words from stanzas three and four.
Then they rank those words based on how certain they are of their meaning.
Finally, students can try their hand at writing their own nonsense poetry (and test their context clues on other students).
Students will dig into the complex structure of Poe’s classic poem, The Raven.
Students observe the tone, structure and rhythm in “The Raven.”
Students learn the stressed-unstressed rhythm pattern in “The Raven” and question how it contributes to the tone. Then they are asked to investigate the rhyme scheme of the poem.
Students learn about internal rhyme and review the rhyme scheme of the first stanza questioning how it contributes to the tone. Then they look for repetition and alliteration in the poem.
Students analyze Poe’s use of repetition and alliteration to identify how these elements affect the poem’s tone.
Students choose a refrain and begin remixing it using a new tone focusing on the final line.
Students work backwards through the stanza and remix two additional lines.
Students finish remixing the first three lines of the stanza using Poe’s structure to create their own unique poem.
Students will use the highly structured form of haiku to write summaries.
Students learn to write haiku by following the simple structure of three lines with a total of seventeen syllables.
Next, they’ll write a haiku from a character’s perspective.
Then, they’ll write a different character’s perspective.
Now, they’ll sum up a dramatic moment in the story from a particular character’s point of view.
Finally, they will revise their haiku.
Students will create a Holiday-themed story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a Holiday-themed story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a Holiday-themed story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a Holiday-themed story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a Holiday-themed story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a Halloween-themed story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a Halloween-themed story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
Students will create a story using these five emoji as their starting point.
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.
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.
Given twelve random phrases, students will pick four and then write about the strange situation.
Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place in space!
Students write sentences that start the same and finish differently, depending on the conjunction.
Students practice with “and” and “yet”.
Next, it’s “for”, “but”, and “so.”
We conclude with “or” and “nor” – which will probably require a slightly different opening phrase.
Students will string several examples of anadiplosis together across three sentences.
Students create three interesting endings for the sentence about music teachers using anadiplosis to enhance their writing.
Students will create their own example of triple anadiplosis using several structures that I share.
I share my own example using one of the structures.
Students will double up a word or phrase with this writing technique.
Students will see examples of anadiplosis in action and then finish some examples that I’ve started.
Now students will create their own examples of anadiplosis.
Students will fix run-on sentences (made of lines from Shakespeare) in three different ways, creating simple sentences, a compound sentence, and a complex sentence.
I demonstrate with a line from Julius Caesar and introduce a line from Macbeth.
I introduce a line from Romeo and Juliet.
Next up is a line from Hamlet.
Then students tackle a line from Twelfth Night.
I show my choices for the final line.
Students will practice writing sentences using a structure with three dependent clauses followed by an independent clause.
First, students will practice writing sentences by creating three dependent clauses followed by an independent clause for better rhythm.
Next, students will practice writing by creating different versions of a routine, focusing on a specific starting point.
Students will practice writing sentences using the structure: “A [noun] is [adjective], but a [noun 2] is [adjective]”.
Students practice writing with the structure “That baby was cute, but…”
Students choose another starting point to practice this technique.
Students will use antonyms to describe one topic in this writing technique.
Students think of a topic and three related adjectives then pick an antonym for each of their adjectives.
Next they think of a noun related to the topic for each of the six adjectives.
Then they use the words they’ve come up with to create a paragraph about their topic.
Students will analyze several sentences, searching for different ways the sentences could be interpreted. Then they will create their own ambiguous sentence.
I model how one sentence can have multiple meanings, then students analyze, “We watched her duck.”
After sharing my answers from the last video, students tackle three more ambiguous sentences.
Finally, students will create their own ambiguous sentence, using a homograph as their starting point.
Punctuation is powerful! Students will create new meanings from sentences just by changing the punctuation.
Students find multiple meanings by adding punctuation to this set of words: your teacher said my dad is a rockstar
Students change punctuation to create different meanings from the same sentence, showing how punctuation affects understanding.
Students remix sentences by changing words and punctuation to create new meanings and explore different versions of the text.
Students will learn to go beyond the typical, silly use of alliteration to create interesting examples based on patterns from Shakespeare.
Students work on writing sentences that gently sprinkle in alliteration rather than dump it on every word.
Students write sentences using consonant sounds that repeat at the beginning, middle, or end of different words for style.
Students practice improving unclear pronouns… and then create their own confusing sentences!
Students learn about antecedents and attempt to clean up some unclear sentences.
Building on an unclear sentence from step one, students will try to write a whole paragraph with an unclear pronoun.
Students will learn to identify and fix sentences written in the passive voice. They’ll also learn to change active back to passive.
First, students will practice re-writing passive sentences as active sentences.
Then, they’ll go the other way, writing active sentences as passive sentences.
I give them a mix of both styles, and they have to create all active sentences.
We correct the final worksheet.
Students will add variety to the beginning of their sentences.
Start with a gerund.
Start with a participle phrase.
Start with an absolute phrase.
Combine all nine sentence starters!
Students will continue to practice changing the beginning of their sentences to add more variety to their overall writing.
Start with “The Reason” using because, since, or to.
Start with prepositional phrases to show location (or time!).
Start with a simile.
Write a c-c-c-combo paragraph!
Students will add variety to their writing by starting a sentence using three different options.
First, they try starting with a noun.
Then they use a variety of adjectives.
Finally, they see what an adverb would do.
Students write a paragraph using different sentence starters and apply nouns, adjectives, and adverbs according to the created key.
Students will group Shakespeare’s repetition and then re-write their least favorite example.
First, students make two pairs of related examples.
Then, they continue grouping the examples into 3-5 categories.
They transfer their complete groups to a new paper and title each group.
They pick the most powerful and weakest groups, then rewrite the weakest example from the weakest group.
Finally, they write a note to Shakespeare, explaining their changes.
Students will write increasingly specific sentences related to St. Patrick’s Day
First, students practice making sentences more specific by completing phrases related to Saint Patrick’s Day with creative details.
Next, students will enhance their sentences by adding specific details, making their descriptions more vivid and imaginative.
Students will make my starter simile increasingly specific.
Students complete a simile about a strong uncle.
Students add another detail to make it stronger.
Students add a final detail to make it super specific.
Students will make my simile about slimy broccoli increasingly specific.
Students add details to “The broccoli was as slimy as a snail that…”
They add another round of details to make that broccoli seem slimier.
They add a final set of details to the simile to make it super specific.
Let’s re-write a simile to show how very quick this baby is.
Students add details to my starting simile, “The baby crawled as quickly as a crab that…”
They add another round of details.
They add a final set of details to make this simile even more specific.
Students will take a simile about a loud truck and make it even more specific.
Students complete a simile about a loud class.
Students add another detail to make it louder.
Students add a final detail to make it super specific.
Students will improve a simile about a room that smells like seaweed.
Students add a detail to my starting simile: “The room was as smelly as seaweed that…”
They add another round of details.
They add one more set of details to make the simile even more specific.
Students will improve their figurative language by starting with an opposite meaning.
Students change a cliché simile into its opposite.
Then they add details to make their figurative language even more specific.
Students will improve their figurative language by starting their sentence with a simile.
Students move the simile in a cliche to the beginning of a sentence rather than the end.
The, they improve their sentences with more specific details.
Students apply techniques of repetition from Shakespeare to their own writing.
Students practice using repetition in their writing by describing something with three words that are not next to each other.
Students create three questions using a repeated starting phrase, mixing symbolic and explicit ideas to enhance their writing.
Students will improve their figurative language by making a cliché into something very interesting.
Students will begin with a cliché and add a detail to make it more specific.
Students will continue to add more details and make that cliché even more specific.