CCSS ELA Standard: 5.L.3.a

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

Let’s start with “As cold as fire.”

What if we started a sentence with the simile?

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?

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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