CCSS ELA Standard: 7.W.4

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

Improving Shakespeare’s Repetition

Improving Shakespeare’s Repetition

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

Change A Story’s Genre

Change A Story’s Genre

What if we rewrote a story's climax into a totally different genre?

Order, Chaos, and the Holiday Season

Order, Chaos, and the Holiday Season

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

Think Like An Author: Hemingway vs Dickens

Think Like An Author: Hemingway vs Dickens

What if your students rewrote Dickens in the style of Hemingway and vice versa?

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

Students will look closely at this old image and write a short, structured poem.

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: The Scream

Writing About Art: The Scream

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

Writing Technique: Triple Anadiplosis!

Writing Technique: Triple Anadiplosis!

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!

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!)

Remixing A Holiday Poem

Remixing A Holiday Poem

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

Pronouns With Too Many Antecedents

Pronouns With Too Many Antecedents

What happens when a pronoun could refer to more than one noun? Big problems!

Writing Summaries in Haiku

Writing Summaries in Haiku

Let's write a summary. A very short summary. With VERY strict rules.

Teach Non-Fiction Writing Structure With Fractals

Teach Non-Fiction Writing Structure With Fractals

Did you ever notice that the structure of an essay is very similar to the structure of a paragraph? Hmm…

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?

Better Stories Part 5: Plot Structure

Better Stories Part 5: Plot Structure

Ever read a student's story that was just event after event after event and then a very sudden ending? They lack an understanding of a plot's structure. With the help of Finding Nemo, I break down how to set up a well-structured plot.