TEKS ELA Standard: 8.10.B.ii

Earth’s Layers: Who Contributes The Most?

Earth’s layers will disagree about which one contributes the most to the planet’s success.

Gr 2-8

An Under-Appreciated Planet

Students write from the point of view of the most under-appreciated planet.

Gr 2-8

Order and Chaos Hide Inside Each Other

Chaos can contain order. Order can contain chaos! Is chaos ever truly random?

Gr 2-8

Power – Blue Whale vs Krill

Sure, a Blue Whale is huge. But does a tiny krill have more power?

Gr 2-8

Power Big Idea Worksheets

Your students will investigate statements like: Power leads to change, Power comes in many forms, Power can be used or abused.

Gr 2-8

Summer Activity Pack

A worksheet pack featuring writing prompts, a summer essay project, a science-based escape room activity, and image analysis prompts.

That Quote’s Not Quite Right: Albert Einstein

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

Gr 2-8

Two Animals Switch Biomes

What if a capybara and a kangaroo rat switched homes? Would their adaptations be helpful at all?

Gr 1-8

Holiday Shuffle – Day vs Date

Wouldn’t some holidays be better on a certain day of the week? Should Thanksgiving have a set date?

Gr 2-8

Getting Specific With St. Patrick’s Day Writing

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

Gr 2-8

Emoji Stories 🦁

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

Gr 2-8

Emoji Stories 🛥️

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

Gr 2-8

Changing Baby Names

You won’t believe how fascinating it is to watch a map of the most popular baby names by US state.

Bobbing for Apples

What is bobbing for apples like… for an apple?

Gr 2-8

Super Specific Similes – Strong Uncle

Let’s make this simile about a strong uncle even more specific.

Gr 2-8

A Halloween Costume Gone Wrong

Let’s go roller skating in a Halloween costume! What could possibly go wrong?

Gr 2-8

Super Specific Similes – Slimy Broccoli

Start with a basic simile. Now make it more specific. Now even more. Watch how much better writing gets with each round.

Gr 2-8

Super Specific Similes: Loud Class

Let’s make this simile about a loud class super specific!

Gr 2-8

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.

Gr 2-8

What If… Unreliable Water?

What would the consequences be if a town’s tap water became… unreliable?

Gr 1-8

What If… Long Life?

What would the consequences be if all people lived much, much longer?

Gr 1-8

What If… No Sleep?

What would the consequences be if no one had to sleep anymore?

Gr 1-8

Random Emoji Prompt Generator

Click up an interesting, visual writing prompt suitable for any grade or purpose.

Gr 1-8

Categorize and Re-Categorize Animals

Put these animals into groups. Then do it again. Then… do it one more time. How does re-re-grouping the same creatures reveal new patterns and give new insights?

Gr 1-8

Thanksgiving Photo Writing

Starting with an old-timey photo, students will write from a particular item’s point of view.

Gr 2-8

Discussing An Important Decision from History

How would people with two different perspectives discuss a decision from history?

Gr 2-8

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!?

Gr 2-8

Introducing Universal Theme of Systems

So what could you do with a Universal Theme of Systems? Well, here’s an introduction that will get your students’ brains sweating.

Gr 2-8

Charge of the Light Brigade – Chess Variant

What if one side played with THREE QUEENS and the other had SEVEN KNIGHTS!? What if?

Gr 2-8

Writing in Pilish

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

Gr 1-8

New Uses for a Paperclip

So what are some new ways to use a paperclip?

Gr 2-8

Ultimate (or Inception) Tic Tac Toe

What if each square on a Tic-Tac-Toe board had another Tic-Tac-Toe board inside of it?

Gr 1-8

A Lunar Survival Mission

A favorite of mine! This task is delightfully complex and ambiguous, forcing students to make choices without enough information and with no right answer. How will they survive on the moon for three days?

Gr 2-8

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!

Gr 2-8

Story Starter: A Day At School

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

Gr 2-8

Story Starter: Out To Eat

Students pick from 12 random phrases to create a story about an incident in a restaurant.

Gr 2-8

Story Starter: Amusement Park

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

Gr 2-8

Story Starter: A Magical School

Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place in at a magical school.

Gr 2-8

Writing A Thanksgiving Letter

What if an inanimate object could express thanks for a special person in your life? What would it write?

Gr 2-8

Holiday vs Holiday (from a Mascot’s Perspective)

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.

Gr 2-8

SCAMPER: Scaffolding Creativity

Asking students to “think creatively” won’t get you far. They won’t know how to start, they’ll get stuck with simple ideas, or they’ll just go completely wild. SCAMPER is a tool for scaffolding the process of creativity.

Gr 2-8

Student Introductions with Complexity and Frames

How have you changed over time? Students introduce themselves through the lens of change — and learn a Depth and Complexity tool in the process.

Gr 2-8

Student Introductions With Depth and Frames

Want to introduce the tools of Depth and Complexity and learn more about your students and introduce the Frame graphic organizer? Have I got the activity for you!

Gr 2-8

The Resiliency Tournament

Your students will set up a tournament to determine which person or character best demonstrated resiliency.

Gr 2-8

Using Creativity Tools To Develop A Learning Exploration: Step One

How do you turn “go research something” into a structured, creative learning exploration? Kathryn Haydon walks through it step by step.

Gr 1-8

Create A Civilization Introduction

Your students build a civilization from scratch — rivers, flags, calendars, currency, government. Social studies, science, and writing woven into one year-long project.

Gr 2-8

Educational Valentines

Let’s make valentines with an educational twist!

Gr 1-8

Create A Creature

Create a new creature based on the adaptations of existing creatures from the same biome.

Gr 2-8

Fancier Figurative Language: Start with a Cliche

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

Gr 3-8