Playlist: Bookmarks
Mother’s Day Cards
Let’s write the cleverest Mother’s Day cards you’ve ever seen!
A Character’s Playlist
What playlist of songs best goes with a character’s change over time?
Parts of Speech Tournament
Which part of speech is most useful? Interesting? Strange?
Thinking With Art: Head Down
One artist, two paintings. Notice details, compare, synthesize, then find a parallel in another creator’s work.
Measurement: How Old Is Mr. Byrd?
What if I told you that I’m 341,640 old? Could you figure out what unit I’m using? Hint: it’s not years!
Changing Coordinating Conjunctions
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?
Story Starter: Amusement Park
Students use 12 random phrases to write a story that takes place in at an amusement park.
What’s In My Brain: Painting vs Painting
Two columns of sentences. Something is different about them. Can you figure out the rule?
Better Stories Part 2: Types of Conflict
If your students’ stories are packed with endless ninja fights or arguments between frenemies, it’s time to expose them to a wider range of conflicts.
Better Stories Part 3: Literary Themes
A typical student narrative includes plot and characters but lacks a larger idea to hold it all together. This is where a lesson on themes comes in…
Better Stories Part 1: The Big Idea
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.