Prewriting Lesson Plans

This is a lesson about the immigration procedures at Ellis Island. Students will learn about the process and creatively write about what it was like for immigrants to pass through Ellis Island.

Arts and crafts, Venn diagrams, and literature all come together as students compare and contrast stories. Opportunities for student creativity are endless!

Teach young authors how to "hook" readers with this hands-on lesson. By examining novels and developing their own introductions, students will be able to hone their writing skills.

Natural landmarks are a source of wonder and fascination, and they encourage people’s imaginations. Students will get a chance to use their imaginations in this lesson where social studies and writing combine.

Every great reader and writer knows that syntax matters. During this lesson, students will use the close reading strategy to focus on word choice, and use their understanding of syntax to develop theories about patterns in the text.

Boost your students’ writing with instruction on book titles! A title should be catchy and inclusive of the content of a book. Use this lesson to teach your students the art and mechanics of writing terrific titles.

Students are often taught that written pieces should be long and detailed, but this isn't the case when it comes to summaries. This lesson gives students the chance to practice keeping summaries concise in a fun and engaging way.

This lesson combines students' knowledge of US geography and their creative writing skills in one fun activity!

Every name has a story behind it. This lesson allows students to share the story of their name with their classmates. Not only is it fun, it's ideal for establishing a respectful classroom community.

In this lesson, your students will practice writing about places important to them through poetry. By the time they are done, students will have become better writers and taken a walk down memory lane!

This lesson gives students the chance to demonstrate and reinforce their knowledge of sequencing. Have them role play a fantasy text to practice sequencing!

It's time for some storytelling fun. In this creative lesson, students become authors and put together their own mini storybooks.

It's never to early to start dreaming about the future! In this lesson, engage your students in thinking about how their lives will be, all while practicing persuasive writing and using future tense verbs!

Could there be a pot of gold waiting for you at the end of that rainbow? Or is it hiding elsewhere? In this St. Patrick's Day lesson plan, students will write about what they would do if they found a pot of gold.

Have you been naughty or nice this year? It’s time to find out! In this writing lesson, students will practice using invented spelling to write Christmas wish lists to Santa.

What adventures can a reindeer, candy cane, and a snowman embark on? Let’s find out! In this writing lesson, students will write a Christmas-themed narrative incorporating characters, setting, problem, and solution.

Strong narratives have clear sequences of events. Through this lesson, students plan out what will happen in their story before they start writing their own engaging narratives.

Help your kids write their own book by giving them an introduction to some new sight words. Students will increase their confidence while building their vocabulary.

Get your preschoolers ready for reading by practicing story sequencing. Testing their knowledge of how things are ordered will help them improve their reading comprehension skills.

Put your students' imaginations to the test with this lesson on storytelling and creative writing. After reading some classic fairy tales, students will create their own using printed figures.

Who doesn't love peanut butter and jelly? This lesson has the potential to get a little messy as you reinforce the letter S!

Make history come alive with this interactive lesson! Students will have a blast presenting a "living timeline" to help their classmates understand the events of the Revolutionary War.

This little dinosaur … helped build vocabulary skills! Introduce your students to writing with this fun class project using a familiar childhood poem. Your class will write their own verses to create a class book.