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Search ThoughtfulLearning.com for a wealth of resources for teaching English language arts, 21st century skills, and social-emotional learning. You’ll find books, online units, minilessons, student models, videos, and much more! Type your search below and add filters to refine the results.
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Student Writing Model
A Fable
This writing shows that the writer has a real grasp of the meaning of a fable. It has some delightful details.
Student Writing Model
Winter Words
Jess uses his senses to describe winter in this poem.
Student Writing Model
The Missing Coin
This story is well organized, and the sentences flow smoothly. There are lots of details and excellent word choices.
Blog Post
Teaching the Whole Child (in a Fragmented World)
Blog Post
Developing Social-Emotional Skills Through Literature
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Dealing with Sadness in School
Blog Post
Connect SEL to the Brain
Blog Post
How to Give Good Grammar Feedback
Blog Post
Make Way for Writers' Notebooks
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How to Create Engaging Writing Prompts
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Invigorate Reading Discussions
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Best Practices for Teaching Grammar
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Grow the Reading-Writing Connection
Student Writing Model
The Boy with Chris Pine Blue Eyes
Tenth-grader Lisa’s voice comes through loud and clear in this model. The use of strong details and dialogue—including the author “talking” to herself—makes this a believable essay about a student’s first high school crush.
Student Writing Model
Take Me to Casablanca
The 9th-grade writer of this personal narrative, Emily, uses original word choice to effectively convey a vivid image of the people and environment she encountered on a trip to Africa. The opening paragraphs communicate a sense of excitement that, by the end of the trip, is reduced to disappointment, shock, and guilt.
Student Writing Model
My Greatest Instrument
Lindsey, an adult who uses public speaking in her career, reflects on the childhood experiences that prepared her for success.
Student Writing Model
Snapshots
Before Facebook, Snapchat, and Pinterest allowed us to gather and store images digitally, students kept their memories in photo albums and even shoeboxes. In this historic model, Alita writes about her shoebox collection of memories. Vivid details recreate the feeling of thumbing through pictures.
Student Writing Model
H’s Hickory Chips
Karen, in eleventh grade, shares the details of a Saturday spent working for her family’s business. Her descriptions bring the subject to life, and her ending tells the reader why this work is important to her.
Student Writing Model
Anticipating the Dream
Michelle (grade 11) develops this eyewitness account by answering the “5 W’s and H” about her parents becoming American citizens. The writer also shares her sensory impressions.
Student Writing Model
From Bed Bound to Breaking Boards
In this profile of a person, tenth-grade writer Rachel remains focused on an affliction that affects, but never defines, her subject's young life. Rachel engages her readers with direct quotations and plenty of interesting details.
Student Writing Model
Student Entrepreneur Reaches for Dreams of the Sky
Tenth-grade writer Julie develops her report with plenty of information and quotations from her subject, T. McDowell. Readers get a clear picture of McDowell’s determined business sense as well as his dreams for the future.
Student Writing Model
Mosquito Madness
When writing about pet peeves, you can react humorously or analytically to a common, everyday annoyance. Katie, the writer of this essay, tries to be sensible and analytical about the mosquito in her bedroom but becomes (in her own words) “like a crazed wind turbine.” Watch for a second simile that works very well in this piece. Also notice how the writer feels about the breeze in the first paragraph and how her feelings have changed by the sixth paragraph—this change shows how stressed she has become.
Student Writing Model
The House on Medford Avenue
Ninth-grader Samantha’s assignment for this essay was to write a series of vignettes, loosely modeled on the novel The House on Mango Street, about her own house, neighborhood, family, and friends.
Student Writing Model
Mama’s Stitches
This poem addresses domestic violence. If you prefer not to read about that subject, please continue to the next model. Twelfth-grade writer Jessica’s words paint memorable images; her lines present realism without the aura of shame or blame.