The
ReadWriteThink website has been providing quality lesson plans, interactive student materials, web resources, and ELA standards to classroom teachers since October of 2002. Highlighted here are examples of some elementary lesson plans with a focus on back to school and creating classroom community.
Check out the ReadWriteThink lesson plan
Introducing Each Other: Interviews, Memoirs, Photos, and Internet Research (M) for a get-acquainted activity that invites pairs of students to learn about each other and share their findings with the rest of the class.
For a similar activity for older students, try the ReadWriteThink lesson
The Feature Story -- Fifteen Minutes (and 500 Words) of Fame! (S), which asks students to write a newspaper profile of a classmate, with a particular focus on a talent, interest, or passion of that classmate.
To learn more about students as writers, try the ReadWriteThink lesson
Writing about Writing: An Extended Metaphor Assignment (S-C), which uses Richard Wilbur's poem "The Writer" as an inspiration for students' own descriptions of their writing practices. The activity can be adapted for the college classroom as well.
Explore the language of electronic messages and how it affects other writing with the ReadWriteThink lesson
Audience, Purpose, and Language Use in Electronic Messages (M).
For resources to structure your own writing exchange, check out the ReadWriteThink lesson
Exploring Literature through Letter Writing Groups (S-C).