The annual Elie Wiesel Writing and Visuals Arts Competition is open to students in grades 6 through 12 and serves to inspire middle and high school students and teachers to learn more about the Holocaust, racism, bigotry, and the dangers of prejudice. The questions posed each year guide students to explore the lessons of the Holocaust while examining contemporary issues such as bullying, peer pressure, unthinking obedience to authority, and indifference.

List of sites that offer free public domain books in electronic and audio format.

The student will understand the importance of facing fears and be able to relate this in a narrative piece of writing.** This performance assessment was developed by a collaborative team of teachers and division staff from Middlesex, Poquoson, and West Point school divisions.

The student will understand the importance of friendship and be able to relate this in a narrative piece of writing. ** This performance assessment was developed by a collaborative team of teachers and division staff from Middlesex, Poquoson, and West Point school divisions.

We can look at art to analyze and interpret the ideas at play; we can also use art as a prompt for creativity; but these two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Use this simple creative writing exercise to help students collaboratively use creative thinking in tandem with critical thinking as they make meaning from an abstract artwork.

A literacy narrative is a piece of writing that describes how you learned something significant about yourself as a reader and/or writer.  Literacy narratives are usually told in story form and are heavily reflective.  Students will work independently to write a literacy narrative that demonstrates their relationship with reading and/or writing. 

Shared narratives can be found in art from many cultures and throughout time. Use this resource to encourage students to explore diverse narratives, discover their own personal narrative, and express that narrative through their own work of art.Using provided engagment strategies students are able to hone Critical, Creative, and Communication skills using works of art in the Virginia Museum of Arts collection. Discussion prompts and activities offer instructional oppotunities for building Collaboration and Citizenship skills. 

The student will understand the historical importance of American explorers Lewis and Clark and be able to relate this exploration into a narrative piece of writing.  ** This performance assessment was developed by a collaborative team of teachers and division staff from Middlesex, Poquoson, and West Point school divisions.

The student will understand the importance of social justice and be able to write a public service announcement to inform the public.** This performance assessment was developed by a collaborative team of teachers and division staff from Middlesex, Poquoson, and West Point school divisions.

The student will understand the importance of water conservation and be able to write an expository piece informing others about water conservation importance and methods to conserve water.** This performance assessment was developed by a collaborative team of teachers and division staff from Middlesex, Poquoson, and West Point school divisions. 

This writing graphic organizer is a tool that will assist students to organize their thoughts and ideas in a visual way as they create an expository essay.   It can be used to structure any writing prompt activity by helping the student to break the writing activity into smaller manageable parts.  The graphic organizer is designed to focus attention on what to write in an expository essay and assists with developing brainstorming, creative thinking, critical thinking, reflection, and planning skills.

This lesson examines what people are doing to protect Earth’s clean water supply through the text Young Water Protectors, a story about the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their efforts to prevent the Dakota Access Pipeline. Students will examine the Standing Rock perspective, and consider what needs to be done to protect our water sources. Students will respond to this activity through writing prompts and represent one of those prompts through programming in Twine.This lesson was created through a partnership between CodeVA and the Virginia Tribal Education Consortium (VTEC).