Are American young people prepared to become tomorrow's leaders in technological innovation, or does an obsession with being cool sidetrack essential skills? That is the question freshmen and sophomores must address in a performance...

How do you assess whether pupils have mastered certain concepts and skills? Designing a performance task that asks learners to demonstrate their skills and providing writers with a rubric that identifies these skills and provides...

Music is a universal pleasure, but writing about it can be a little trickier. An informative handout discusses common types of music writing assignments that one might encounter in a college-level course. Individuals read about musical...

Challenge writers to compose an essay detailing their stance on, and the history of, voting. Three assignments, each broken down into three parts, requires fifth graders to take notes, read and complete charts, write paragraphs, compare...

Nanofibers can be made through electrospinning or force spinning in order to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Pupils study the role of fibers and dye on the environment through a series of five hands-on activities. Then,...

Never again will you need to worry about coming up with a writing prompt! This packet contains, as it says, 501 prompts that are suitable for fourth graders on up. The prompts are paired into four categories (persuasive, expository,...

Here is a handout that outlines six great steps to structuring an argumentative essay, which can be continually referenced as you teach your class about persuasive writing.

Technology has undoubtedly improved the lives of people around the world—but has it improved communication? Seventh graders read two informative passages about the rise of texting and emailing versus in-person conversations before...

Master a well-organized thesis statement with a short activity for a persuasive writing unit. Young writers read five different introductory paragraphs about various topics, find the main ideas addressed in each thesis statement, and jot...

Living in someone's shadow would be difficult for anyone, including one of the most talented artists of the modern age. Middle schoolers read an excerpt from Vincent Van Gogh: Portrait of an Artist by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan...

Challenging pupils' perspectives by having them walk in the shoes of the reader. An informative resource discusses how to identify an audience and anticipate their needs before writing an upcoming argumentative essay. 

In the age of the Internet, are libraries still important? A collection of sources, part of a set of sample free-response questions from the AP® English Language and Composition exam, discuss that question. A variety of sources,...

Should voting be a right or a requirement? 2006 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B includes a prompt in which scholars take a stand on compulsory voting and complete an essay expressing their...

Should companies track consumers' shopping preferences without their permission? Using the resource, scholars write source-based argumentative essays to answer the question. They also answer reading comprehension questions based on an...

Communication is the key. Prompts from the 2005 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B allows scholars two opportunities to analyze the use of communication to express thoughts. First, pupils look at...

Is Hester Prynne a virtuous woman? To conclude a unit study of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter class members craft an argument essay in which they use the standards listed in Proverbs 31 from the Bible to judge Hester's virtues.

Exploration comes at a cost. A set of questions designed for the AP® English Language and Composition exam includes an argumentative prompt about the cost of space exploration. Writers review sources to develop their position before...

A thought-provoking activity doesn't prompt learners to analyze a political cartoon, but rather the importance of political cartoonists in general. They work together and discuss the role cartoonists play in the democratic system. Use...

Do museums offer eyes into the past? Scholars synthesize sources to make a claim in an essay about the importance each museum artifact deserves. Pupils also write to analyze journalist level of ethics as well as a speech by Wendell...

What elements make up a successful argument? A helpful resource describes aspects of an argument such as the claim, evidence, counterargument, and audience. Perfect as an individual assignment for a flipped lesson or collaborative work,...

Plants prefer classical music to rock and roll. That's one of the claims in an informational passage that makes up part of a set of standardized assessment questions. The set is part of a larger collection of English language arts tests...

In writing, an argument can be considered valid if writers have evidence to support it. Free-response questions from the AP® English Language and Composition exam ask writers to craft three argumentative essays. One prompt asks test...

Each presidential election year, the debate about the electoral college rages. Michael C. Maibach's "A Defense of the Electoral College" offers young political scientists an opportunity to examine a reasoned argument for why the...

Strong writers support their points with direct evidence and details. A series of free-response questions from the 2011 AP® English Language and Composition exam require the use of details to obtain a good score. The first prompt...