Curated OER
The Purpose and Power of Persuasion
Examine the power of persuasion and have learners consider how it influences events in their own lives. After reading and analyzing informational texts to understand the author's purpose, class members take a written test and craft a...
Curated OER
Once Upon a Genre
Students examine fractured fairy tales before responding by writing in many different genres including a persuasive essay, a personal narrative, a letter, an advertisement, and a resume'. They create a pop-up book with their written...
Curated OER
The Union is Perpetual: Lincoln is Elected
Young scholars view primary documents about the race for President in the time of Abraham Lincoln. For this election lesson, students prepare arguments for and against Lincoln using an analysis sheet. Young scholars create a poster or...
Curated OER
Writing Letters for Human Rights
Students draft and edit a letter regarding human rights. They work in groups to select a cause, follow basic letter writing guidelines and draft a persuasive letter expressing their concerns. Students can also send the letters to a...
EngageNY
Forming a Research-Based Claim: Creating Stakeholders Charts
Present the facts. Scholars create presentations of their research on DDT using their Cascading Consequences chart and a
Stakeholders Impacts chart as visuals. They discuss the term stakeholders and create a Stakeholders Impacts chart...
Curated OER
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Public Views of Lincoln
Learners write a letter in the voice of Abraham Lincoln. In this history lesson plan, students interpret the way the public viewed Lincoln during various times by examining political cartoons and images. Learners write a letter in the...
Curated OER
Why is Sacagawea on the Golden Dollar?
Students research the decision to place the image of Sacagawea on the Golden Dollar, then write persuasive essays either defending or opposing this decision.
Curated OER
Performance Event
Students examine the media by writing a compare/contrast paragraph. In this mass communications lesson, students identify and discuss the main sources of information for Americans in today's age. Students analyze pictures of people...
Curated OER
A History of Conflict Resolution and the Jury System
Learners study the history of the jury system in the United States. They enact a number of different types of trials including trial by jury. They complete a worksheet that compares the trials systems before writing a persuasive essay...
Curated OER
Plants for Pleasure and Profit
Young scholars study about some of the specimens collected or diagrammed by Lewis and Clark, discuss their usefulness, and rank their importance. They write a persuasive essay detailing the plants they thought the most important.
Curated OER
Land, Liberty and the Struggle for the American Dream
Students investigate equality by reading a historical fiction book in class. In this civil rights lesson, students read the story Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry with their classmates and define the Jim Crow Laws that kept blacks...
Curated OER
Author's Day
Have your learners choose an author to study. One resource link gives a list of approved authors. Scholars read at least three works produced by that author and produce three separate book reports as well as a two-page author report....
Curated OER
Global Warming and Climate Change
Young scholars explore the environment by writing a persuasive letter. In this global warming lesson, students identify the key problems with our energy consumption in the United States. Young scholars complete worksheets and write a...
Curated OER
Not So Sweet
Students explore farming, slavery and cacoa farming. For this agricultural science lesson, students fill out KWL charts, create PowerPoints and do internet research. Students write letters to chocolate companies requesting them not to...
Curated OER
Making School a Better Place.
Students study the problems in their school and work on solutions for those problems. In this writing process lesson, students analyze a problem and work as a team to find a solution. Students present written and oral work to support...
Curated OER
Diverse Voices-African American Ventures
Young scholars research African-American participation in the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson, students read the article "Fighting Rebels with Only One Hand" and write a persuasive paragraph on whether the participation of the...
Museum of Tolerance
Oral History Activity
Oral history has brought a multitude of lessons, stories, and factoids to our current knowledge of the past. Let us continue to use oral history traditions through a instructional activity that encourages pupils to discover and...
Curated OER
I Don't Pay Attention to Advertisements
Sixth graders examine the eight persuasive techniques, identifying them in all avenues of media including magazine, TV, Internet, and billboards, and making them aware of how advertising already influences them. They write an essay using...
Curated OER
Jim Thorpe: The Greatest Athlete of the Century
Students discuss what makes a sports legend. For this Jim Thorpe activity students analyze both the triumphs and tragedies of Jim Thorpe's sports career. Students then write a letter persuading their representative to name Jim Thorpe the...
Curated OER
"The Westing Game" Activities and Lesson Plans
You can use a novel, such as "The Westing Game", to teach reading concepts and skills in a way that keeps students interested.
Curated OER
I Oppose!--Counter-argument/Classifying
Students create an effective classification and counter argument. For this counter-argument lesson, students decide upon a label for at least three types of people and then describe their groups. Students describe three types of people...
Curated OER
Exposing Expository Text Structure in a Rainforest Setting
Students create a thematic booklet containing examples of different types of expository text structures. They explore a variety of expository text structures.