Alabama Department of Archives and History
Strange Fruit: Lynching in America
To continue their study of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the beginning of the civil rights movement, class members watch the YouTube video of Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" as an introduction to an examination of lynching in...
K20 LEARN
Building Arguments With Evidence: Constructing Arguments Part 2
The second session in the two-part "Building Arguments with Evidence" lesson asks scholars to craft an argument essay on a topic of interest to them. Writers establish a claim, locate evidence, and justify their stance.
ReadWriteThink
Analyzing Famous Speeches as Arguments
A speaker, a message, an audience. After analyzing these elements in Queen Elizabeth's speech to the troops at Tilbury, groups analyze how other speakers use an awareness of events, and their audience to craft their arguments....
EngageNY
Introducing the Performance Task Prompt and Beginning a Visual Representation
What exactly is a visual representation? Scholars use a think-pair-share to answer questions and record their information on anchor charts. Next, they use what they've learned to create visual representations of their position papers on...
Judicial Branch of California
The Constitution: What It Says and What It Means
Learners get the chance to act as representatives to the Constitution Convention, and must decide whether or not to recommend your state ratify the new framework. After examining the Constitution line-by-line, they consider their...
C3 Teachers
Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Can Words Lead to War?
"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...
University of North Carolina
Statistics
Let's see you back it up! As shown in the 18th handout in the Writing the Paper series of 24 lessons from UNC, statistics help form an effective argument. The handout discusses how to analyze a source and break down the data to ensure it...
University of Delaware
Constructing Text-Based Arguments About Social Issues
Eighth graders take a stand on a variety of controversial topics with a lesson on argumentative writing. As they view an informative presentation and work with collaborative groups, they decide which side of each argument they want to...
Anti-Defamation League
Sexism and the Presidential Election
Young historians investigate how sexism impacted the 2020 United States presidential election. They examine media coverage of the six women candidates, engage in a four-corners debate reacting to statements about gender and the...
iCivics
Emphasize Minimize
Encourage your class members to consider what points they are really emphasizing when they are making an argument, whether in writing or in speech. Watch out though, as this lesson may just leave your learners eager to debate you!
Museum of Tolerance
Creating an Ideal World
To conclude a study of social justice and tolerance designed to prepare classes for a visit to the Museum of Tolerance, class members brainstorm a safe and peaceful world. They then write about their own vision of this world.
Nemours KidsHealth
Food Labels: Grades 9-12
Check the label! That's the big idea in a lesson plan about using the nutrition facts on food labels rather than advertising hype to make healthy choices about what to eat. After reading background articles and learning how to read...
New Jersey Historical Commission and New Jersey Council for the Humanities
Thomas Edison: The Wizard of Menlo Park
What would change in your daily life due to a power outage? Here, learners explore the inventions brought to us by the one and only, Thomas Edison, and imagine a day without them. Scholars take part in a grand conversation and write a...
Crabtree Publishing
Why Does Media Literacy Matter?
Criticism of news and entertainment journalism is at an all-time high. Help 21st-century learners develop the media literacy skills they need to become critical consumers with a three-lesson guide the looks at persuasive techniques used...
Newseum
Propaganda Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources
Working in teams, pairs, or individually, scholars select one resource from a gallery of historical sources and consider which examples might be considered propaganda, the techniques used to persuade audiences, and evaluate how the...
EngageNY
Forming a Research-Based Claim: Cascading Consequences Chart
Is it relevant? Scholars choose a resource from their folders and search for relevant information about the harmful and beneficial consequences of DDT. They mark benefits in one color and harmful effects with another color. They then add...
Museum of Tolerance
Music Evokes Memories and Emotions
Dim the lights, take a deep breath, and press play to explore the emotions and memories that music elicits. Class members begin using relaxation techniques designed to create a positive listening experience. As music plays, learners...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
What Were They Thinking? Why Some Some Alabamians Opposed the 19th Amendment
To better understand the debate over the 19th Amendment, class members examine two primary source documents that reveal some of the social, economic, racial, and political realities of the time period.
Global Oneness Project
Exploring the Creative Process
Launch a discussion of the creative process with a short video that features the daily ritual of Slobodan Dan Paich, a San Francisco artist. Slobodan models his approach to tea painting and shares his reflections on the creativity.
EngageNY
Forming a Research-Based Claim: Comparing Cascading Consequences
It's time to weigh the risks and benefits of screen time! Pupils work in triads to identify the strongest positive and negative consequences from their Cascading Consequences chart. Next, using the chart and their researcher's notebooks,...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
The Columnist Project
Imagine a list that includes Alan Abelson of Baron's, Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, and Mother Jones. High schoolers select a national columnist, read and annotate five columns by this author, noting the rhetorical strategies,...
Google
Intermediate 2: Understanding Search Results
Teach your class some strategies for effective searching. Pupils should assess the whole results screen and then determine how to go forward with their searches. A table of strategies is included, as is a challenge. After they complete...
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...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Animal Farm: Allegory and the Art of Persuasion
Introduce your class members to allegory and propaganda with a series of activities designed to accompany a study of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Readers examine the text as an allegory, consider the parallels to collective farms and the...