Have Fun Teaching
Identifying Author's Purpose
The multi-lesson, 47-page packet contains everything you need to ensure kids can recognize the clues provided to identify the type of text, the intended audience, and the author's purpose in writing the passage.
Prestwick House
Author’s Purpose in Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” Speech
President Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered on June 12, 1987 before the Berlin Wall, provides class members with an opportunity to examine three key aspects of informational text: author bias, the use of facts and...
EngageNY
Analyzing Author’s Point of View: Immediate Aftermath Excerpt of “Comprehending the Calamity"
Analyze that! Scholars continue reading and analyzing a primary source about the immediate aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco fire and earthquake. Then, individuals use graphic organizers to identify the author's point of view.
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Confronting Unjust Laws
The right to peacefully assembly to protest injustice is a key element of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Class members are asked to analyze two photographs of people confronting what they consider to be unjust...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Advertisements Promoting Activism
Activism can create real change. Class members examine a series of photographs that represent a different form of activism. Individuals then craft a persuasive speech in which they argue why the photo they chose is the best example of...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Tuesday 9/11/01" by Lucille Clifton
A photograph and a poem remind young people of the events of November 11, 2001. After examining Andrea Booher's photograph taken on September 13, 2001, and reading Lucille Clifton's poem "Tuesday 9/11/01", scholars compare their...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: “The Everglades” by Campbell McGrath
Florida's Everglades come alive for young environmental scientists as they watch a video taken in the park and read a poem about the watery paradise. After a careful study of the two resources, class members consider the function of the...
National Humanities Center
Teaching Emily Dickinson: A Common Core Close Reading Seminar
Three of Emily Dickinson's poems, "I like to see it," "Because I could not stop for Death," and "We grow accustomed to the Dark," provide instructors with an opportunity to model for class members how to use close reading strategies to...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to Short Story Writers Say
There are so many authors of short stories, and your class can have the chance to study quite a few. This seventh lesson in a series of fourteen continues the decision-making process for the final assessment: a short story author study....
EngageNY
Setting Purpose for Research: What are Fair Working Conditions?
Life may not be fair but working conditions should be. Scholars research working conditions at Wegmans by studying the company website. They complete a working conditions anchor chart and discuss their findings in a think-pair-share...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Election Day, November, 1884" by Walt Whitman
To begin a study of Walt Whitman's poem, "Election Day, November 1884," learners first call out a word or two that describes their reaction to the recent presidential election. They then read an encyclopedia entry about the Presidential...
K20 LEARN
Exploring Conflict And Theme: Engaging With "The Necklace"
Teach young scholars how to determine the theme of a story, an insight the author wants to share with readers, with a lesson plan that uses Guy de Maupassant's "The Necklace" as an anchor text. Learners examine the internal and external...
K20 LEARN
Writing An Argumentative Paragraph: Argumentative Writing
Learning how to craft a cogent argument based on a solid claim, supported with evidence and solid reasoning, is an important life skill. Teach middle schoolers about argumentative writing with a lesson asking them to analyze the claims,...
Digital Public Library of America
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
A set of 14 primary sources provides background for a study of Lorraine Hansberry's drama, A Raisin in the Sun. Featured are images from stage productions of the play, white supremacy protests, a clip from a television interview, and...
EngageNY
Claim, Reasons, and Evidence: Planning the Body Paragraphs
Planning is the key to success. Scholars continue planning their essays by adding reasons to their Planning My Argument graphic organizers. Additionally, pupils analyze a body paragraph from a model position paper, identifying the...
Digital Public Library of America
Women and the Blues
A 12-piece primary source packet sets the tone for a study of the role women played in the origins, development, and impact of blues music. Legends like Bessie Smith, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Mamie Smith, and Ida Cox are featured, as are...
Digital Public Library of America
Fannie Lou Hamer and the Civil Rights Movement in Rural Mississippi
Good primary resources, offering different perspectives on important issues and events, are hard to find. A packet of 12 primary source images, videos, audio recordings, records, and newspaper articles related to the 1960s civil rights...
EngageNY
End of Unit 2 Assessment: Final Literary Analysis
Get ready to review and revise! Scholars peer edit each other's literary analysis essay drafts. Next, using peer and teacher feedback, pupils compose their final drafts.
K20 LEARN
The Way I See It: Point of View
Robbers see a house from a different perspective than real estate agents. That's the big idea in a instructional activity about point of view. Groups assume the role of either robbers or real estate agents, note important details in a...
Digital Public Library of America
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Despite the passing of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, as well as the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the struggle to ensure fair voter registration and election procedures continues. Young historians...
K20 LEARN
It's All About Balance! Parallel Structure
I came, I saw, I conquered! Parallel structure, employed by writers even before Julius Caesar, is the focus of a lesson that teaches young writers the power of this rhetorical device. Class members analyze speeches by Dr. Martin Luther...
Arizona Department of Education
Introduction to Integers
Welcome to the backward world of negative numbers. This introductory lesson teaches young mathematicians that negative numbers are simply the opposite of positive numbers as they use number lines to plot and compare single-digit integers.
Digital Public Library of America
African American Soldiers in World War I
Finding good primary source materials to support any study of history can be a challenge and time-consuming. A set of 11 primary source letters, images, and text excerpts provide young historians with an opportunity to sharpen their...
Digital Public Library of America
The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
A primary source set of photographs, videos, newspaper articles, and FBI reports provides insight into race relations during the 1960s, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, and the murder of Emmitt Till. Designed to be used to...