Curated OER
Shaking the Movers: Youth Rights and Media
Children have rights! Exploring those rights and using media to express those rights is the focus of this Media Awareness Network lesson. Although some of the law links reflect the Canadian Articles of The Convention, the majority of the...
Curated OER
A Year in Review: The Memoir
If you are planning a unit on memoir and autobiographical narrative, you should consider this resource. Using Internet research skills, pupils review works by James Frey and Henry David Thoreau. In response to these works, learners...
Curated OER
Ban That Book!
Take advantage of Banned Book Week to pique students' interest and get them reading! Create a classroom display of previously banned books and allow each member of your class to choose one to read. After they have read their book, get...
Curated OER
Supporting Opinions - Ken from Japan
Middle schoolers write a compare and contrast essay. In this writing skills lesson plan, students learn about life in Japan through a video of a Japanese third grader. Middle schoolers use notes written on the video to write a...
Wyatt Bingham
Comparative Essay: Tips for Timed Writing
This site provides a guideline for writing a comparative essay for the AP World History Test. It also provides practice exercises and samples.
Curated OER
Opening Statement
Looking for a good presentation which addresses persuasive writing? Then, this one's for you! Learners are given all sorts of good tips on how to construct a well-written persuasive essay, or an essay where they are stating an opinion on...
Jordan School District
Who is Worth More Than Gold?
Young writers compose an opinion piece that details who they feel is worth more than gold.
Curated OER
Comparing and Contrasting Information and Forming an Opinion - Santiago and Morris
Middle schoolers complete a T-Chart about a therapy dog and write a paragraph using the compare and contrast organizational structure. In this compare and contrast lesson, students discuss therapy dogs and complete a Morris T-Chart for a...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Sam Houston: A Study in Leadership
Learners read a short excerpt from a speech by Sam Houston and answer corresponding questions as well as engage in additional activities, including writing a persuasive essay and discussing topics in small groups. The resource helps lay...
Curated OER
Making the Personal Political
Students identify controversial topics on which they have strong opinions and model their own persuasive opinion pieces after the featured article. They compose persuasive essays on controversial issues that "hit home" for them.
Curated OER
Writing Formal and Informal Letters
Third graders write a thank-you note and a formal letter of request that included relevant information, such as a return address, date, inside address, proper salutation, body, closing, and signature. They write an imaginary letter to...
Curated OER
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Eighth graders read the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and then watch a movie based on the novel. They write an essay comparing the movie to the book.
Virginina Department of Education
Planning Persuasive Writing
A nice starting exercise that organizes a learner’s persuasive writing assignment by issue, claim, and hard and soft evidence. Definitions of the terms aforementioned are provided, as well as the worksheet needed by the class. The...
Curated OER
Topic Sentences and Transitions
High school writers identify the purpose of both a topic sentence and a transitional statement. They write a topic sentence which denotes the paragraph topic and the author's stand on that topic. Then they write an effective transitional...
College Board
2004 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B
Are there unspoken rules everyone should follow? Questions from the 2004 AP® English Language and Composition Form B ask scholars to give opinions on how unspoken rules help people belong in society. Pupils also analyze a writer's...
California Education Partners
Telescopes
An assessment challenges scholars to read an informative text then respond with an explanatory essay. The exam begins as participants read a text passage twice then take notes, making sure to jot down key details. Following the...
Scholastic
The First Thanksgiving Feast for Grades 3-5
Scholars examine the first Thanksgiving through books and interviews while they complete a KWL chart. Pretending they are part of the feast, learners craft a scrapbook page that features images related to their experience. Pupils reflect...
Mr. Nussbaum
THE Founding Father
Who is the founding father—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or Benjamin Franklin? Scholars decide which of three early Americans, should be crowned the founding father of America based on research. Then, they compose a persuasive...
College Board
2000 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions
No one is perfect. George Orwell argues imperfection is preferred over sainthood. Scholars write essays describing how he expresses his argument in writing. Writers also respond to Eudora Welty's recollection of life experiences with...
College Board
2003 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B
You took the words right out of my mouth! One question in 2003 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B allows scholars to develop opinions on pupils receiving zeros for plagiarism. Other essays analyze ideas...
Ogden Museum of Art Education Department
Literacy and Landscapes
As the saying goes, art often imitates life ... and literature! A series of activities designed to accompany a visit to the Ogden Museum of Southern Art encourage writers to find inspiration in various landscapes. The lesson includes a...
Curated OER
Hook, Lead Line, and Thinker
Young scholars explore, examine and study the format of an opinion essay by viewing one author and activist that is helping women find their voices by reading and discussing the article, "Stop the Presses, Boys! Women Claim Space on...
Curated OER
Writing - The Persuasive Essay
Students, in groups, work together to develop a five-paragraph essay that defends the group's viewpoint on an assigned topic. Each student in the group writes one paragraph.
Curated OER
Fact and Opinion 3: Pretest
In this fact and opinion worksheet, students answer multiple choice questions where they identify fact and opinion sentences and answer fact and opinion questions about a passage they read. Students complete 10 questions total.