Scholars complete multiple reads of Ingenious Inventions by Women: The Windshield Wiper and Paper Bag machine to determine gist, use quotes, define words, and form an opinion about the importance of the interventions. Learners work...

Use a traffic light to model a very basic paragraph plan. The Go, or topic sentence, is written in green and expresses an opinion about the topic. Information that supports the opinion of the Go sentence is written in yellow and the...

After identifying the parts of a persuasive piece of writing, young writers explore different prewriting activities for the persuasive essay. They have the option to write a news article, personal narrative, or persuasive essay to...

What would Ben do? Jumping off from the pseudonymous letters Ben Franklin fooled his older brother into publishing when he was still a teenager, young literary lovers dive into acting, writing, and addressing a local issue with wit and...

Learners use statements out of newpapers to distinguish between facts and opinions. They discuss these differences as well.

Being an informed citizen requires distinguishing fact from opinion and understanding persuasion methods. Secondary learners evaluate newspaper editorials. They read opinion pieces, identify the writer's purpose and position on an issue,...

It's all a matter of opinion! Pupils take Part II of the mid-unit assessment, in which they continue organizing their notes in preparation for writing an opinion speech. Using the resource, they add reasons, evidence, and a concluding...

It's time to put pen to paper. Scholars complete the first part of the mid-unit 3 assessment, writing a short constructed response about international aid following a natural disaster. Next, pupils use informational texts and note...

Although unlikely in today's English classroom, this lesson focuses on introducing research papers to seniors in high school. It briefly reviews the parts of an essay, and mentions showing learners example essays, but no examples are...

Get your junior high writers stimulated with the strategies and ideas available in this activity. Learners discuss and debate controversial subjects, and outline their reasons with an online graphic organizer (link included) that creates...

Practice using concrete evidence from various sources to back up an argument. The lesson emphasizes the use of support in a persuasive speech, as well as the importance of appealing to an audience's logic and emotions. You could modify...

Investigate and report on three issues related to a current election. Elementary aged learners research information about specific issues, develop an opinion, and write a persuasive essay using supporting details and evidence to support...

Middle schoolers become familiar with writing an essay in English. They are given an overview of basic essay writing styles. Students develop skills that are used when analyzing texts as the basis of their essays.

Six tasks make up a lesson plan designed to reinforce comprehension and language skills using the poem "The Pied Piper" by Robert Browing. Scholars discuss and define unknown words, identify adjectives and onomatopoeia, review...

Students distinguish between fact and opinion when reading material. They use statements of objects to determine if they are facts or opinions.

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.

Seventh graders write a five paragraph persuasive essay on a contemporary civic-life issue.

Introduce your young readers to the book review. Groups of writers practice the basic steps of writing a book report and complete an Accordion-Book Summary activity. The lesson includes book report basics and directions to make...

Ever wonder how to memorialize World War I heroes in the classroom? Activities in a high-quality social studies resource prompt middle schoolers to research Internet sources, complete a graphic organizer, and write an editorial feature...

Students examine various products and analyze the marketing strategies used to entice consumers. They bring in a product they like to use, and using persuasive writing, they write their own advertisements for their products.

How can the rhetorical structure of an editorial help to develop its argument? Use this New York Times editorial to emphasize the importance of structure in a piece of informational text. Adolescent writers then use the editorial as a...

Partners use a Brochure Planning Guide to create brochures giving advice to consumers about products based on the research they finished about working conditions. After planning the brochure, they complete a sketch outline and then...

Students interpret and judge the meaning of a political cartoon. They dicuss the cartoons in groups and write an evaluative paragraph which they present to the class.

Analyze advertising techniques in order to pinpoint persuasive strategies that writers use. These same techniques are then examined in persuasive speeches. You will have to find your own advertisements, but speeches are included. Finish...