Curated OER
Should We Allow New Mining in the Upper Peninsula?
Students compose an essay taking a position on whether or not a proposed
mine near Marquette, MI should be opened. Students defend their position addressing relevant issues through factual supporting details. Their essay includes an...
Curated OER
Lifestyles of the Tribe, or Tomorrowland?
Eighth graders identify with and analyze through writing various Indian cultural values and how they fit in the modern world. Students organize data utilizing Educational software programs and present their opinions and inferences in a...
Curated OER
Writing a How-To Paper
Students discover that when writing a how-to paper, they are telling readers how to do something such as cook a particular recipe. They then choose one of the provided topics and write their own how-to paper.
Curated OER
Writing a Legal Brief
Twelfth graders work together to write appeals for their side in a famous case. Using a format, they write a legal brief and incorporate the legal, scientific and environmental information needed to make a strong case. They share their...
Curated OER
A Thanksgiving Language Lesson!
Sixth graders, in groups, create restaurants, menus, and advertisements to attract Thanksgiving Day customers.
Curated OER
Using Pictures and Slogans to Persuade an Audience!
Students discuss how writers use various techniques to persuade an audience and examine examples used in the media. They interpret their thoughts and feelings about pictures, symbols and slogans and create an advertisement using the...
Curated OER
Delivering a Persuasive Speech
High schoolers demonstrate the appropriate classroom public speaking and listening skills that would be necessary to influence or change someone's mind or way of thinking about a topic. They define the elements of persuasion and...
Curated OER
Celebrate the U.S.A
Young scholars, working in teams of four, take on the role of marketers hired to promote one state in the U.S.A. Each team researches their state in order to create a brochure highlighting its most intriguing features. Groups give a 25...
Curated OER
Spring-Aloud Read
Students study the season of spring and create stories about the season. In this spring season lesson, students read books about spring and discuss the season. Students then color and create a mini-book about Spring.
Curated OER
Rendering a Resolution
Students explore the concept of peace. In this International Peace Day lesson plan, students determine their reaction to a scenario that requires them to benefit themselves or benefit everyone. Students discuss the scenario and discuss...
Curated OER
Point of You
Sixth graders study point of view by rewriting an existing narrative paragraph (using a different point-of-view). They expand this knowledge by writing an expository paragraph, then rewriting it to reflect a different point-of-view.
Curated OER
Welcome to Paradise
Fifth graders listen to Lynne Cherry's novel, The River Ran Wild. They work in two groups one of whom represents the native people and the other represents the English settlers from the book. They look at the geography of the settlement...
Curated OER
Colonial North Carolina
Students resarch people and events from a given list. Then based on teacher options, students employ perspectives, an audience, a presentation format, and topic to prepare a two-page document to share with the class. Students also...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Bulletin Board
A project-based lesson has pupils create a bulletin board to share artwork, nonfiction articles, and messages based on social justice themes. The finished board is displayed in the community to create a place for discussion.
EngageNY
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 6
Is a college education necessary for success in today's world? The class investigates the question, along with others at the end of the sixth workshop in a 15-part series. The lesson plan has four parts with multiple activities and...
PBS
Analyzing Information - Can Pigs be Pets?
Engage your scholars in a discussion about pigs! Scholars analyze information about keeping pigs as pets and write a persuasive paragraph. An informational text and video are included for research. While examining these materials, class...
Curated OER
The Statue of Liberty: Bringing the 'New Colossus' to America
Learners discuss meaning of symbols associated with Statue of Liberty, read and analyze Emma Lazarus' sonnet, "The New Colossus," and write persuasive letter to a nineteenth-century audience to gain support for bringing statue to America.
Polk Bros Foundation
Harold Washington's Acceptance Speech - April 12th, 1983
Harold Washington forged a coalition of voters and won the Chicago mayoral election of 1983. In doing so he became the first black mayor of that racially and ethnically divided city. Excerpts from his speech are included in a worksheet...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 21
Is there power in persuasion? After reading paragraphs six and seven of Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Compromise" speech, learners look at how Washington uses rhetoric and carefully planned word choice to add to the persuasiveness of...
C-SPAN
Electoral College
Most people are surprised to learn that American democracy is not as direct as they thought. Using a package of guiding questions, charts and curated videos, learners unpack the unique American institution of the Electoral College. The...
Curated OER
Press Review
How can word choice affect a political speech? Middle and high schoolers examine the text of the 1999 State of the Union Address, and then determine how newspaper articles and television reports describe and analyze the event. Use this...
Curated OER
Where Do You Stand?
Scholars assess a government's ability to intervene in personal health decisions. They research basic facts about euthanasia and describe their opinions about new legislation passed in the United States Congress about an individual's...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Classical Appeals and War Speeches
Discuss classical appeals of rhetoric through the speeches of Winston Churchill and FDR. Learners read, annotate, and analyze the speeches by the men before using a graphic organizer to track the use of ethos, pathos, and logos.