Virginia Department of Education
Persuasive Writing
Grab a debatable (or controversial) moment from your current reading, and use this task to progress the persuasive writing skills of your high school scholars. Divide your learners into four small groups and let them collaborate, debate,...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Defense of the Electoral College
Each presidential election year, the debate about the electoral college rages. Michael C. Maibach's "A Defense of the Electoral College" offers young political scientists an opportunity to examine a reasoned argument for why the...
Channel Islands Film
Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 3
Should researchers be able to excavate, examine, and remove Native American artifacts from historic sites? Should companies be permitted to build on sacred Native American land? After watching West of the West's documentary, The Lone...
Curated OER
The Kite Runner: Amir Debate
Does Amir have an obligation to find Sohrab and take him to the orphanage? That is the question class members debate as part of their reading of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.
Curated OER
Views on Downloading: Developing Persuasive Writing Techniques
Students write persuasively by convincing others of their point of view about music downloading.
Scholastic
Women's Suffrage for Grades 6–8
Learners study the decisions and solutions involved in winning the right to vote. After reading background information on the fight for women's suffrage, including one woman's story, and its eventual success in the United States and...
Curated OER
Persuasive and Emotive Language Lesson Plan
Students explore persuasive language. In this emotive language lesson, students consider the use of language that incites readers as they participate in reading and writing activities that require them to describe a tourist attraction,...
Curated OER
Telling Our Stories of Giving - Writing to Persuade
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...
Curated OER
Getting In Is Half the Battle
Students read and discuss "Defending Affirmative Action With Social Science," examining the admissions policies in public universities and colleges. They write persuasive essays either for or against the admissions policies in their state.
Curated OER
What's the Purpose Anyway?
Examine author's purpose in newspaper articles, comic books, cookbooks, encyclopedias and other forms of written materials. Working in groups, middle and high schoolers read teacher-selected articles and write an explanation of the...
Curated OER
The Battle for Derby Bus Station
Ever heard of the battle to save the Derby Bus Station? Built in 1933 by Charles Herbert Aslin, its art deco design was unique and The Beatles once dined at the café. The station closed in October 2005 and was scheduled for demolition...
McGraw Hill
Phonics Teachers Resource Book
Looking to improve your classes literacy program? Then look no further. This comprehensive collection of resources includes worksheets and activities covering everything from r-controlled vowels and consonant digraphs, to the different...
Madison Public Schools
Journalism
Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...
Curated OER
Helping Homeschoolers: Rigorous and Relevant Writing
Maximize the strengths of the homeschooling relationship to improve the quality and focus of your child's writing.
Curated OER
Writing Prompts for High School
Here’s a great teacher resource - thirty-five writing prompts designed for high school writers. Categories include cause and effect, definition, expository/informative, persuasive, how to, descriptive, narrative, biographical narrative,...
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,...
Newseum
Battle for the Bill of Rights: Ultimate Survivor Amendment Game
To understand the importance of the wording of the articles of the First Amendment (freedom of religion, freedom of speech and the press, and freedom to assembly and petition), teams argue before a jury for draft amendments of one...
Bantam Books
The Tempest: Four Corners
Forgiveness can be a difficult step to take in any circumstance, but is it more difficult if the offense is more egregious? High schoolers consider the concept of forgiveness before reading William Shakespeare's The Tempest. As kids read...
K20 LEARN
Trigger Warnings - Intellectual Rights and Responsibilities: Banned Books, Censorship Part 1
"Warning: Conducting this lesson may be harmful." Such statements, called "Trigger Warnings," are the focus of a two-part lesson that looks at censorship, especially the pros and cons of trigger warnings. Class members read two articles,...
K20 LEARN
Lord of the Flies Unit, Lesson 7: Good To Be Bad
The seventh lesson in the Lord of the Flies unit asks scholars to consider whether or not an individual can overcome the worst thing they have ever done. Groups read different articles related to the question, share their expertise in a...
K20 LEARN
The War of the Words: Grammar and Parts of Speech
Here's a activity that adds some zip to a study of parts of speech. Class members read two versions of the same article, one loaded with evocative nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, while the other is missing this sensory language....
Curated OER
Persuasive Essays
Follow this outline to write persuasive essays with your 11th grade college prep classes. Using the internet, they research a topic, citing their sources correctly. They work with a partner to peer edit their rough drafts, checking for...
Overcoming Obstacles
Introduction to Service Learning
Introduce scholars to Service Learning with a lesson that distinguishes between Service Learning and Community Service. After reading about others involved in Service Learning, class members generate a list of issues in their communities...
Curated OER
Making a Case
Start the day by sharing opinions about human rights. Then, read "A Defiant Hussein Pleads Not Guilty to Mass Execution" with your middle and high school class. Your pupils research the specific charges in the case against Saddam...