Curated OER
Tricks of the Trade A Collection of Concrete Poems-for writing concrete poems
Students explore concrete poetry. In this lesson plan about poetry, students read A Poke in the I, by Paul B. Janeczko, and are introduced to concrete poems. Students read several different kinds of concrete poems including single-word,...
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Thomas Jefferson's Concept of America
Students study Thomas Jefferson's concept of America. They read a chapter from the book, Thomas Jefferson's America, and discuss its main events comparing it to current events. Role-playing a citizen from the 1790s, they write a letter...
Curated OER
Editorial Writing: What's On Your Mind
Students write an editorial column for a newspaper. For this journalism activity, students discuss and analyze editorials in print and broadcast media. Students will compare the differences in these two formats of editorial pieces and...
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Pig Products
How do you feel about cloning? This issue is highly debated, so educate your class before they participate in a similar debate! Read a New York Times article related to the use of cloned pig organs for human transplants. Groups develop...
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Newspapers
Students create a class newspaper about the Olympics. In this newspaper lesson, students discuss the basic characteristics of each component of the newspaper. Students work in small groups to complete stations on cartoons, headlines,...
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History of American Child Labor
Students study the historical and social issue of child labor. They examine the photographs of Lewis Hine to see evidence of child labor and decide how the photographs depict the historical impact of the practice. They write a letter to...
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Problems with our Food System: Hunger
Students understand that hunger causes many deaths a year and many children are trapped as slaves through watching a video. In this hunger and child slavery lesson, students write letters to call attention to the problems of hunger and...
New Bedford Whaling Museum
A New Bedford Voyage!
A thorough set of activities, articles, and reference material can enlighten your class about the history of whaling in New England. Kids travel back to a time when whale products were valuable and hunting whales was a way to help the...
University of Pennsylvania
Decoding Propaganda: J’Accuse…! vs. J’Accuse…!
Reading snail mail is a great way to go back into history and to understand others' points of view. The resource, the second in a five-part unit, covers the Dreyfus Affair. Scholars, working in two different groups, read one letter and...
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Voice
In these writing style worksheets, students practice developing their writer's voice. Students complete three activities that help them with their writing voice.
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It's Your Opinion
Everyone has a different opinion about the characters they read about in books. Have your class explore forming an opinion and finding evidence to support it as they read and discuss what they think about a particular character. They...
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"No News Like Ancient News"
Want to know more about Ancient history? Young historians will read a minimum of two web sites to complete the chart "Residents of Olympus". They choose one Greek god or goddess to research. This could be a small group activity or...
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Denial on Trial
What is the "Faurisson Affair”? What is “Holocaust Revisionism”? What does freedom of speech entail? Do revisionists have a right to voice their ideas? Such questions are at the heart of a richly detailed, thought provoking lesson...
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Justice Is Blind, Colorblind That Is
It's so interesting to see kids respond to articles about education. To start the day, prompt learners to discuss the words colorblindness and diversity. Then, split your class in two and have one side read an article from 2007 and the...
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Serving Memory
Young scholars read an article about a woman who lost her fiance in Iraq. Reading a letter he left his son, they discuss how his words will affect his son once he is old enough to understand. They research the number of casualties in...
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Putting Writing Skills To Work
Tenth graders reinforce their knowledge of the format and elements of business letters by writing a request letter. A review of effective letter writing is provided prior to an independent assignment. This helps with scaffolding the...
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Writing for Different Audiences: A Discussion of Cover Letters And Resumes
Students examine the process of writing a resume. They identify examples of casual and formal language, read an article on writing resumes, discuss key questions, write a resume, and discuss and edit another student's resume.
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Writing Prompts: Prose, Pamphlets and Poems
Students practice reading an atlas and writing prompts. They use graphic organizers to construct their writing prompt. They use the Internet to do their research.
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Capitalization of Nouns
Which nouns are capitalized? Challenge young editors with these erroneous sentences, all of which require capitalization. After circling all the necessary capitals in 10 sentences, they rewrite two sentences (which are all in capital...
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Salton Sea - Live or Die?
Learners read and discuss the scientific article attached to the lesson. They compose a letter to the editor citing the importance of preserving an ecological environment.
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Progressive Era - Muckraking
Students discuss muckraking and societal changes. In this progressive era lesson, students review photographs and read excerpts from The Jungle. Students select a task of their choice, sorting events into categories, writing a letter,...
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In My Honest Opinion
Students explore the function of letters to the editor for both a newspaper and its readers. They select a current event about which he or she feels strongly, reads a related New York Times article and responds to it in a letter to the...
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What Did You Say?
Twelfth graders identify main ideas in reading selections. They read newspaper letters to the editor, identify the main ideas, list the supporting details, and present each side of the issue to the class.
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Double V Campaign: Victory at Home and Victory Abroad
Students write a persuasive essay as if they were an African American in World War II and decide if they would contribute war bonds or not. In this World War II lesson plan, students study the segregation of World War II and the unity...