Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: Music and the Brain
Even if you've never picked up a musical instrument, chances are that music has directly impacted your mental and emotional development. Sixth graders engage in a reading activity in which they read two articles on the impact of music on...
Virginia Department of Education
Grade 8 Writing Prompts
Imagine four pages of writing prompts. Although designed specifically for eighth graders, the topics could be used for upper-elementary and high school writers as well.
Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, Inc.
Feudalism Play
Using research notes on feudal roles in medieval Europe, learners work cooperatively to write a play about one day in the life of a boy or girl in the Middle Ages.
Fluence Learning
Writing Informative Text: Did Shakespeare Write Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare penned some of the richest and most fascinating works of literature—or did he? Middle schoolers read three brief informative passages and conduct additional research to evaluate the claim that Shakespeare did not...
School District No. 43
Writing a Greek Myth
Ask your learners to dream up a myth set in modern day. These mythology writing prompts require individuals take on the role of an ancient Greek citizen who just woke up to a totally different world. Through this lens, class members...
Curated OER
Writing a Screenplay
It's time to make a movie! Kids follow 15 steps to take their movie ideas from concept to script, following clear examples. The resource includes creative ways to guide learners into developing a few words and concepts into fully...
PBS
Supernatural Shakespeare and Macbeth
"A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come." The withered and wild witches of Shakespeare’s Scottish play launch an examination of the fantastical elements in Act I, scene iii, paying particular attention to the action, imagery,...
National Science Teachers Association
The Ethanol Project
In a mock senate hearing regarding the development of ethanol as a fuel source, each person in the class is assigned a role to play and must uphold the stance of their character. Once the senate hearing is complete, each person writes a...
Balanced Assessment
Number Game
It's all in the numbers! Create a mathematical model to analyze a number game and develop a winning strategy. Using a given numerical pattern, scholars write an expression to model the scenario. They then interpret the pattern of the...
East Side Union High School District
Biographical Narrative: Journal Prompts
The opportunities are endless with a worksheet containing 24 biographical narrative writing prompts. Although there are no directions or specifications for the writing process, the prompts promote the use of narrative writing techniques...
Oakland Writes
Exploring Thematic Motifs in The House on Mango Street
Explore identity and community through an expository essay based on The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. This two-week unit on writing an essay provides a brief description of each day and all of the worksheets and materials you...
Curated OER
Algebra I: The Play
Learners create their plays to demonstrate concepts from Algebra I. They collaborate in small groups to add music and dancing to their plays. They analyze the suggestions from the previous class as they revise their plays.
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 15
To conclude the study of the play, William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope, class members craft an in-class essay comparing Doescher's adaptation to George Lucas's film, Star Wars: A New Hope.
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Justification for Character and Scene Selection
When it comes to love and midsummer nights, confessions are tricky. Learners place themselves in the shoes of a character from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and explain how a character manipulated another character in...
College Board
2003 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
The released 2003 AP® exam asks scholars to read and respond to two poems about the love god Eros. They also analyze the characterization and narrative in The Other Paris. A final essay question requires pupils to choose a novel or play...
College Board
2002 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B
"Don't go forth today." Why would Caesar's wife not persuade him to stay home? Scholars read an excerpt from the play Julius Caesar and write essays on why Caesar listened to Decius rather than his wife. Pupils then write two more essays...
College Board
2008 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
Scholars are challenged to create essays comparing two poems in which the authors discuss fears and concerns about dying and life passing by too quickly. Two other essay questions ask writers to analyze literary elements and characters...
College Board
2006 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B
It is not about where you are going, but the journey to get there. Scholars choose a play or novel in which a character takes a journey. They then create essays describing what the journey meant to the overall piece of work. Learners...
Curated OER
Philanthropy Play
Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this service learning instructional activity, students simulate and role play people involved in the act of helping others.
American Library Association
Explorers Project
Delve into the Age of Exploration with a multiple-intelligences research project. Learners generate a rubric and worksheet to guide their studies and research one explorer. There is emphasis on research skills, citing sources,...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Dueling Telegrams: 1963 Verbal Power Play Between Wallace and JFK
Information, inferences, and innuendos. Text and subtext. Class members examine telegrams exchanged between President John F. Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace, studying both what is stated and what is implied by the diction...
Kentucky Department of Education
Kentuckians in the Civil War Era: Constructed Response Essay
What part did Kentucky play in the Civil War? A constructed response essay assignment tests to ensure scholars understand the concepts and the arguments for the causes of the Civil War. Learners must read a primary source quote and then...
Teaching Tolerance
Act Up! Drama for Justice
A lesson turns young historians into playwrights to understand and speak out against social injustice. Pupils work individually or in groups to write and perform monologues that deliver personal messages on social justice. Writers then...
Livaudais-Baker English Classroom
Lord of the Flies Postcard Directions
Readers of Lord of the Flies take on the persona of one of the characters in William Golding's novel and craft a postcard to send home describing their adventures. On one side, they create an image of the island, and on the other, they...