Deepen understanding of Native American craftspeople through biography and research. For this essay project, learners sift through online biographies about Native Americans in Louisiana. After looking through the given resources,...

A handy TFDC (topic/fact/detail/conclusion) graphic organizer (included) allows young writers to outline and record their main ideas and supporting details in the prewriting phase. They then continue to add details to the topic sentences...

Next time you assign your young historians to write a persuasive essay, use this document as a starting point and support them with a rubric, tips for writing a successful persuasive piece, and a general essay outline.

Take young scientists on an exploration of the cosmos with this cross-curricular writing exercise. Tasked with producing an expository composition describing a planet of their choosing, students perform research and...

A three-part writing assessment challenges scholars to think critically about schools of the past and present. Learners read informative texts, answer questions to prepare for a discussion, research in small groups, complete a Venn...

In the age of the Internet, are libraries still important? A collection of sources, part of a set of sample free-response questions from the AP® English Language and Composition exam, discuss that question. A variety of sources,...

Get your writers ready to compose a constructed response essay in response to either an informational or fictional text. Pupils note down the big idea they wish to address as well as up to nine examples from the text that they wish to...

Today, Cuba and America sometimes struggle with diplomatic relations, but did you know that America went to war against Spain to free Cuba? Learners examine many interesting facts related to the Spanish American War using an informative...

Teaching class members all about the importance and meaning behind Veterans Day with an informative resource. Pupils complete a classroom activity guide and individual research to learn more about the brave men and women who defend the...

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...

Refuse to alienate your scientific-minded young scholars during your creative writing unit. Learners explore how literary writing can reflect observable fact, and be based in actual science. The links include examples of fiction and...

Jump back into expository writing and analysis at the start of a new school year! Start with a review of an authors' stylistic choices in diction, syntax, treatment of subject matter, and figurative language. Writers choose a text to...

After rereading the full text of Walter Mosley's essay "True Crime," groups complete an evidence collection tool worksheet, and then class members independently draft a multi-paragraph, evidence-based response that identifies how Mosley...

Why are bees disappearing? Explore cause and effect relationships with this interesting question. As the detailed lesson plan indicates, start by brainstorming some of the possible effects the disappearance of bees would have on the...

Students are able to evaluate their peers' essays to determine clarity, completeness, and persuasiveness. They are able to revise their own essays for greater clarity and fluency, adding explanation where needed and cutting extraneous...

Explore the world of amazing mammals with your kids with special needs. Each child identifies one mammal from a previous lesson and writes a short paragraph on that mammal. This lesson states that it is intended for all levels, but not...

Practice makes perfect. A practice test designed for the ELA MCAS Assessment gives seventh grade learners the opportunity to answer reading comprehension questions and respond to essay prompts. Questions involve general fiction and...

Happy birthday! Celebrate everyone's birthday with this writing activity, which prompts seventh graders to research historical events in a country at the time of their birth to create an essay. Working in pairs, they proofread each...

Students acquire a pen pal in a foreign country and write letters at least twice a month throughout the year to exchange with them. At the end of the year, they write an essay that compares one important difference and one important...

Students examine the challenges of a new language and culture. In this cultural instructional activity, student read Running by Peter Hessler and discuss obstacles faced, including the language barrier. Students write an essay about a...

The Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote—as long as they were white. High schoolers read articles and essays about racism in the suffrage movement and consider how intersectionality played a role in the movement. Scholars...

Young historians investigate how sexism impacted the 2020 United States presidential election. They examine media coverage of the six women candidates, engage in a four-corners debate reacting to statements about gender and the...

Having prepared for an analysis essay about one of the characters from The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, tenth graders demonstrate their understanding in a mid-unit assessment. They focus on either Jing-Mei or Waverly in an informative...

What did the windmill say about renewable energy? I'm a BIG fan! Lesson three in the series of 12 has classes discuss potential and kinetic energy and then, in pairs, they complete a web quest over the different types of energy...