Curated OER
Advertising and Healthy Decisions
Students analyze alcohol and tobacco ads and create parodies of them. The eight lessons in this unit include discussions about why teens smoke or drink, the psychology behind the advertising, and writing persuasive letters to agencies,...
Curated OER
Hic-Hic-Hooray!
What is really the best way to get rid of hiccups? Investigate some old wives' tales and folk remedies related to health. Middle schoolers explore the science behind why people might believe these myths to be true and find the real...
Curated OER
Persuade Me, Please! Reading a Persuasive Essay and Liking It!
Persuade your writers that crafting arguments is not that difficult. They only need to follow the steps outlined in this resource.
Curated OER
Persuasive Writing
Use a quick bell-ringer to interest your class in the art of persuasion. They brainstorm where they find examples of persuasion in their lives and identify who is trying to persuade them. Then they either fish through magazines or look...
EngageNY
Making a Claim and Advocating Persuasively: Preparing for the Practice Fishbowl
Scholars consider their reading in The Omnivore's Dilemma to develop a claim answering the question, "Which food chain would you choose to feed your family—the local sustainable food chain or the hunter-gatherer food chain?" To guide...
TV411
Whip up a Storm of Writing Ideas
Need a key to unlock writer's block? Introduce your writers to four easy steps that will release them from their mental prison. The brainstorming worksheet, designed to set free their imaginations, even has an answer key.
Prestwick House
Writing Arguments in Response to Nonfiction
Emotional appeal or argument? That is the question. An informative activity helps your class recognize the difference between a logical argument and an emotional appeal and learn how to craft an argumentative response. Writers develop a...
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...
Education World
Public Speaking Lesson: The Impact of Bullying
It's one thing to prevent yourself from becoming a bully, but how do you convince others to follow suit? Take the first step in creating a better world with a public speaking lesson that prompts learners to write and present persuasive...
Administrative Office of the US Courts
Elonis v. U.S.
With the explosion of social media sites, with online threats and cyber bullying, issues of freedom of speech have taken on a whole new aspect. Elonis v. U.S. represents the first time the Supreme Court has considered whether or not...
Building Evidence-Based Arguments: Grade 9
New ReviewHigh schoolers investigate the dilemma of a proportional response with a lesson about the history of terrorism and militant extremists in the United States. As they examine memos from the FBI and speeches from President Bush and Obama,...
Curated OER
Conservation vs. Economic Growth
Investigate the choices people make between economic growth and personal growth and development using the ethical/decision making model. Small groups create and present a position paper describing their feeling for or against the...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Putting Together a Position Paper
Students are able to identify the target audience for their writing. They are able to create an appropriate format for their papers. Students are able to focus on the developing clear arguments and supporting all key points with facts.
Curated OER
Write Persuasively (Grades 3-5)
Learners practice persuasive writing. In this writing lesson plan, students understand that there are different ways to write. Learners build a list of words that can be used for persuasion. Students develop statements to use for...
Curated OER
Delivering a Persuasive Speech
To prepare to deliver a persuasive speech, class members examine not only how to craft a speech, but consider body language, articulation, pronunciation, pitch, pace, and volume as well.
Curated OER
High School EcoHouse Curriculum
How has the level of carbon dioxide changed over recent years, and what is contributing it? Groups work together to research and present their findings in a creative way. Also built into the lesson is a visit to a sustainable house, but...
Curated OER
Writing to Make a Point
Begin your persuasive writing with a helpful exercise on making points. With a list of ten points on transportation in a city, third graders map a logical order to their argument. They then write one or two paragraphs about the points...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1
Focus on writing argument essays with your high schoolers. The lesson suggested here focuses on The Jungle, by Sinclair Lewis; however, the idea could be adapted for other texts. Check out the quick quiz provided at the end of the...
Curated OER
Hamlet's State of Mind
Analyze various excerpts from Hamlet and read articles to develop an argument about his sanity. Middle and high schoolers write an argument essay defending whether or not they believe Hamlet is insane. You could modify this assignment...
Curated OER
Thesis Statement + Projected Plan = Introduction
Set up your writers for writing strong introductions with a formula for putting together supported thesis statements. This reference page breaks the process down and provides an example of how to compose a thesis statement, develop a...
Curated OER
Creative Convincing
Young writers will love examining Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type for examples of good persuasive writing. Generally, when we write persuasive pieces, there are common words we use. Encourage your writers to identify these words and...
Curated OER
"I Believe..." Podcast Style
Use this communication skills lesson to emphasize evaluating a speaker's main point and argument. After reading Martin Luther King's, "I Have a Dream Speech" and John F. Kennedy's speech, "I Believe in an America Where the Separation of...
Curated OER
Eloquent Words
Logan’s Lament, a speech delivered by Mingo Chief Logan in 1774, provides pupils with an opportunity to not only study the historical events surrounding the battle between Native Americans and the Europeans for the West Virginia...
Curated OER
The Last Word: Using Critical Thinking and Analysis to Reach a Decision
Want to explore the process of writing a persuasive essay and tie it in with the upcoming elections? Class members use Venn diagrams and the hamburger model of persuasive writing to write a five-paragraph essay on elections and...