Louisiana Department of Education
The Metamorphosis
How can something be true even if it didn't happen? Invite your classes to investigate the truths found in the world of magical realism as they analyze short stories, poems, informational texts, video, and art from this genre.
Dream of a Nation
Writing a Narrative Essay
Imagine using narrative essays to encourage change. This multi-week unit plan does just that. After reading a series of articles from Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, class members examine the...
Louisiana Department of Education
Fahrenheit 451
In his 2013 introduction to Fahrenheit 451, Neil Gaiman states, “Fiction is a lie that tells us true things, over and over.” In this extraordinary unit plan, readers "explore the power of written language to educate and influence...
Helena-West Helena School District
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Instructional Unit Plan
Maya Angelou's first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, demonstrates both the author's exemplary writing and the themes of gender and racial injustice that perpetuate beyond the limits of the 20th century. Use a thorough...
ReadWriteThink
Analyzing Famous Speeches as Arguments
A speaker, a message, an audience. After analyzing these elements in Queen Elizabeth's speech to the troops at Tilbury, groups analyze how other speakers use an awareness of events, and their audience to craft their arguments....
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 28
As writers continue to revise their argument essays, the focus shifts to editing grammatical conventions, parallel structure, and varying syntax to add interest. After examining model sentences that demonstrate sentence variety, writers...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 10: Author's Purpose Seminar
Why did Chinua Achebe write "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness" in response to Conrad's novel? As part of a study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a socratic seminar focused on Achebe's purpose and...
Dream of a Nation
Writing Interdisciplinary Essay
The Grapes of Wrath. The Jungle. Native Son. The Things They Carried. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. To address a current social, political, economic, or environmental issue, class groups pair the reading of a classic...
Dream of a Nation
Writing an Analytic Essay
After researching an issue introduced in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, writers develop an original thesis statement and craft an analytic essay using evidence collected in their research.
Curated OER
Phrases and Clauses
Clarify the different types of phrases and clauses that young writers can use to vary their sentence structure. A helpful slideshow presentation encourages your class to fix sentences by adding more interesting phrases and clauses,...
Curated OER
Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate Curriculum
How do you affirm and negate a statement of value? What is refutation? Interested in debate? Introduce your class to the format of the Lincoln Douglas debate with 14 lessons, designed to be used in order, so that debaters learn the logic...
TV411
Dependent and Independent Clauses Join Forces
Young grammarians are often confused by clauses, especially the difference between dependent and independent clauses. Clarify the confusion with a color-coded worksheet that clearly defines and illustrates the differences and then gives...
Wake County Public Schools
Language
Have your class doing everything from reading literature, analyzing literary devices, identifying independent and dependent clauses, discussing, and writing creatively with the rich resource found here. After a mini lesson on independent...
Curated OER
Sentence Combining/Sentence Variety
Challenge your writers to improve their writing by introducing them to 10 strategies they can use to vary their sentence structures. Each strategy is described and examples given. Pupils then create their own sentences using this...
University of North Carolina
Conditionals: Verb Tense in “If” Clauses
"If you give a mouse a cookie, then he's going to ask for a glass of milk." These iconic words from Laura Numeroff's classic tale offer a great example of conditionals, a topic covered in the handout as part of a larger writing series...
University of North Carolina
Relative Clauses
Knock, knock. Who's there? To. To who? No! To whom. Knowing when to use who versus whom is just one of the many topics covered on a handout about relative pronouns. Writers discover how to incorporate words such as whose, that, which,...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 18: Cleaning It Up
Careful proofreading is an important step in the writing process. After guided practice using a provided worksheet that details common grammar concepts, young writers refer to the worksheet as they proofread their own work. Although the...