Learners get the chance to act as representatives to the Constitution Convention, and must decide whether or not to recommend your state ratify the new framework. After examining the Constitution line-by-line, they consider their...

Students create a Middle Ages writing journal with narrative, expository and persuasive prompts.  In this creative writing lesson, students are given a list of Middle Ages topics and begin working in their journals. This is a long...

Even though the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt ended over 100 years ago, we can still learn something from his stances and policies that is applicable today. Class members first look over a list of prevalent political issues from the...

Movie theaters, shopping malls, television, the Internet ... no matter where people go, they are inundated with advertisements. Scholars discuss the topic of ad awareness using the first of four Admongo lessons about advertising. Pupils...

After learning about the effects of water pollution, your class will discuss ways to make people in their community aware of the importance of water conservation. Then, your young environmentalists will write a letter to the local...

Here's a formal plan for what many effective teachers already do: Provide a week's worth of aphorisms and have learners choose one to write about in their journals each day. They reflect on the meaning of each aphorism and project how it...

Should researchers be able to excavate, examine, and remove Native American artifacts from historic sites? Should companies be permitted to build on sacred Native American land? After watching West of the West's documentary, The Lone...

Students improve their essay writing skills using the subject of voting as a topic. In this writing essays lesson, students write expository essays to increase the weight of their vote in the 'Cast Your Vote Poll' for the Trans-Amazon...

Students write an essay or letter that gives three or more specific reasons to persuade the audience.

Develop an environmental case study! Elementary learners discover how a case study is used as an analysis tool. The goal of this activity is to show pupils how techniques of persuasion (including background, supporting evidence,...

Young scholars read "Sneetches" by Dr. Seuss. They complete a story map and write about the topic of prejudice. They role-play star-bellied and plain-bellied sneetches and write a persuasive essay about their experiences.

Students write persuasive essays about their favorite breakfast cereal after seeing how advertisements are used to influence people.

Students write a persuassive paragraph to the President stating their opinion on a topic. To do this, they start the message with a topic sentence such as "War is _____." The blank should contain a word or phrase expressing the student's...

Students explore language arts by participating in a vocabulary usage activity. For this word choice lesson, students read examples of great word usage in literature and discuss with the class why some words appear stronger than others....

Individuals complete a pre-assessment to gauge their ability to determine the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction text. They examine a new piece of nonfiction reading by looking at the table of contents, headings, and index...

Teach your class some strategies for effective searching. Pupils should assess the whole results screen and then determine how to go forward with their searches. A table of strategies is included, as is a challenge. After they complete...

Students research a holiday celebrated by their family and write a studenT story in which they explain the history of the holiday and describe ways in which it is celebrated.

Fifth graders write persuasive letters expressing opinions about the purchase of 25 acres adjacent to Wakulla Springs proposed to include a convenience store/gas station. They submit the letter to the Florida Department of Environmental...

The introduction to the lesson plan mentions a sailor's limited capacity to store drinking water on his ship. Pupils then set up an overnight experiment to remove freshwater from salt water by distillation. There is a math and map...

Students write a persuasive letter to the government of an African country that has elephants as a resource. Students research and debate the pros and cons of ivory use. Students identify the value of ivory products versus the lives of...

What are the factors that limit growth and expansion? As part of their study of Catalina Island, class members view the West of the West's documentary Magic Isle and research William Wrigley and the Santa Catalina Island Company. After...

What can your pupils do to promote better conditions for wildlife? After researching issues around wildlife management, class members use the Internet to locate three different organizations devoted to protecting wildlife. They then...

Pupils put writing pieces into categories to show different organizational features in writing. In this writing lesson plan, students are shown examples of speeches, poems, editorials, cartoons, parodies, historical fiction, and more.