Curated OER
Sounds of the Season
During Christmas time, use common carols and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker music as the basis for writing advertisements. Learners can work in teams or individually as they listen to songs via the links provided. A "Christmas Music Comparison...
Curated OER
Search Warranted?
Young readers work on evaluating claims in a piece of informational text with the article "In New York, It's Open Bag or Find Exits" from the New York Times. They analyze current search procedures implemented to fight terrorism and...
Curated OER
Literary Analysis: Summary vs. Analysis
What is the difference between summary writing and literary analysis? A 16-slide presentation offers some basic requirements for both types of writing and helps readers identify each based on keywords used in both types of writing....
Curated OER
Diving into Iceland's Genetic Pool
Investigate ethical issues surrounding the Decode project in Iceland. Middle and high schoolers take the positions of the Icelandic government, scientific researchers, and citizens and defend or refute the Decode project in a Reykjavik...
Curated OER
Product Persuasion
Learners examine various products and analyze the marketing strategies used to entice consumers. They bring in a product they like to use, and using persuasive writing, they write their own advertisements for their products.
Virginia Department of Education
The Writing Process for Persuasive Writing
Get your junior high writers stimulated with the strategies and ideas available in this activity. Learners discuss and debate controversial subjects, and outline their reasons with an online graphic organizer (link included) that creates...
Polk Bros Foundation
Common Core Constructed Response Organizer
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...
Curated OER
Examining Persuasive Literature
Examine persuasive literature and writing. In this persuasive literature lesson, pupils work through a variety of activities over the course of three weeks (each week is planned by day). The unit's purpose is to examine examples of...
Curated OER
Persuade Me
Students develop their writing skills. In this writing strategies lesson, students examine persuasive writing techniques on order to write persuasive mailers.
Curated OER
Pig Products
How do you feel about cloning? This issue is highly debated, so educate your class before they participate in a similar debate! Read a New York Times article related to the use of cloned pig organs for human transplants. Groups develop...
Curated OER
The Union is Perpetual: Lincoln is Elected
Students view primary documents about the race for President in the time of Abraham Lincoln. In this election lesson, students prepare arguments for and against Lincoln using an analysis sheet. Students create a poster or cartoon to...
Curated OER
House and Holmes: A Guide to Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
Test your pupils' reasoning skills with several activities and a quick mystery to solve. Learners watch and analyze a few video clips that demonstrate reasoning in action, practice deduction with an interactive and collaborative...
Curated OER
Not Just the Facts
Encourage your learners to explore the differences between hard news and news analysis. They outline a complex news analysis about the upcoming presidential election, then endeavor to write an analysis of the same topic, using local...
Curated OER
Screening the Silver Screen
Young scholars write New York Times Movie Guide Reviews using descriptive and persuasive language.
Curated OER
When Is It O.K. to Replace Human Limbs With Technology?
Today's blog topic is robotic limb replacement for amputees. Upper graders read the related article and argument, then compose a blog response that addresses the questions provided. This is a great way to get kids thinking about ethics,...
Curated OER
How to Integrate Quotations
Quotations add validity to an argument or an analysis, but how do you integrate them into your writing? Several examples are provided, and your emerging writers will surely benefit from looking at different ways to add quotations....
Curated OER
All Aboard the Innovation Train
Students read "Next Stop for the Subway, a Fully Automated Future" from The New York Times and consider the effect of technology on their town or city. After discussing arguments for and against the new computer-based subway system in...
Hyperion Publishing
Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution
The language of the Constitution can feel quite ominous to young learners, but there are a variety of strategies you can utilize to help your class grasp the important concepts and ideals in our nation's founding document. This lesson...
Curated OER
Survey Says…
Students design surveys to help them to better understand the behaviors and opinions of their peers on issues that are important in their lives. They survey and interview peers and write articles describing their findings.
Curated OER
Innocents Lost
Pupils use discussion and writing to express their views about the causes, circumstances and impact of the shooting of a six year old girl by a classmate.
Curated OER
TV Talks, We Listen?
Students recognize and analyze the link between advertisements and commercial programs as well as their influence on the audience. In this television and advertisement analysis lesson plan, students watch television to research the...