Your high schoolers are probably versed in two languages: formal language, and informal conversation. Help them identify the correct language style for their audience and context with a thorough lesson and examples of different speech...

Dear Sir or Madam: What's the difference between formal and informal language? Scholars focus on using formal English and transitions in their position papers. After revising their rough drafts, they engage in the peer editing process...

Looking for a performance assessment that asks individuals to demonstrate their competency in writing about informational text? Use Frederick Douglass' essay "On the Dred Scott Decision," and an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's 1857 speech...

As an assessment of their skill in crafting a compare and contrast essay, class members read and compare the portrayals of nature in excerpts from naturalist John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra and from poet Emily Dickinson's...

How did jazz influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man? Class members read some of Ellison's non-fiction writings about blues and jazz, listen to records, watch videos, and engage in student-centered discussions. They then produce podcasts...

The focus of the day's instructional activity is methods for creating a formal style and objective tone in an argument essay. After examining models, pairs engage in peer review of their essay drafts and continue to revise while...

Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading...

The eighth lesson plan in this series continues the focus on vocabulary and increasing young readers' awareness of academic language. Pairs of learners participate in a short vocabulary review activity called Interactive Words in which...

The Pledge of Allegiance, the Gettysburg Address, the National Anthem, and the Preamble to the Constitution all get close attention in an exercise that asks learners to rewrite these formally-worded documents into informal language....

What is the difference between formal and informal language? Pupils rewrite their position speeches to adapt them for an audience of adults. Next, they present their speeches in small groups, attempting to answer the question, "Which...

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...

Celebrate April's National Poetry Month or enrich a poetry unit with a wealth of language arts material. Class members develop an oral interpretation of a poem and/or develop a podcast interview with a poet. 

What is the best way to compare and contrast viewpoints on the same topic? A persuasive writing unit plan addresses targeted skills, vocabulary, instructional strategies, and suggested resources that would be perfect for developing writers.

Here's a resource that provides debaters with the background information and worksheets they will need when planning a policy debate. Templates and sentence frames, as well as a rationale for using debates in the classroom, are...

Ease into informational text with the lesson suggested here. Part of a unit series, the lesson draws from previous lessons and acts as a natural moment to add in informational text. Class members read one section of My Librarian is a...

Class members examine examples that model how to develop and maintain a formal style and an objective tone in informative/explanatory writing. They also engage in a peer review activity and revise their work based on the feedback.

How do learners use textual evidence from a close reading to write a well-developed essay? Scholars try it by completing a mid-unit assessment based on their analysis of the first 15 paragraphs from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia...

Use a packet packed with ideas for how to celebrate the traditions of your country, state, community, and pupils's families. Suggestions for how to draw on oral and material traditions, customs, beliefs, music, and stories all find...

Improve writing skills by finding a personal writing style, using descriptive language effectively, and using precise language. Middle schoolers discuss individual style in writing and formal and informal language. They utilize figures...

Build the writing skills of your junior high wordsmiths with activities that introduce many essential skills of writing.  As a class, they develop working definitions of formal vs. informal writing, explore different categories of...

Elie Wiesel's "Hope, Despair and Memory" provides ninth graders an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to analyze complex text. Individuals craft an essay that draws evidence from the text of the speech to show how Wiesel develops...

Alice Walker's poem "Women" provides ninth graders the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify how a writer's choice of syntax and diction contribute to the development of the theme of the work.

Can dogs feel shame? Explore the anthropomorphic connection between human emotions and animal behavior—or lack thereof—with a lesson about Temple Grandin's book, Animals in Translation. Ninth graders continue a close reading of chapter...

Combine the study of poetry and non-fiction texts with this complete and ready-to-use six-week unit. After reading numerous poems from local writers and compiling a personal anthology, high schoolers find and read a memoir or biography...