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Essay Writing
Are your learners working towards their GED? First they study the GED essay rubric, and then they read a sample essay as a group. After studying the basic elements, they write an essay of their own. After peer editing, they revise their...
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The Hamburger Essay - AKA The Sandwich Essay
Students discuss how a five paragraph essay has five basic parts. They compare this to a well-made hamburger. They create a mind map of a five paragraph essay using the graphic of a tasty hamburger sandwich.
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A City Council Meeting
Here is an interesting plan for introducing your pupils to the workings of the local city council. The teacher must go videotape a city council meeting in it's entirety. Learners watch the tape, and discuss what they observed from the...
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The Microwave and the Jiffy Store
Young historians examine the lifestyle changes and cultural changes that occurred as a result of the challenges posed by World War II on society in general. With regard to American History and culture, pupils write an essay on the...
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Can You Get the Signal?
What is a signal word? Recognizing these words is an important step in both reading and writing formal text. Review a list of signal words (provided and organized into specific categories), and then have your class play a game to...
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Dogs vs. Cats: Pet Ownership Essay
Young scholars analyze patterns of organization used in writing to determine how and when comparisons and contrasts can be effectively utilized to identify similarities and differences or pros and cons.
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Living to Eat, Eating to Live
Young scholars develop a five paragraph essay.They write their essays, review rules related to subject/verb agreement and the use of transition words or devices. They find examples of transition words or devices in newspaper or...
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Rubric Rating
Students develop a rubric or scoring guide to assess newpaper articles. They rate the story and write the reasons for the rating. An Essay Scoring Guide is attached for reference.
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Language Arts: Who Am I?
Twelfth graders write self-identity essays of three to five paragraphs in length. They include topic sentences, transition words, and concluding paragraphs in their essays, They read their essays to classmates.
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Writing - The Persuasive Essay
Students, in groups, work together to develop a five-paragraph essay that defends the group's viewpoint on an assigned topic. Each student in the group writes one paragraph.
Minnesota Literacy Council
Introduction to Historical Thinking
Christopher Columbus: hero or villain? Prepare class members for the debate with activities that asks them to think critically about how history is reported.
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Declaration of Independence
Twelfth graders summarize sections of the Declaration of Independence and share their interpretations with classmates. They write essays on the Declaration or an essay tracing the rights of minorities from the Revolution to the present.
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An All American Success Story
Students read the All American Success Story and answer comprehension questions. They write an essay about a person they consider to be a successful person.
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Grammar-Active and Passive Voice
Use this lesson to reinforce the effect of passive and active voice in writing. First, middle schoolers write several sentences, and then use the attached worksheet to identify whether the sentences are written in active or passive voice.
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Combining and Rewriting Sentences
Learners practice combining sentences using the conjunction handout provided. They search magazines and newspapers to identify combined sentences that use conjunctions. Finally, these are rewritten again as two separate sentences.
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A Song By Any Other Name Would Be a Poem
Students examine the poetic elements of a piece of music. They discuss favorite songs, select a song, and write a persuasive essay identifying the poetic qualities of the song lyrics.
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Homonyms
Students brainstorm a list of words and identify a homonym for each. They write definitions for each of the words and a sentence that uses each word. A list of common homonyms is attached.
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Convey Ideas in Writing
Use the platforms of the 2004 presidential candidates to bring persuasive writing to your class. Young voters identify the three issues most important to them in the election and research the issues and candidates' positions. They write...
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Picture This
Students create a descriptive paragraph about their past or their heritage and provide a picture to go along with it. In this past and heritage lesson plan, students share their paragraph with the class.
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African-American Inventors
Students conduct research on a variety of African-American inventors. They choose an invention that they feel has had the greatest impact on the world today and write a short summary of the invention, its impact and the inventor's...