A traditional syllabus for a traditional expository writing course that produces the traditional five paragraph essay.

Students answer assigned questions as a group, write individual essays, complete a research project, and complete a writing project.

Explore ethnicity and identity with a research and writing assignment. Class members conduct online research, looking in particular at images and carefully noting down their sources on notecards. They read about identity and compose...

Students study contributions of important people during the Great Depression. Using the internet, they research and collect information on an assigned individual. Students write an essay on the person researched.

Fourth graders research famous Americans from the Westward Movement and complete an interview. In this Westward Movement instructional activity, 4th graders work in pairs to research someone who was important during this time period....

Teaching class members all about the importance and meaning behind Veterans Day with an informative resource. Pupils complete a classroom activity guide and individual research to learn more about the brave men and women who defend the...

Today, many young people find it hard to understand why it took over 150 years for women in the United  States to get the right to vote—why there was even a need for the suffrage movement. As they read a series of primary source...

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...

Second graders write as essay describing the cooperative group drawing they made or describing the process to draw a group picture.

Tenth graders discover how various writers approach the themes of : alienation and solitude, living life "deliberately" and "phonies." Through reading, journaling, class discussion, and writing assignments they realize the power of the...

Seventh graders write a five paragraph persuasive essay on a contemporary civic-life issue.

Help your high schoolers undertand the critical problems around healthcare. By focusing on the political and private process of healthcare, students will watch a video, analyze issues, and write an essay on their findings. Additionally,...

Students conduct research on the events of the end of the 18th century in order to identify critical factors leading to the development of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican political parties. They summarize the key positions of...

Fourth graders view a PowerPoint presentation "Setting goals." They use Kidspiration to organize long and short term goals for academics. Students write essays about Goal Setting. Students work in groups and create a dialogue involving...

Using primary source documents, including maps, learners examine Revolutionary War events from 1775 to 1778. The focus here is on the challenges George Washington and the Continental army faced and how they persevered in spite of those...

This is a simple but effective introduction to democracy. It requires the class to generate working definitions of key terms (provided) and to determine the degree of democracy in various geographic locations today. After they conduct...

Eighth graders examine the importance of the Declaration of Independence by using a variety of research sources and computer technology to obtain information. They internalize the thoughts, actions, and motives of the signers of the...

Students examine narratives of two slaves: iam W. Brown and Frederick Douglas. They produce an essay explaining how Brown's narrative challenged the prejudices of readers in his own time and how it challenges prejudices today.

Seventh graders explore the Latino Civil Rights Movement. In this civil rights lesson plan, 7th graders discover the role of the League of United Latin Citizens (LULAC) as well as the women's arm of the organization and write essays that...

Students read primary source journals from the Nebraska Western Trails Project. They work in groups to analyze the journal entries and complete a worksheet. Students then write an individual essay on the experience and consider what kind...

After watching West of the West's documentary on Catalina Island, The Magic Isle, class members research how Walt Disney's and William Wrigley's different visions impacted the island.

Students reserach the case of Ex Parte Milligan. They explore the influence of the Supreme Court and the court decisions on the rights and responsibilities of citizens. They read Milligan's letter to Stanton and generate questions...

Students discover the responsibilities of the presidency. In this U.S. government lesson, students watch "Portraits Of Power: American Presidents," and then compose essays regarding the citizens' relationship to the presidency.

Eighth graders investigate philosophy and meditation techniques by discussing Emerson and Thoreau.  For this philosophical traditions lesson, 8th graders identify the men Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, their work, and...