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Using Details from Text to Identify Author's Purpose
Explore writing techniques by analyzing newspapers and magazines with middle schoolers. They will collaborate in small groups to read local news stories and identify the main ideas and author's intent. They also utilize an information...
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Writing Author's Purpose
Write in all three authorial purposes (persuasive, informational, entertaining) with this lesson. Young writers consider a time when a friend of theirs helped them out and gave them advice on something. They write a short paragraph (no...
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Preparing for the Informative Speech
Students read an outline on how to prepare an informative speech. In this informative speech lesson plan, students read an outline and then prepare a speech.
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The Breakfast Busters Persuade Others
Young scholars write persuasive essays about their favorite breakfast cereal after seeing how advertisements are used to influence people.
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Deciphering Propaganda Posters of World War I
What strategies are employed when creating propaganda? Your young historians will learn about six different techniques utilized in the construction of political propaganda, particularly in the advertisements of World War I. The...
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Product Persuasion
Students 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.
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SAVE OUR EARTH
Students research current environmental problems in order to develop and deliver an oral presentation. The presentation persuades the audience to act on the student's point of view on the issue.
Sharp School
Real Life Economics 101
Your learners will take key economic concepts, such as identifying needs versus wants and the four factors of production, and design a video to explain their topic choice to the class. Rather than have one person in charge of dispensing...
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Researching and Writing About Another Country's Holiday: Documenting and Communicating Information
This lesson plan is a culminating lesson plan which follows students researching, collecting citations, evaluating and selecting text, graphic materials and visual aids. In this concluding lesson plan, 5th graders discuss the assessment...
Sharp School
Travel Brochure Project
Designing a travel brochure is a classic project that will help your class members develop a variety of skills, such as researching informational texts, designing creative visual products, and communicating what you have learned.
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Author's Purpose
Readers identify the author's purpose. First, they read a passage and utilize details from the piece to determine the author's purpose. Then they will explain how they arrived at their conclusion. Links to materials are provided.
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Mass Manipulation
Young scholars make a chart of the media's manipulation techniques and examples of them while watching and listening to a video tape of past news events.
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Where Are You Coming From?
Pupils examine and discuss author's purpose and the influence of an author's perspective in his or her writing. In groups, they read scenarios and respond to them from the perspective of a designated character. Materials are attached.
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Persuasive Writing
Eighth graders study persuasive writing. They analzye an editorial for introductory,body, and concluding sentences. They develop arguments for and against various topics in small groups.
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What's the Purpose Anyway?
Examine author's purpose in newspaper articles, comic books, cookbooks, encyclopedias and other forms of written materials. Working in groups, middle and high schoolers read teacher-selected articles and write an explanation of the...
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Inquiring Minds: News and Philanthropy
Students study newspaper articles and rewrite events from literature into news stories about kindness. For this news article lesson, students read sentences from newspaper articles and identify the purpose of the article. Students...
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Media Literacy Discussion Guide
Students examine and analyze visual media and its messages critically. They determine whether specific media messages inform, entertain, or persuade and what factors influence the media. Using primary sources, they participate in peer...
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We Thank You, Veteran!
Fifth graders use information from videos, picture books, and relatives' military backgrounds to write a short or extended message of gratitude on a greeting card for local veterans.
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Designing Visual Support For "The Greatest American" Speech
Students study several periods in American history, define the term "greatest American," and brainstorm possible criteria for selecting great Americans. They create a three to five minute persuasive speech along with visual aids to...
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Dig It!
Second graders complete various activities about dinosaurs and fossils. They conduct Internet research, participate in a sandbox dinosaur fossil dig, and create a computer slideshow presentation using information they found on various...
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Hurricane Scavenger Hunt
Fourth graders use Internet and/or library resources to locate and record information about hurricanes on a worksheet..
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Creative Inventions
Ninth graders develop ideas for an invention and write a persuasive essay explaining why their invention is best. In this invention essay lesson, 9th graders review persuasive essay writing. Students create a graphic web for an original...
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The Legendary Raptors
How are raptors and airplanes alike? Combine science and language arts in this fun and interactive project. Young scientists research the animal in order to design their own aircraft, and compete in a contest for farthest, fastest, and...
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Where Has It Been? Tracking the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
By studying the assumed extinction, and subsequent rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, learners use maps and come up with a scenario for the rediscovery of the bird. This incredibly thorough lesson plan is chock-full of...