Discuss the differences between the North and the South and how those differences led to the Civil War. Middle schoolers examine and analyze a famous speech or writing by President Lincoln in order to better understand the speaker's...

Use this communication skills lesson to emphasize evaluating a speaker's main point and argument. After reading Martin Luther King's, "I Have a Dream Speech" and John F. Kennedy's speech, "I Believe in an America Where the Separation of...

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...

Students write persuasive speeches to recruit soldiers for a Civil War company. For this Civil War U.S. history and writing lesson, students work in groups to create a recruiting poster and write a speech to persuade soldiers to join...

Logan’s Lament, a speech delivered by Mingo Chief Logan in 1774, provides pupils with an opportunity to not only study the historical events surrounding the battle between Native Americans and the Europeans for the West Virginia...

What rights are guaranteed to students? Do they align with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was approved by the United Nations in 1948? Middle and high schoolers present persuasive arguments about the rights they believe...

Slavery is a serious topic that can be challenging for middle schoolers to study. Young scholars can see firsthand through primary sources what occurred during that time period in the United States. The third of five lessons provides...

Eighth graders complete a reading of Lois Lowry's, The Giver, and determine a social problem the effects the "utopian society." They research information about the social problem using a number Internet, print, and media resources. They...

Should college admissions decisions be based on whether whose family members attended? Secondary students read and respond to a New York Times article on the issue of 'legacy preferences' in college admissions. Following class...

Students examine how to plan their own thoughts, write down specific notes, and prepare to give their speech on a topic from the list. They take a specific side and present their arguments to the class.

Students write persuasive speeches. In this speech lesson, students discuss the attributes of persuasive speeches and then write their own persuasive speeches regarding topics of their choosing.

If you are interested in having a basic framework for teaching expository, narrative, persuasive, and descriptive writing, this resource may help; however, you will have to find information on the different forms of writing to share with...

This is an excellent resource for US history classes, especially AP history. After learning some background on the Marshall Plan, the class, divided into two groups, researches opposing positions on this aid program. Groups read and...

Challenges to voting rights is not a new thing. Using President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 "The American Promise" speech on voting rights as a starting point, young historians research current voting rights laws and challenges.

Did you know that lawmakers have proposed more than 5,000 bills to amend the US Constitution in Congress? Your class learns intriguing facts about the process of choosing amendments. A variety of activities including before and after...

Students explore how to write persuasive letters. They work in small groups to brainstorm ideas and organize them into a cohesive argument to be presented to the class. Students explore the concept of persuasion and how it is a strategy...

Students participate in a role play where they are travel agents and must sell their assigned state to the rest of the class. They collect and present information in persuasive speeches to make their fellow students want to take a...

High schoolers investigate the dilemma of a proportional response with a lesson about the history of terrorism and militant extremists in the United States. As they examine memos from the FBI and speeches from President Bush and Obama,...

Study opposing viewpoints with this lesson, which examines President Bush's September 2004 address at the United Nations. Middle schoolers study the text of the address, and then stage formal debates arguing for or against the reasons to...

Third graders are given an opportunity to create a visual to accompany their presentations of their persuasive essays. They may use the computer or other media as resources.

Students research what is legal now as far as abortions are concerned. Does it matter what state you live in? Does it matter how old you are? If you are a teen, does the doctor have to notify your parents? Students prepare a panel...

Considering organizing a speech and debate club? check out this packet that contains all the information you need to get started.

Middle schoolers write a proposal for a speech. Students prepare appropriate visuals for use in the proposed speech. Middle schoolers produce one or more graphs that summarize the results from the experimentation. Students deliver an...

Class members investigate The Indian Removal Act of 1830, U.S. Theft of Mexican Territory Timeline, and President Abraham Lincoln’s letter to Horace Greeley, 1862, and then conduct a mock trial of each of these documents to determine...