Have you ever watched a political speech and felt your heart beat a little faster, and your opinion either solidify or begin to slightly change? Rhetorical devices can be a strong tool in an effective and powerful speech. A short lesson...

A speaker, a message, an audience. After analyzing these elements in Queen Elizabeth's speech to the troops at Tilbury, groups analyze how other speakers use an awareness of events, and their audience to craft their arguments....

Abraham Lincoln is responsible for uniting the states during the most tumultuous periods in American history, and for his elegant oratory that kept the Union believing in its cause. Young histoians analyze various speeches by America's...

Looking for a lesson plan that teaches class members how to analyze nonfiction? Use Joseph McCarthy's famous "Enemies from Within" speech as a instructional text. Worksheet questions direct readers' attention to the many historical...

To appreciate the oratory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, scholars examine the rhetorical devices and influences that make the speech so famous. They examine background information, conduct a close reading of the...

Words matter! That's the big idea behind an activity that asks scholars to replace words in FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech with synonyms. They then listen to a recording of President Roosevelt's address and compare his version to their own.

“. . .different men often see the same subject in different lights. . .” but the great orator Patrick Henry used all the skills at his command to craft a speech to convince listeners to see things as he did--that liberty was worth dying...

Determine the author's point of view in a text. Young readers read Dr. Seuss' The Sneeches and identify the author's purpose in the story. They identify persuasive techniques in writing, asking and answering questions to better...

Young journalists learn that how we get our news and information matters in a collaborative social studies activity. The class is divided into three groups with the first analyzing a transcript of FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech, the second...

The civil rights movement: An ongoing battle for change. The activity focuses on President Johnson's speech in response to the massacre at the Selma March. Academics study the speech, complete a hands-on-activity, and discuss President...

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...

Middle schoolers use the Internet to learn the art of persuasive speaking in order to present a speech in a convincing manner. Students analyze the characteristics of a good speech, and then practice giving one.

Students analyze American essayists Mark Twain and Frederick Douglass in an introduction to American literary non-fiction writing. In this essay history lesson, students identify methods for writing essays. Students read and analyze...

Learners read Patrick Henry's speech. They review prior learning about persuasive writing, and the American revolutionary war. Students listen as the teacher reads Patrick Henry's speech aloud to the class using lots of emotion and...

Guided by close-reading questions, groups examine the similarities and differences between the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. In addition, they look at how the principles are presented in these two foundational US...

Students analyze the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedoms and consider its implications. In this governing principles lesson plan, students explore primary and secondary sources regarding the document penned by Thomas Jefferson.