Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
A Mini lesson on Semicolons
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-lesson on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how this...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Unauthorized Immigration and the US Economy
As part of a study of immigration and the U.S. economy, class members assume the role of newspaper editors to determine which submitted letters to print on their paper's editorial page to present a balanced view of the debate.
EngageNY
Revising Draft Letters to a Publisher about an Athlete’s Legacy: Using Critique and Feedback, Part II
Let's get opinionated. Scholars participate in a peer critique and revision process using a fun activity called a Four Corners strategy. After incorporating classmates' feedback, individuals share their final drafts of their opinion...
EngageNY
Revising Draft Letters to a Publisher about an Athlete’s Legacy: Critique and Feedback, Part I
Pick a corner, any corner! Pupils use the Four Corners strategy and Peer Critique protocol to assess one another's draft letters to a publisher about an athlete's legacy. Scholars then use peer feedback to revise their letters.
Apple State University
Friendly Letter Mini-Lesson
This mini-instructional activity about informal letter writing is packed with a lot of information about writing a friendly letter. Class members begin by working in pairs to answer questions after reviewing letter models. Then, take...
American Battlefield Trust
Preserving the Memory
Civil War battlefields themselves are under siege by development and other forces. Using materials from the Battlefield Trust, individuals explore local areas that face threat and write letters to support their preservation. An...
West Virginia Department of Education
Harpers Ferry Letters
Scholars write letters as if they were someone who heard the story of John Brown's raid. The resource, a standalone, covers information from primary sources that is important to West Virginian history: the Harpers Ferry Letters.
August House
Why Koala Has a Stumpy Tail
Learn about the animals of Australia with a language arts lesson about an Australian folktale called, Why Koala Has a Stumpy Tail. After reading the story as a class, kids discuss events and characters from the book, retell the...
Teach It Primary
What Letter Will You Write?
After reading "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," scholars discuss the emotions the events provoked in its characters. In pairs, writers compose a letter depending on the topic and style of their choice then reply to their own or a peer's...
Teaching Tolerance
Truth to Power: Writing Letters for Change
Can letter writing really create social change? Pupils create and mail formal letters addressing a specific organization to promote social change they wish to see. Class members reflect on the process and responses they received in small...
Jefferson County Schools
Teaching Persuasive Reading and Writing
With the increasing emphasis on persuasive and argumentative writing, the lessons and strategies in the sample unit are sure to prove valuable—whether you are new to or an experienced pro at teaching persuasive reading and writing.
Anti-Defamation League
Sneakers and Prejudice: Letters to Challenge Bias
After learning that NBA player Stephen Curry's shoes only come in boys' sizes, Riley wrote a letter sharing her concern, highlighting the gender bias and inviting Curry to take action. Scholars view a news clip, review the letters,...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
The Great Depression - Hard Times Hit America
To gain an understanding of how the Great Depression affected everyday citizens, class members examine letters written either to the president or to the governor of Alabama asking for assistance.
Simon & Schuster
Curriculum Guide: The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter may be a classic, but keeping high schoolers engaged in the reading of Hawthorne's vocabulary, syntax, imagery, and historical references presents it own set of challenges. Here's a guide that offers readers...
DocsTeach
Analyzing a Letter to Congress About Bloody Sunday
The brutality of Bloody Sunday—when non-violent protesters who supported voting rights for African Americans were beaten by police—captured a nation. Young historians examine the letter of one horrified American to Congress to consider...
Curated OER
Friendly Letters: Interactive Writing Project
Students practice writing friendly letters. In this friendly letters lesson, students take a field trip and then write a friendly thank you letter for the experience. Students follow the three given steps to complete the lesson.
California Department of Education
Writing Right
Does your class have the write stuff? Young career seekers try their hand at composing business letters in the second of six career and college readiness lesson plans for seniors. Pupils practice writing cover letters, thank you notes,...
Workforce Solutions
Thank You Letters
An important step in the job search process is sending a thank you note to any professional that has been of help. First, pupils discuss the etiquette of thank you notes, then draft a practice letter.
Nebraska Department of Education
A Letter to Myself
Middle schoolers craft a letter to themselves describing what their life will be like in four years using a prewriting organizer to guide their work.
National Endowment for the Humanities
John Steinbeck’s "The Grapes of Wrath": The Inner Chapters
Here’s a must-have resource for anyone using The Grapes of Wrath. Everything from guiding questions to background information, from photographs to documentary films, from activities to assessments is included in a richly detailed packet...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
The Boston Massacre: You Be the Judge!
The importance of considering multiple perspectives of the same event is the big idea in this exercise that focuses on the Boston Massacre. Class groups examine photos of four depictions of the massacre, an English and an American...
British Council
Letters Home
When you're writing historical fiction, the past really can become the present — especially if you're writing in the present continuous tense! Cover World War I, verb tenses, censorship, and letter writing with one informative lesson and...
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Letter to a Character
Readers of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida place themselves in the story and craft a persuasive letter to a character in Victor Martinez's National Book Award-winning novel.
K20 LEARN
Going on a Paper Hunt: Nouns, Adjectives, Letter Writing and Science - Properties of Paper
A lesson plan introduces scholars to nouns and adjectives. After listening to a short story and practicing creating adjectives with a card sort, pupils go on a paper hunt to locate different types of paper, complete a chart with...