Imagine using narrative essays to encourage change. This multi-week unit plan does just that. After reading a series of articles from Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America, class members examine the...

There's a lot riding on good writing! Often, an application essay is the difference between acceptance and rejection. As part of a series on specific writing assignments and contexts, a handout helps scholars craft the perfect personal...

Using the resource, learners share their essay revisions with a partner. Afterward, they participate in a Fishbowl discussion, receiving peer feedback about their editorial essays. 

Writers work on creating a plan for their end-of-unit essay of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass using a Frederick Douglass Essay Planner to help guide their thought process. They then regroup as a class to...

As scholars prepare to craft their essays based on Katherine Paterson's Lyddie, they learn about using compelling reasons in their writing. Next, they develop a claim about whether Lyddie should sign a petition to speak out against...

Time to revise! Using a writing evaluation rubric, scholars participate in a peer editing process to provide feedback on each others' informative essays. Next, pupils begin revising their drafts based on the feedback they receive. 

To write an essay or not to write an essay—that is the question! Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment based on their study of Hamlet. They write essays analyzing how Shakespeare develops Hamlet's character about other characters.

Shakespeare's Macbeth has something for everyone. Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment. They craft multi-paragraph essays to analyze how the author's structural choices create tension and suspense in the play's first two acts.

Prepare readers of Arthur Miller's The Crucible for a timed, in-class essay assessment with seven graphic organizers that ask individuals to note conflicts, both internal and external, characters' actions, possible...

No matter how difficult high school writing may seem, college writing presents challenges of its own. The fourth in a series of 24 handouts from The Writing Center at UNC breaks down the expectations for college writing. Scholars learn...

Get ready to review and revise! Scholars peer edit each other's literary analysis essay drafts. Next, using peer and teacher feedback, pupils compose their final drafts. 

Inevitably, whenever you give an assignment, at least one person won't start until the last minute. As the 13th handout in the 24-part Writing the Paper series explains, procrastination sometimes brings consequences. It breaks down...

Great minds think aloud! Pupils participate in the Fishbowl protocol, discussing their opinions about the Mary River mine proposal. As they share their thoughts, peers provide feedback about their thesis and supporting ideas.  

"What's in a name?" Is it irrelevant, as Juliet suggests in Shakespeare's play, or is nomenclature deeply significant? Young scholars weigh in on the debate by examining the controversy over the NFL's Washington, D.C. Redskins. Groups...

Scholars assume the role of admissions officers to better understand the college admissions process. They evaluate five fictional college applications and work together to determine which ones meet acceptance requirements. 

What is a megalomaniac? Scholars discover the word's meaning as they read and analyze paragraphs seven and eight from Julia Alvarez's essay "A Genetics of Justice." They also read Mark Memmott's article "Remembering to Never Forget" and...

Opinion, audience, purpose. Fourth graders are introduced to the three characteristics of persuasive writing in the third unit of a year-long writing program. The 98-page packet is complete with plans, model essays, graphic organizers,...

While many young scholars are familiar with the Holocaust, they may not understand the specific history that led to the unprecedented atrocity. The first lesson in the unit helps teachers gauge their pupils' background knowledge. A...

Twelve categories of verbs exist in the future tense, ranging from simple present to future perfect progressive, but only three have a place in academic writing. Those three tenses make up the content of an informational handout that...

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....

There's no better way to learn something than to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. A handout on oral history, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, explains how to conduct interviews and use the information...

Writing the conclusion of an essay can often seem like a superfluous or daunting task. Support your young writers in understanding the various types and purposes of a conclusion paragraph, such as summarizing key points of a paper or...

Motivate young citizens to make a positive difference through volunteering. Scholars examine the local and school community to discover ways the class, as a whole, can volunteer their time to help one or the other, then reflect on their...

The final lesson plan of a three-part series on Kate Chopin's The Awakening has scholars investigate life as a woman in late nineteenth-century America. They research the role of women in society through the eyes of the characters in the...