After discussing Haley's techniques in his conclusion of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, class time is devoted to drafting, sharing, and getting feedback on writers' college essays.

Today's discussion of The Autobiography of Malcolm X focuses on the precise words, the telling phrases, and the sensory details Haley uses to enliven his story. Writers then work to incorporate these same techniques in the draft of their...

Malcolm X's journey to Cairo, his Hajj, his Letter from Mecca detailing his insights into "true Islam," and his transition to Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz are the focus of the discussion of chapter 17 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

Class members take a break from discussing The Autobiography of Malcolm X to focus on their personal narrative essays. Before working on their drafts, they review what they have learned from their study of Haley's narrative about...

Discussions of eminent domain sometimes trigger strong emotions. A set of free-response questions from the 2019 AP® English Language and Composition exam tackles the concept with a series of persuasive pieces. Learners analyze all six...

As part of a study of narrative writing, class members analyze how Leslie Marmon Silko structures the beginning and orients and engages readers in her narrative, "Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit."

Chapter 12 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X discusses Haley's narrative techniques, mainly how he uses point of view and foreshadowing to build interest and suspense. Class members read and annotate chapter 13 of the text as homework...

What goes around, comes around. Using the resource, pupils read Act 4.3 of Macbeth, in which Macduff and Malcolm plan to attack Macbeth. Scholars then hold a discussion and complete writing activities to analyze Shakespeare's structural...

After a brief discussion of their independent reading texts, pairs exchange their college narratives and, using the provided peer review tool, give their partner suggestions on how the draft may be improved.

Good discussion questions, quizzes, and tests teach as well as assess. Readers of The Great Gatsby will learn much from the materials in a 36-page packet designed to help students prepare for the AP Literature exam. Included in the...

What would it be like to sell your eggs to a couple who can't have children on their own? Could you even imagine it? As most of us have never been in this position, this descriptive essay is really quite interesting. The reading itself...

Integration versus separation. Readers of chapter 14 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X examine Malcolm X's views on other Civil Rights leaders and their integration ideas. Class members also return to the narrative essay strand of the...

In this first activity of the unit, class members continue to work on their draft of a narrative essay response to a prompt found on the college Common Application.

Working in pairs, class members use the provided narrative writing rubric to assess the effectiveness of dialogue, pacing, and description in two model paragraphs with similar content. Writers then use the insights they have gained from...

People in Ukraine, Rwanda, and Cambodia have all faced challenges to their human rights and even genocide. Using primary and secondary sources, scholars evaluate these challenges and the international community's role in them. The...

Take a trip to the turn of the twentieth century with a resource about industrialism in America. With primary source documents and focus questions, learners think about the ways that government groups and organizations paved the way...

Would you want to live forever? That is a question that Winnie, in Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting, must answer. Scholars read to find out what Winnie chooses and reinforce their knowledge with vocabulary activities,...

Narrative essay writing is the focus of a series of exercises that model for learners how to not only read a narrative, but how to also examine the techniques fiction writers use to create a setting, develop their characters, represent...

As writers continue to revise their argument essays, the focus shifts to editing grammatical conventions, parallel structure, and varying syntax to add interest. After examining model sentences that demonstrate sentence variety, writers...

Parenting can befuddle new moms and dads, but psychology helps! Learners explain various theories of parenting and child development using a case-study model and materials from College Board. A second practice question asks scholars to...

Through the journey of four stories of immigration, scholars complete graphic organizers and apply knowledge to create a visual representation of their findings on a large poster. Third and fourth readers write a letter to their...

Introduce your classes to the Art of Rhetoric with a lesson that focuses on Aristotle's persuasive appeals and how they have been used, both ethically and unethically, to influence opinion.

High schoolers select a theme-related essay topic from Night, by Elie Wiesel, or The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, and develop an essay that relates the theme to modern-day personal experiences. The essay follows a preset rubric...

Students analyze the Gwendolyn Brooks use of enjambment in her poem "We Real Cool." In this poetry analysis activity, students define common poetic devices and the examples of enjambment in the poem. Students discuss the poem and write...