The firsthand accounts of what it was like to be an enslaved person in the mid-1800s riveted a nation and the issue ultimately led to civil war. Using excerpts from Frederick Douglass's autobiography, budding historians examine what it...

What do a cheetah, Audi commercial, and air have in common? They're all topics of an engaging inquiry-based, hands-on workshop for educators about background knowledge, reading strategies, the CER model, and argumentative writing. The...

As a culminating unit activity, pupils revise their argumentative essays based on the novel Lyddie by Katherine Paterson. Paying careful attention to grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary, they incorporate teacher feedback to revise and...

Young writers use the class time to complete a draft argumentative essay.  In answer to the Pygmalion end-of-unit prompt they discuss the change seen in Eliza's inner identity. 

And now for the grand finale! Scholars prepare their final Pygmalion end-of-unit essays. Learners participate in a brief mini lesson about correcting errors and then begin revising their own argumentative essays. 

Does that happen in real life? Scholars look at their Themes of Adversity graphic organizers and think of examples in today's world for each type of adversity. They determine if today's world has the same struggles as those in the...

Was Napoléon Bonaparte a hero or a tyrant? Discuss examples of each, and list their common attributes. Then, to form a solid argument and take a stance, intermediate and advanced Francophones conduct Internet research. After a few days...

A thought-provoking activity doesn't prompt learners to analyze a political cartoon, but rather the importance of political cartoonists in general. They work together and discuss the role cartoonists play in the democratic system. Use...

It is entirely fitting and proper that Wilfred Owen’s powerful “Dulce et Decorum Est” is the poem used for an exercise in close reading, discussion, analysis, and argumentative writing. Class members discuss focus questions in pairs,...

Use Langston Hughes's poem, "Words Like Freedom," to explore the concepts of freedom and liberty. Learners read the poem, determine the theme, and use the provided graphic organizer to examine the connotative and denotative meanings of...

Prepare your class for argumentative writing with a close inspection of the controversy surrounding Theodore Taylor's novel, The Cay. All necessary articles and materials are linked at the beginning of the resource. Kids use the provided...

Author's are often influenced by events in their own lives as they write. Use Edgar Allan Poe's poems "Ulalume" and "Annabel Lee" to take a look at how the death of Poe's wife affected his poetry. Ask students to discuss and compare the...

Zora Neal Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou are featured in a guided inquiry unit. High schoolers research the lives and works of these and other Black women writers and craft an argument, using evidence from their research, to...

This activity is better utilized as a peer-editing exercise and not as an activity on how to write counterarguments. Writers take their argumentative rough drafts, peer edit in groups of four, and review the author on common essay...

What are ads really selling? High schoolers examine persuasive techniques used by print and television advertisements. They generate a list of persuasive techniques they're familiar with, and review other types argumentation and...

Young historians investigate how sexism impacted the 2020 United States presidential election. They examine media coverage of the six women candidates, engage in a four-corners debate reacting to statements about gender and the...

Sometimes a whole story can change based on the perspective of the person telling it. Practice identifying and analyzing point of view in various reading passages and writing assignments with a language arts packet, complete with Common...

Sometimes explaining an argument can lead to confusion and miscommunication. Narrow down the details in written arguments with a group activity in which learners pretend to be aliens from another planet, struggling to understand each...

Describing a problem efficiently doesn't solve it, but a well-crafted argument can move readers to action. High schoolers focus on structuring problem statements by reading examples of strong essays and working in groups to create...

To understand why the topic of reparations is controversial, young scholars gather background information by reading articles, watching videos, and examining cases where reparations were made. Learners consider the lasting repercussions...

The ability to analyze an argument is a skill emphasized by the Common Core standards. Offer your class an opportunity to develop and hone their skills by providing them the testimonies in an Oregon court case. After reading the facts of...

When does hair (or clothing) disrupt the school process? This question is the topic of the argumentative paper your class with write. They read and react to an article about a boy who was expelled from school for sporting a Mohawk, then...

Prepare your pupils for a debate or argumentative writing assignment. Students can use the two columns here to take notes on two different arguments about the same topics. They then note down their own positions and briefly explain their...

Never again will you need to worry about coming up with a writing prompt! This packet contains, as it says, 501 prompts that are suitable for fourth graders on up. The prompts are paired into four categories (persuasive, expository,...