Curated OER
Supreme Court Decisions on Freedom of Religion
What does freedom of religion mean? Analyze a series of Supreme Court cases where the First Amendment right to freedom of religion was put to the test. They discuss the cases' outcomes and argue whether the right decision was made....
Curated OER
Narrative Nuts and Bolts
After viewing slides and reading about child labor, young authors compose an original narrative story. They practice note-taking skills and work to effectively engage a reader by incorporating plot, logical order, complex characters,...
Curated OER
Car For Sale!
Car For sale! In this GED prep activity, writers develop a classified advertisement to sell a car. After a discussion of precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language, sellers draft their ad for review, revision and...
San José State University
Transition Words
Translate transition words for your class with this handout and brief exercise. Fairly straightforward and informative, it includes sample sentences and a working link to a more complete list of transition words. There are two different...
Curated OER
The Game of Persuasion
Why is it so important to learn the art of persuasion? Being persuasive helps you acquire the things you want or the things you feel are necessary. Print out these scenarios and assign one to each group of high schoolers. As a team, they...
Curated OER
How to Research and Write an Essay
Research and write a 500-word essay. Pupils research a topic and write an essay based on their research. They use the given directions and examples to help them research, organize, format, and write their essay. There's a short chart...
Curated OER
Essay Writing
Are your learners working towards their GED? First they study the GED essay rubric, and then they read a sample essay as a group. After studying the basic elements, they write an essay of their own. After peer editing, they revise their...
Curated OER
Do You Have a Blog?
Ask learners about their personal writing habits, such as whether they keep a journal or a blog, or if they'd ever want to. Though this is not a fully developed instructional activity, you can use this article and question to provoke...
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History Personified
In 1856 Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina beat Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts over the head with a cane. This event, which highlighted the acrimonious debate over the expansion of slavery, is the focus of a paper...
Curated OER
Tornado Brainstorming
While the focus of this lesson is on writing about tornadoes, any topic could be substituted. The lesson provides a well-thought out overview of the writing process. Learners come up with a thesis statement, supporting details, and a...
Curated OER
Topic Sentences and Transitions
High school writers identify the purpose of both a topic sentence and a transitional statement. They write a topic sentence which denotes the paragraph topic and the author's stand on that topic. Then they write an effective transitional...
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Transitions
Give examples of transitions and why they are necessary in writing. A bit verbose, this handout is very thorough and provides many examples. The second page lists plenty of transitional phrases in a convenient chart.
Curated OER
Please No Posers
How do you reference information correctly? Avoid plagiarism by accurately summarizing a New York Times article with your middle or high schoolers. Young researchers then insert properly attributed quotations and paraphrases into their...
Curated OER
How to Integrate Quotations
Quotations add validity to an argument or an analysis, but how do you integrate them into your writing? Several examples are provided, and your emerging writers will surely benefit from looking at different ways to add quotations....
Curated OER
Brochure Writing
What do you use a brochure for? Middle schoolers or underperforming high schoolers identify the attributes of informative brochures. Either bring in a few brochures you've collected or use the sample brochures attached here. While...
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Persuasive Writers
Use the power of the pen to persuade others to get involved in community issues! Individuals reflect on personal service learning activities and the writing process. They compose essays regarding service to others. While designed for...
Curated OER
"The Merchants of Cool"
Why are so many advertisements geared towards the teenage population? Watch a video with your class (link included), and have them fill out the attached listening guide. Then discuss persuasion, presenting biased information, and where...
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Animation Pre-Production
Does your class love reading cartoons? Use their talents and interests to examine the process of writing a story they wish to tell through a cartoon. They develop the beginning, middle, and end of a story based on their original...
San José State University
Essay Outline Template
Inspire essay organization with this handout and exercise about outlining. Writers read through a brief outline model and then practice writing their own outline by completing a second model. Scholars not only complete the outline, they...
Curated OER
Rubric for Research Papers
This rubric is decent, but it doesn't provide a point allotment for each category. Use this as an outline to create a more comprehensive assessment for your writers' research papers.
Curated OER
Connotation: "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke
What's happening in this poem? Have your high schoolers participate in an activity about connotation and denotation. They apply the concept of connotation to a reading of Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." Lead a discussion about...
Curated OER
Intro to Essay Writing for High Schoolers
Emerging writers observe and demonstrate the process of writing an essay. As a class, they read and discuss the writing steps, read a sample essay, and write an outline for a three-paragraph essay. Then they write a final version of...
Curated OER
Public Speaking
As a quick and easy way to review public speaking skills, this resource could be used in an upper elementary or higher-ed classroom. It offers simple strategies like maintaining eye contact with the audience for three seconds. A teacher...
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Lesson Exchange: Introduction to Research Papers (Senior, Literature)
Although unlikely in today's English classroom, this lesson focuses on introducing research papers to seniors in high school. It briefly reviews the parts of an essay, and mentions showing learners example essays, but no examples are...