Did Smitty do it, or is he a victim? Sleuths apply their observation and reasoning skills to build a case for an argumentative paragraph. Class members closely observe a cartoon, make a claim, cite evidence from the image, and support...

Long before European settlers arrived on the shores of what is now the United States, pre-contact Native American cultures thrived. Young scholars investigate the Spiro Mounds Builders' history and learn how archaeologists put together...

Lines from popular songs are used to teach middle schoolers about conditional and subjunctive moods. Groups engage in a card sort activity to identify conditional and subjective sentences and then partners draft sentences of each type....

The engagement is in the details. Young scholars learn the benefit of weaving descriptive and sensory details into the fabric of their writing through the activities in this lesson plan. As their hands explore items concealed in bags, a...

As part of a study of crafting compelling arguments, class members tackle the problem presented in Lawrence Kohlberg's "The Heinz Dilemma." After discussing the dilemma with classmates, writers draft an essay with a claim, support...

As part of a study of Spoken Word Poetry, class members watch a series of performance videos and note where poets get their ideas and the performance techniques used by the poets. Pupils then draft and share their poems.

High schoolers examine the four major types of speeches: informative, demonstrative, persuasive, and extemporaneous. Groups then select one type and craft and share a presentation highlighting this format's characteristics. Finally,...

Walt Whitman's poem "A Noiseless Patient Spider" provides high schoolers an opportunity to reflect on the importance of perseverance and fortitude. After drafting a Quick Write about a time they tried and tried again to accomplish...

Does the pay gap begin with allowance? That is the big question scholars answer in a lesson examining how gender affects how much money an individual earns. Class members conduct a survey to identify how the allowance is paid, take their...

Young poets learn the value of using a thesaurus when crafting and revising poems. They examine poems rich in figurative language and then a revised version with the figurative language removed. To demonstrate what they have learned,...

Close the unit on Esperanza Rising with an in-class analytic essay on how Esperanza changes over the course of the novel. Writers can use any of their notes and work from the unit as well as their drafts of the first two paragraphs of...

Ask your learners to synthesize what they know about Waiting for the Biblioburro by writing a well-organized paragraph. Young writers focus on using transition words and including specific details in their paragraphs. The plan allows for...

Using everything they have learned about writing paragraphs over the past few lessons of the unit, class members compose an informative paragraph independently. This is an authentic assessment of their ability, since learners have...

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.

After discussing the narrative structure, intended audience, and purpose of Chapter 1 of The Autobiography of Malcolm X, class members draft their statement of purpose for a Common College Application prompt that distinguishes them from...

Writers use class time to develop the draft of their personal narratives, drawing on techniques Haley uses in The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

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...

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...

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.

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.

As an end-of-unit assessment, class members complete the final drafts of their Common Application narrative essay and then meet in pairs to discuss the independent reading selection.

Young writers compose a gripping ending to their historical fiction narratives. Following the previous lesson plan, where learners wrote a bold beginning, class members examine exciting endings from a literary text. They then draft their...

Have you ever wanted to learn more about a subject after you finished a great book? Guide ninth graders through an inquiry-based research project as they finish the first chapter of Temple Grandin's Animals in Translation. Having...

As the first in a two-part, end-of-unit assessment that encourages readers to synthesize the unit's main ideas, class members review their notes for each of the three texts they read and develop three open-ended discussion questions...