What ideas and philosophies guided the Transcendentalist movement in America? Scholars explore the topic, reading texts by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Additionally, they write essays comparing the authors' structural...

Get your junior high writers stimulated with the strategies and ideas available in this activity. Learners discuss and debate controversial subjects, and outline their reasons with an online graphic organizer (link included) that creates...

Grab a debatable (or controversial) moment from your current reading, and use this task to progress the persuasive writing skills of your high school scholars. Divide your learners into four small groups and let them collaborate, debate,...

Words matter, particularly in academic writing. Issues such as vague language, wordiness, and cliches make it difficult to get a point across. Part of a larger series to improve writing skills, the handout on word choice shows writers...

Students identify the elements of an informative essay. Through a teacher led discussion, students explore the basic parts of a five paragraph essay and , using a hamburger as an analogy, students label the pieces. They discuss the...

Students compose expository essays. In this written communication lesson, students examine paragraphs from sample expository essays and then discuss the attributes of well-written essays prior to writing their own expository essays.

A good thesis is hard to craft. Model for your writers how to develop and refine thesis statements with a series of slides that discuss the purpose and format of this all-important sentence. Viewers following along as the process is...

Seventh graders write a five paragraph essay and then branch out from there.

Students go through the entire writing process to create an expository essay about what they are thankful for. They use graphic organizers to guide them through the process.

Students discover how to organize essays effectively. In this writing lesson, students construct a spider map to develop their ideas for an essay.

Students create a title page, organize information, and write the introductory paragraph to a research paper.  In this research writing lesson, students discuss the elements of the title page and outline, then write one of their...

In this literature worksheet, students respond to 12 short answer and essay questions about Emerson's Essays. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.

Prepare your soon-to-be graduates to take the Writing Proficiency Examination given at Cal Poly. These slides cover everything from the various types of questions to writing thesis statements. This is more like an overview than a...

All the tools (and directions) you’ll need  to build an essay are included in a resource designed for learners and educators. The packet can be given to class members or divided into sections and used as part of a series of lesson...

Stop the regurgitation of history facts that your writers submit to you as a report by presenting this PowerPoint that reveals how history essays should be done. The presentation covers topics from pre-writing to endnotes, and...

After brainstorming, middle schoolers write an expository essay for a writing project. They focus on supporting points, organization, and writing conventions to develop a well-integrated paper. In addition, they revise, proofread and...

State reports can be a lot of fun, especially when the learners get to choose the state they study. This research and writing-focused social studies lesson engages learners in collecting information, essay structure, research, and...

"Romans, countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for my cause." "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!" As part of a study of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, individuals as asked to compare the funeral speeches of Brutus and...

Upper elementary and middle school writers learn how to craft an expository paragraph by following the six steps detailed in a 48-page instructional guide. Learners learn how to write six different types of informational paragraphs:...

After finishing a unit on Greek history, it's important to test how much learners remember. This handout provides six different essay topics related to Greek History, influences, Athenian Democracy, or Alexander the Great. A rubric is...

Bring art and society together with this highly creative and interesting lesson plan. Learners research various uses of masks in ceremonies. They then create a ceremony of their own and a mask to go along with it. They film themselves...

Your class will be discussing some hot topics today. This set of three essay questions covers multiple aspects of the conflict in the Middle East. They'll discuss the Iranian Hostage Crisis, define PLO (Palestine Liberation...

Take advantage of Banned Book Week to pique students' interest and get them reading! Create a classroom display of previously banned books and allow each member of your class to choose one to read. After they have read their book, get...