National Council for the Social Studies
Analyzing a Product or Political Advertisement
How do advertisements evoke specific thoughts and feelings? Class members find out through the exploration of the Internet, videos, television, magazines, radio, and posters. Learners investigate commercial advertisements, political...
K12 Reader
An Independent Nation
If your kids are curious about the American Revolution, help them understand more about its background with a reading passage and comprehension questions. Kids use context clues to answer each question, some of which require more...
Curated OER
Citizens For the New Zoo
Third graders complete Internet research to find information about an animal and its basic needs. They design a model of a zoo habitat that would accommodate their animal. They write a letter of recommendation to a Zoo board of directors...
Curated OER
Baseball Cards
Students read a short story on baseball cards and reflect on Honus Wagner's decision to withdraw his card. In this baseball cards lesson plan, students study how children used cards in the 1930's and express their understanding of Honus...
Curated OER
Write for Change
Students discuss and list injustices experienced in the novel "Hoot". They review the different ways letter writing was a part of the novel "Hoot". They choose one issue that is of concern to them and state their viewpoint on the issue....
Curated OER
The Human Body, Incorporated
Second graders research each body system and writer a letter t Joe, the CEO of the Human Bdy, Incorporated, who is downsizing. In their letter, 2nd graders tell him which body parts to keep as employees.
Curated OER
Jim Thorpe: The Greatest Athlete of the Century
Young scholars discuss what makes a sports legend. In this Jim Thorpe activity students analyze both the triumphs and tragedies of Jim Thorpe's sports career. Young scholars then write a letter persuading their representative to name Jim...
Curated OER
Pine Wood Derby Prompt
Eighth graders use Newton's Laws of Motion to assist a troop in making a winning car in the Pine Wood Derby.
Curated OER
Language Arts: The Three Appeals
Students are able to identify and describe the persuasive techniques used in editorial writing. They are able to label persuasive techniques with the logos, pathos, and ethos terminology.
Curated OER
The Game of Persuasion
Students study vocabulary words and explore persuasive speaking. In groups, they support a given argument and generate ideas for a a persuasive speech. They discuss powerful words and strategies for persuasion. Students write a...
Curated OER
Levittown, White Picket Paradise?
Learners study the origins and happenings of Levittown, Pennsylvania. In this Pennsylvania history lesson plan, students use primary and secondary sources to research the beginnings of Levittown, PA. As a culminating activity, learners...
Curated OER
The Breakfast Busters Persuade Others
Students write persuasive essays about their favorite breakfast cereal after seeing how advertisements are used to influence people.
Curated OER
Decision Making and Assertiveness
Fourth graders identify a problem and write a persuasive essay to the appropriate audience, to correct the problem. They demonstrate effective decision making based on positive self-worth. Students need to write a paragraph about their...
Curated OER
Introducing the Essay: Twain, Douglass, and American Non-Fiction
Students analyze American essayists Mark Twain and Frederick Douglass in an introduction to American literary non-fiction writing. For this essay history lesson, students identify methods for writing essays. Students read and analyze...
Curated OER
Summer Fun! Vacation Destination Postcards
Students design a postcard with a graph and text. They research their favorite vacation spot. Pupils write a friendly letter to their parents requesting to visit this vacation destination. Students use a Circle Map, to help fill in their...
Curated OER
Is Seeing Believing...Or Decieving
Seventh graders investigate media protrayal of railroad trespassing incidents. They write a legal action letter against one of the media companies.
Curated OER
Worksheet 9. Conversation Completions
In this conversation completion worksheet, students complete the conversations by writing the letter of the correct phrase in the blank in the sentences. There are 8 conversations to complete.
Curated OER
Temperance Alphabet
High schoolers research the Temperance Movement and create a persuasive project. In this Temperance/Prohibition Movement lesson, students research online and discuss the arguments for the movement. High schoolers read a pamphlet and...
Curated OER
It's Debatable!
Students examine the basic elements and vocabulary of debating. They research an issue and write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, and role-play a Parliamentary debate on a particular bill.
Curated OER
Saving Big Cats from Extinction
Students explore extinction. In this biology and environmental science lesson, students define extinction, identify what living things need to survive, and create a persuasive poster about "saving the big cats" using a desktop...
Curated OER
Immigration
Eighth graders examine the American immigration experience. In this immigration lesson, 8th graders watch a video about Ellis Island and discuss the processing that took place there. Students write letters in the voice of American...
Curated OER
What Would You Do?
Eleventh graders determine whether or not they would have dopped the atomic bomb. In this Truman presidency lesson, 11th graders research primary and secondary sources about the Manahattan Project and World War II. Students...
Curated OER
The Wyandotte Constitutional Convention: The Issue of Suffrage
Seventh graders discover details about the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention. In this Kansas history lesson, 7th graders tackle civil rights concerns as they draft persuasive speeches to secure the rights of young voters in the state.
US National Archives
Eastern Europe 1939-45 — Stalingrad
Acts of civilian courage in Great Britain—and in one case, the island of Malta—often receive the George Cross, instituted by King George VI at the beginning of World War II. After the valiant defense of Stalingrad by its inhabitants,...