EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 3, Lesson 5
A person doesn't have to be an adult to make a difference! Scholars examine a speech by a 16-year-old girl. They discuss her word use, answer guided questions, and complete a rhetorical tracking tool. Readers end their analyses by...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 21
Is there power in persuasion? After reading paragraphs six and seven of Booker T. Washington's "Atlanta Compromise" speech, learners look at how Washington uses rhetoric and carefully planned word choice to add to the persuasiveness of...
Literacy Design Collaborative
"The Gettysburg Address" Close Reading Module
It's time to think deep and narrow. Scholars focus close reading on one short text but task take their thinking to a deep level. Readers use a Rhetorical Analysis Chart to analyze The Gettysburg Address and determine how Lincoln used...
K20 LEARN
Say It with Style: Syntax and Parallel Structure
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech provides the text for a lesson that introduces scholars to the significance of syntax. After examining several types of clauses, phrases, and structures, class members use the...
K20 LEARN
LBJ and Voting Rights
Challenges to voting rights is not a new thing. Using President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 "The American Promise" speech on voting rights as a starting point, young historians research current voting rights laws and challenges.
Nemours KidsHealth
Peer Pressure: Grades 9-12
Peer pressure is not always negative. It can also inspire, encourage people to get involved, and help push change. Class members select a quotation from a provided list and craft a paragraph about the meaning of the statement, how it...
Albert Shanker Institute
Dream Under Development
As part of their study of the 1963 March on Washington, class members do a side-by-side comparison of the original text of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream Speech" with a transcript of the speech he delivered. The take away from the...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Advertisements Promoting Activism
Activism can create real change. Class members examine a series of photographs that represent a different form of activism. Individuals then craft a persuasive speech in which they argue why the photo they chose is the best example of...
Curated OER
In The Words of Abraham Lincoln...
Students explore the words of Abraham Lincoln. In this Abraham Lincoln lesson, students analyze segments of "The Gettysburg Address," his annual address to Congress in 1862, and his letter to Mrs. Bixby. Students conduct further research...
Curated OER
Eloquent Words
Logan’s Lament, a speech delivered by Mingo Chief Logan in 1774, provides pupils with an opportunity to not only study the historical events surrounding the battle between Native Americans and the Europeans for the West Virginia...
Curated OER
Persuasion and Political Debate by PBS
Students examine rhetorical strategies. In this political debate instructional activity, students research issues of presidential campaigns and deliver persuasive speeches about the issues they research. Students then participate in...
Curated OER
Evaluating Oral Presentation
Sixth graders examine the use of rhetorical devices in oral presentations. In this rhetorical device lesson, 6th graders watch a newscast of a major TV news personality to observe how speech patterns and rhythms are used effectively....
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 19
Scholars look at paragraphs two and three in the "Atlanta Compromise" speech. They analyze how Washington uses a story about a ship lost at sea and rhetorical devices to develop his point of view. After class discussion and completing...
EngageNY
Synthesizing Chávez’s Central Claim
Class members play an interactive game, matching strips of paper containing rhetorical devices with examples from César Chávez use rhetoric in his 1984 speech, "Address to the Commonwealth Club of California." Next, partners discuss...
Curated OER
Langston Hughes Was a Dreamer Too
Encourage your pupils to imagine their own dreams for the future. After studying three poems by Langston Hughes and listening to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, young poets craft their own dream stanza.
Curated OER
Putting it Together: Analyzing and Producing Persuasive Text
Young orators demonstrate what they have learned about persuasion and persuasive devices throughout the unit by analyzing a persuasive speech and then crafting their persuasive essays. Class members engage in a role-play exercise, use...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 3, Lesson 4
It is, and it is not. Scholars examine how these words impact Eleanor Roosevelt's speech, in which she tries to persuade the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Readers note rhetoric and figurative language. They then...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 4
How does style contribute to the power and persuasiveness of a speech? With the question in mind, scholars continue reading "An Address by Elizabeth Cady Stanton." They complete a Rhetorical Impact Tracking Tool to guide them in their...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 26
Add all of the pieces to complete the puzzle. Scholars apply their knowledge from the past 25 lessons to an end-of-unit writing assignment. Pupils write multi-paragraph essays comparing the author's point of view and use of rhetoric in...
K20 LEARN
The Power of Poetry: Perspectives in Poetry
What do Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Amanda Gordon have in common? They all believe in the power of words—the power of words to create change. After analyzing the rhetorical strategies in several poems and speeches,...
National Woman's History Museum
The Power of Words and Activism: Susan B. Anthony
Where have all the activists gone? Class members compare 21st-century activism with the suffrage movement and the work of Susan B. Anthony. They begin by examining Anthony's biography and speeches to find evidence that her words and...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 22
Say precisely what you mean. Scholars analyze the importance of Washington's precise language in paragraphs eight and nine of the "Atlanta Compromise" speech. They interpret his figurative language and add it to their Idea Tracking...
K20 LEARN
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Emotions: Julius Caesar
Scholars, high schoolers, class members! With the help of this lesson, you too can identify the three persuasive appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos) the characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar used to convince...
Curated OER
Persuasive Writing and Speaking
Rhetorical appeals (pathos, logos, and ethos) are the focus of a series of exercises that asks class members to brainstorm topics for persuasive speeches, groups to craft a persuasive speech about one of the topics, and individuals to...