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.

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....

Examine three speeches while teaching Aristotle's appeals. Over the course of three days, class members fill out a graphic organizer about ethos, pathos, and logos, complete an anticipatory guide, read speeches by Martin Luther King Jr.,...

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...

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...

An inaugural address represents the first moments of a new beginning. Using John F. Kennedy's speech as a model for guided practice, groups examine the ingredients of an inaugural address. Individuals then repeat the analysis...

Although Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X both work for equal rights, social change, and political empowerment, their approaches were radically different. To better understand these contrasts, class members compare King's "I...

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...

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...

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...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech provides the text for a activity that introduces scholars to the significance of syntax. After examining several types of clauses, phrases, and structures, class members use the...

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,...

After listening to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech, young historians research information about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, possible motives for the attack, and the consequences of the attack. Scholars...

Young historians examine Lyndon Johnson's vision for a rich, powerful, and upward society as detailed in this excerpt from his famous "Great Society" speech presented at the University of Michigan in 1964.

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...

Class members may "think themselves accurs'd" when they first hear of an assignment that asks them to create a motivational speech. After studying the Saint Crispin's Day speech from Shakespeare's Henry V; however, they will count...

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...

The AP Literature and Composition exam is all about close reading. Test takers are presented with a passage and asked to analyze how an author uses literary devices to create a desired effect. Prepare your students for the exam with a...

Mammals can be carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores, but what about locavores? A set of free-response questions from the 2011 AP® English Language and Composition exam introduces test-takers to the term, which describes people who try...

Students explore how to write and deliver a motivational speech by examining King Henry's in "Saint Crispin's Day".

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...

The second module in a series for high school seniors focuses on tracking the central idea of a text across genres and from multiple author and character perspectives. Twelfth graders read a speech by Benazir Bhutto entitled "Ideas Live...

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...

Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their eyes Were Watching God has been highly praised and severely criticized for its depiction of African American folk culture. A set of primary source materials, including photographs, articles, essays, and...