Bring up the Deepwater Horizon (BP) oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Display the colorful diagram of the coastal and marine organisms living in the area. Show a video about relocating the eggs of the Gulf's sea...

Students take notes and write an essay on a video they watch about flowering plants. In this flowering plants lesson plan, students take their notes and organize them in order to write an appropriate essay about the topic.

Students read a first hand account of John F. Kennedy's assassination. They write an essay describing how a world or national event affected them.

To conclude the study of the play, William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope, class members craft an in-class essay comparing Doescher's adaptation to George Lucas's film, Star Wars: A New Hope.

Prepare your class for the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) or any other upcoming writing test (such as the SAT) with this presentation. Complete with instructions on the composition and rubric of the test, as well as sample...

After viewing two documentaries about the history of the Channel islands, individuals craft an essay in which they compare the lives of Juana Maria, the Lone Woman San Nicolar Island, to Lester Holt and his family featured in the...

The Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote—as long as they were white. High schoolers read articles and essays about racism in the suffrage movement and consider how intersectionality played a role in the movement. Scholars...

Sometimes the conclusion of an essay can be the most important part. Whether your writers are ending with a proposition, lesson learned, or persuasive argument, teach them how to "end with a bang" with this helpful PowerPoint! This...

Turn your passive readers into active readers with an engaging lesson on reading informational text. Focused on compare and contrast structured essays, the activity prompts elementary learners to jot down questions and think-aloud...

Included here are three short study questions and five essay topics for the novel For Whom The Bell Tolls. Consider using these in an upcoming final assessment, but also remember that many high schoolers use SparkNotes to prepare for...

Use an online interactive literature instructional activity to test comprehension and critical understanding of the book, Homecoming. Learners respond to eight short answer and essay questions about Cynthia Voigt's novel. Answers to...

SparkNotes is popular for a reason! It provides tons of information, and even for teachers, there is useful information on this website. Respond to eight short answer and essay questions about Philip Pullman's trilogy of His Dark...

Here is a handout that outlines six great steps to structuring an argumentative essay, which can be continually referenced as you teach your class about persuasive writing.

Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...

It is not what you say but how you say it. Class members prepare for writing their A Long Walk to Water essays by analyzing row four in the writing rubric. Learners discuss the words used and talk about the importance of correct grammar...

Narrative essay writing is the focus of a series of exercises that model for learners how to not only read a narrative, but how to also examine the techniques fiction writers use to create a setting, develop their characters, represent...

Conclude your unit on Peter and the Starcatchers with an involved final writing project that requires learners to write persuasive pieces, compose short stories, create brochures about the setting of the novel, and choose from a...

High schoolers analyze mood and voice in Emily Dickinson's poem, "There's a Certain Slant of Light." After the analysis, students write a poem of their own emulating the Dickinson poem, and then write a one-page essay describing what...

Looking for a good presentation which addresses persuasive writing? Then, this one's for you! Learners are given all sorts of good tips on how to construct a well-written persuasive essay, or an essay where they are stating an opinion on...

Open-ended and intriguing, a writing prompt about two people from history is sure to get your young scholars thinking. Have them choose two historical figures, and after brainstorming their similarities and differences, successes and...

Find out if your class agrees with Ice Age: Continental Drift ... or if it's just a fun family movie! Class members research the theory of continental drift, examine evidence of plate tectonics, connect...

Human prehistory is an exciting topic for many learners! Engage your social studies class in critical thinking by having them answer the three short essay questions on this worksheet. They need to know why prehistoric people migrate, how...

Introduce your class to various forms of writing. As the title states, this is a short PowerPoint, giving brief, but accurate descriptions of what each type of writing is used for. Pictorial representations are also helpful.

Class members use an expository essay worksheet to review a peer’s paper. The focus here is on the thesis statement.