You will never forget that moment. Scholars read a model narrative and analyze the moment a character became visible again. They compare the narrative to Okubo in Unbroken. Readers also assess the narrative essay according to a rubric...

Paint me a picture. Scholars complete a painted essay after examining the author's note in The Boy Who Invented TV. Learners identify various parts of the essay by using different paint colors and then complete task cards, using...

Which is better—Chick-fil-A or MacDonalds? High schoolers learn how to craft an argument essay by beginning an opinion statement. They state a claim, back up their claim with evidence, and consider counter calms. Scholars then create a...

An 11-page packet includes three activities to engage pupils in reading Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth. To understand the historical context, class members research a list of topics related to Chinese history and culture. They then...

After reading on the topic of their paper, high schoolers work in pairs to assess how to write powerful, precise thesis statements. The introduction contains three statements: a universal statement, a bridge statement, and a thesis...

Stretch scholars' writing muscles with an assortment of narrative writing prompts set to the theme of, You won't believe what happened to me!

John Brown is considered by many to be a martyr for abolition and civil rights. The resource covers an important event in West Virginian history, the raid by John Brown, as a standalone that discusses Brown's last words and his reaction...

Are your pupils ready to move beyond a thesis statement by adding additional detail to their introductory paragraphs? Provide this handout to give your class some ideas for spiffing up their work. The page includes a sample paragraph...

Deepen understanding of Native American craftspeople through biography and research. For this essay project, learners sift through online biographies about Native Americans in Louisiana. After looking through the given resources,...

Intended for a mature, advanced placement audience, this set of questions accompanies an essay by Fatema Mernissi regarding clothing size and the possible implications for not fitting in with what is considered the norm. A very...

What is family? Challenge your scholars to write an encompassing definition of what this word means to them. After reading "It May Be a Family Matter, But Just Try to Define Family," class members discuss the emotional issues surrounding...

Science, engineering, and United States history? Pupils research collections of artifacts from the Smithsonian to learn about historical scientific innovations. At the end of the lesson plan, they write an essay to discuss...

Students become familiar with writing an essay in English. They are given an overview of basic essay writing styles. Students develop skills that are used when analyzing texts as the basis of their essays.

In this sports essay writing worksheet, students read the prompt about the obsession with sports in this country. Students write an essay about their feelings about sports, their favorite sports and athletes.

To be used in connection with a group project or at the end of a unit, this handout contains two essay writing prompts. The first prompt asks a group of learners to work together to evaluate their groups' performance as well as each...

Happy birthday! Celebrate everyone's birthday with this writing activity, which prompts seventh graders to research historical events in a country at the time of their birth to create an essay. Working in pairs, they proofread each...

Next time you assign your young historians to write a persuasive essay, use this document as a starting point and support them with a rubric, tips for writing a successful persuasive piece, and a general essay outline.

High school readers examine George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" for examples of symbolism, metaphor, connotation, and irony. They analyze how these literary tools convey the writer's main point and contribute to the persuasive...

This PowerPoint highlights the steps one should follow to craft an organized essay. It addresses the purpose, audience, and format, and briefly touches on prewriting and organizing. This presentation is designed to review the very basic...

Are your writers making the same mistakes over and over again? Instead of editing their papers, consider encouraging learners to use this sheet to classify their errors. This helps them identify and address common problem areas they...

Your class just completed a graphic organizer as a prewriting strategy, but how do they take what they've recorded on their sheet and turn it into a five-paragraph essay? Help your novice writers with this 23-slide PowerPoint. An example...

One activity, two essays, and one central theme: qualities of an argument essay. Here, scholars first describe the qualities of an argument essay regarding Bud's rules to live by from the novel Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis....

Young scholars write a persuasive essay that compares and contrasts a classic fairy tales with a fractured one. They use the writing process to complete and publish the essay.

How important are symbols and symbolic gestures in society? Middle schoolers have an opportunity to analyze the importance of symbols on American currency with a lesson that investigates the controversies surrounding redesigning the $5,...