Aurora City School District
Do Not Try to Kid a Kidder: The Art of Persuasion
The power to convince others of your argument lies in your knowledge of rhetoric! A thorough packet covers the basics of persuasion, including logical appeals and fallacies, and applies strategies to letters to the editor,...
Curated OER
Analyzing a Writer's Stance
Should college admissions decisions be based on whether whose family members attended? Secondary students read and respond to a New York Times article on the issue of 'legacy preferences' in college admissions. Following class...
Curated OER
Academic Language
College-level writers learn the importance of using academic language in their papers and essays. Assessing the audience is an important aspect of choosing the language with which one writes. Review these 10 slides to make sure each...
Curated OER
Collective Poetry: Teaching Tolerance
Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...
Curated OER
The Search for Shangri-La
What is your idea of paradise? Middle and high schoolers share their visions of paradise on earth in this lesson, in which they view a video segment about Shangri-La. Your high schoolers can discuss and then write about their ideas in a...
Curated OER
Summer Bridge Activities
Youngsters start by writing a story about going to outer space. They then solve math word problems, match words to their correct meaning by using a dictionary, solve multiplication and division problems, and add the correct prefixes and...
Curated OER
Do Presidential Candidates Need to Be Good Debaters?
Blogs can be a good way for learners to engage in writing, critical thinking, and social media in a formal way. The New York Times has provided learners age 13-18 with an article, background information, and several prompts to get them...
Curated OER
Fluffy's Valentine Day
In these reading comprehension worksheets, students will read "Fluffy's Valentine Day" and work towards vocabulary development and story recall. Students unscramble 15 vocabulary words followed by a word search, a 12 sentence completion...
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A Matter of Accountability
Pupils conduct a mock trial focusing on environmental accountability of industrialized nations. As an example, they evaluate evidence provided on carbon dioxide emissions. They participate in a mock trial of industrialized nations by the...
Curated OER
The Jacket: Journal Templates Teacher's Guide
Explore this story involving prejudice and racism to enhance learners' comprehension skills. The story The Jacket by Andrew Clements involves an African American boy who is falsely accused of stealing someone's jacket. This teacher's...
National History Day
Heroes Who Made a Difference: Memorializing a Distinguished Service Cross Award Recipient
Ever wonder how to memorialize World War I heroes in the classroom? Activities in a high-quality social studies resource prompt middle schoolers to research Internet sources, complete a graphic organizer, and write an editorial feature...
Scholastic
A Reading Guide to Sarah, Plain and Tall
Eliminate the hard work of creating an entire literature unit with this reading guide for the novel Sarah, Plain and Tall. From background information about the author and her motivation for writing the story to...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Unit 2: The Middle Ages
Over four weeks, fourth graders read and discuss texts about the Middle Ages. They practice vocabulary, spelling, and grammar, such as nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Writing opportunities allow learners to boost their note-taking skills...
Curated OER
Hoot: Anticipation Guide
Should companies be able to build wherever they want? Are animals worth protecting? Explore the literary themes from Carl Hiaasen's Hoot with an anticipation guide. Kids read ten statements and decide if they agree or disagree, then...
Curated OER
Our Opinions
In this opinion survey worksheet, middle schoolers will work in groups of four to complete a survey of each group member's opinion on 20 topics.
Curated OER
Class Opinions on Renewable Energy
In this renewable energy worksheet, students put an X on their opinion on the energy source that will help the Earth's problems. Students have 5 energy sources to choose from and then complete math problems based on the results.
Curated OER
Writing About Art: Objective vs. Subjective
Students examine the sculpture "Head With Horns" by Paul Gauguin. In this perspectives lesson, students discuss what the terms "objective" and "subjective" means. Students are shown the sculpture and write their subjective and objective...
Syracuse City School District
Reading Comprehension Unit Plan
A unit plan uses short texts to teach literary elements such as theme and characterization. Included are passages by authors such as Walter Dean Myers and Sandra Cisneros. Activities include quick writes, filling in graphic organizers,...
Curated OER
Activity 5: Creative Writing/Expression About Child Labor
Middle schoolers research child labor using Internet resources. They present the information in a creative writing piece and post it on Chalkboard.
Curated OER
Writing My Own Story
In this writing my own story learning exercise, 2nd graders follow ten fact and opinion writing prompts to write a simple story about themselves.
Curated OER
What Do You Think About . . .?
In this recognizing opinions learning exercise, students write sentences giving opinions, asking for opinions, agreeing, and disagreeing. Students write fifteen sentences.
Curated OER
Inquiring Minds: News and Philanthropy
Learners study newspaper articles and rewrite events from literature into news stories about kindness. In this news article instructional activity, students read sentences from newspaper articles and identify the purpose of the article....
Curated OER
Is That a Fact?
Students write examples of facts and opinions on the board. In groups, they develop their own definitions for facts and opinions and share with the class. In new groups, they complete a worksheet in which they place statements into the...
Curated OER
CHRISTMAS FILM REVIEW
Students write reviews of films they have seen over the Christmas holidays. They study what the ingredients of a film review are, and examine the difference between fact and opinion.