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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Editor Travels U.S. Fixing Errors on Signs

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
An interesting article on editors helps young writers understand the conventions of written English. They read a news article about an editor traveling America correcting spelling and punctuation errors on signs.  They discuss proper...
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Unit Plan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Voices of the Revolution: Challenge Activities (Theme 3)

For Teachers 5th Standards
Paul Revere, Mercy Otis Warren, James Forten, Henry Knox. The voices of the American Revolution come alive in this enrichment packet designed to challenge learners who have mastered the basic concepts in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Imperialism in China

For Teachers 10th - 12th
If you are completing a unit on the European impact on China, this short lesson may be useful. It requires an excerpt from Chinese Civilization: A sourcebook, by Ebrey, that gives Liang Qichaos's account of his visit to America. After...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bird Interdisciplinary Possibilities

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students explore birds, their territory, breeding, and seasonal movement. They research and collect information on birds through writing letters to ornithologists, reading in books, comparing web sites, and observing pictures. Students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Modern Day Pen Pals, Connecting Our Art Room to the Rest of the World!

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Initiate an international pen pal program! After establishing communication with an art class in another country, groups share pod casts and video streams of their work. The scripted resource details how to prepare for the pod casts, but...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cat Study Article

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students write a letter to the editor of USA Today. For this letter writing lesson plan, students read a newspaper article about cats and consider a dog or cat's view on current events. Students reflect this perspective in their letters.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Editorials

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students investigate editorials.  In this literacy critical thinking lesson, students compare and contrast two newspaper editorials and two letters to the editor by completing a Venn diagram. Students work in groups to write authentic...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creative Writing

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders write a persuasive letter to the editor using the writing process.
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Lesson Plan
Southern Poverty Law Center

Evaluating Online Sources

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
All sources are pretty much the same, right? If this is how your class views the sources they use for writing or research projects, present them with a media literacy lesson on smart source evaluation. Groups examine several articles,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Letter of Complaint

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students write letters of complaint. In this written communication lesson, students use the active voice to compose letters of complaint to selected audiences. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Express Yourself

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students share opinions about the way students behave. They write letters to the editor responding to an article.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Block the Shock Jock or Not?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine their own experiences with racist and sexist speech by deciding whether or not they agree or disagree with statements related to this subject. They explore the limits of public speech by reading about the controversy...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Southerner’s Reaction to the Republicans

For Teachers 8th - 12th
In this Civil War worksheet, learners write a letter to the editor of a local Southern newspaper in 1960. The letter should feature Republican platform statements regarding the issue of secession.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Elizabeth Fry

For Teachers 4th - 6th
After youngsters learn about the life and work of Elizabeth Fry, they pretend that they are a child in the Newgate Prison. They write a thank you letter to Elizabeth Fry thanking her for making their lives better while in the prison....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Safe and Secure: More or Less?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students discuss what they believe to be the state of security of the nation since September 11, 2001. Reading articles on security, they gather insight into new reports on security. They write letters to major newspapers expressing...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Scooting Away from Justice?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine President Bush's July 2007, decision to commute the 30-month sentence of former White House official, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby by reading a New York Times article. They scan editorial sources on various sides of the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Swift Response

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine how matters of national security affect the press' ability to practice free speech. They read and discuss an article regarding the Swift program, discuss opinions about patriotism and the press, and write a letter to the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trading Up?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the benefits and drawbacks of free trade from the perspective of the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Mexico. For homework, they each write a letter to the editor expressing their personal...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Writing Process

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students engage in the various steps involved in the writing process. The lesson plan is written as a guide for the teacher to write more in depth lesson plans for specific activities. This is a good model plan to follow.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Problems with our Food System: Hunger

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students understand that hunger causes many deaths a year and many children are trapped as slaves through watching a video. In this hunger and child slavery lesson, students write letters to call attention to the problems of hunger and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing Business Letters of Request

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders model proper format and elements of business letters. They review effective writing styles and write a request letter. Students also read a short story that includes conflict irony and symbolism They create a chart...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Basic Letter Response to a Writing Prompt

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students respond to a writing prompt using appropriate letter format. For this letter writing lesson, students discuss the format for letter writing and use the worksheet format to write the heading, inside address, and salutation....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

History: I'm Watching You 24/7

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students examine the growth of authoritarian societies. Focusing on North Korea, they watch video clips looking for examples of totalitarianism and identify the problems there. They write letters to the editors of local newspapers...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Current Issues/Lesson Plan 1: What Matters To You

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students examine the process of the Canadian parliamentary system. They identify current events, read newspaper articles, and write letters to the Editor and Editorial section.