Business Writing Lesson Plan: Common Misused Words

"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...

Responding to a question on the Machiavellian principle of a ruler's need for power and ruthlessness, young historians are given writing tips and a framework for constructing a well-developed essay in 25 minutes. The given structure of...

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...

Many Americans can identify Thomas Paine and his seminal work, Common Sense. Yet, only six people showed up at his funeral. Using video resources, class members study both the document and the outcomes of his inflammatory words. Clips...

“Who’s This Guy Dylan Who’s Borrowing Lines From Henry Timrod?” The basic question in this activity from the New York Time’s Learning Network is whether artists and authors who use the words of others are stealing from that artist or...

The options are vast with this Ancient Greece and Olympics research project! Using Scholastic online resources, historians have interactive and educational supports to guide them through researching and writing about the 2004 Olympics in...

What's good for all of us is good for each of us. The Tragedy of the Commons refers to a situation in which one person's decision to act in his or her own best interest negatively affects the rest of the population—and ultimately, him or...

Some words are best left unspoken.  Words matter, according to Benjamin Zander, conductor, teacher, and lecturer. To illustrate his point, Zander recounts a story told to him by a survivor of Auschwitz. As a result of her experience this...

The words of "Common Sense" and Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech ring throughout history. Scholars explore the nuances of each patriot's argument using excerpts from the famous pamphlet and speech and a recorded...

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...