Georgetown University
Georgetown University: News Values
Learn the essential elements of every good news story from Gerald Lanson and Mitchell Stephens, authors of Writing and Reporting The News, who emphasize eleven judgments that journalism students should make when evaluating newsworthiness.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Introducing the Essay: Twain, Douglass and American Non Fiction
This lesson plan serves as an introduction to American literary non-fiction writing and focuses primarily on teaching some basic approaches to recognizing rhetorical strategies adopted for persuasive effect in essays and non-fiction. The...
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Teaching Students to Compose a Power Essay [Pdf]
The Power Essay, like the power paragraph, focuses on helping students understand the structure of a piece of expository writing. The "power" concept teaches students to organize their ideas according to levels of specificity and to...
Harold D. Underdown
Derailed by Details
A helpful site for writers which gives the proper perspective in assessing the detail involved in your writing. Provides examples of how to include exciting, relevant details when writing fiction.
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Boundless Communications: Introduction
In this section of a textbook, students learn different techniques for writing an introduction. It provides links to information on the following topics: the role of an introduction, getting attention and interest, establishing...
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Boundless Communications: Conclusion
In this section of a textbook, students learn how to develop and facilitate an effective closing to a speech. It includes links to the following topics: the role of a conclusion, summarizing ideas, and signaling the end of the speech and...
E Reading Worksheets
E Reading Worksheets: Persuasive Essay Worksheets
A collection of assignments related to persuasive writing are provided on this site. Scaffolded assignments related to writing an effective introduction and identifying both sides of an issue are included. Exemplar persuasive essays with...
E Reading Worksheets
E Reading Worksheets: Writing Persuasive Essays
Persuasive writing is the topic of this article. Students will learn the parts of the persuasive essay and how to write an effective persuasive essay.
Cambridge Rindge & Latin School
Cambridge Rindge & Latin School: Focusing a Research Topic
This clear and easy to understand explanation of how to focus your topic for effective research will be helpful to many. There are plenty of examples, and two alternate methods are offered as well.
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Teaching History: Teaching Guides: Stating Your Case: Writing Thesis Statements
Lesson plan on writing thesis statements specifically addresses writing essays on historical subjects and themes, particularly essays written in response to document-based questions (DBQs). Walks students through identifying clear thesis...
University of Sydney (Australia)
The Write Site: Constructing a Working Thesis
Students will find a thorough definition of a thesis. Non-examples of thesis statements are also provided.
Other
Persuasive/argumentative Essay vs. Opinion Writing
This lesson plan teaches students that writing a persuasive or argumentative essay for class is the same as writing an opinion article for their local newspaper. The lesson plan includes showing students examples of opinion writings and...
Other
Speaking Effectively: Beginning and Ending the Talk
Prepare each part of your speech or presentation according to these guidelines. This page walks you through several different kinds of speeches.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Persuasion Rubric
A printable four-point rubric to use when assessing a persuasive piece with a focus on organization, a goal or thesis, reasons/support, audience, word choice, visuals/delivery, and grammar/usage/mechanics. Directions on how to use this...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Modeling Academic Writing
Young scholars prepare an already published scholarly article for presentation, with an emphasis on identification of the author's thesis and argument structure.
New Zealand Ministry of Education
Nz Ministry of Education: As Far as the Eye Can See
View a variety of television advertisements analyzing visual and verbal features and how these are combined to communicate ideas. Write a coherent essay which expresses and argues a viewpoint about a chosen marketing strategy, linking...
City University of New York
College of Staten Island Library: How to Write an Essay
Resource defines what an essay is, the parts of an essay and their functions, and also discusses the editing process and how important it is to check a draft for completeness and high quality. Includes a link to an online guide to citing...
Other
Odessa College: Three Part Format: Definition
This interesting site provides information about definition essays with example formats and a model essay.
Other
News Lab: Elements of Great Storytelling
This is a great site for broadcast journalists; it focuses on the elements that make a story great. You can find tips on writing from some of the top people in the industry.
Other
Grays Harbor College: Writing Essays: Four Tips
This resource explores four tips for writers: "Center Your Thinking," "Organize Your Thinking," "Specify Your Thoughts," and "Present Your Thoughts Clearly." The information is presented in an easy-to-follow outline with examples given...
University of Victoria (Canada)
The U Vic Writer's Guide: Writing Essays: The Statement of Your Thesis
Brief explanation of the thesis statement, followed by examples of faulty and improved thesis statements.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Holt, Rinehart and Winston: Writer's Model: Persuasive Paper
Click on the Print Version to see the four-page essay that provides an example of a Persuasive Paper. Clicking on the "Writer's Guide" link in the upper right-hand corner of the page enables the user to get tips, directions, and...
Tom Richey
Tom richey.net: Historical Writing: Writing Resources for Students
Resources for helping students to write historical essays. Includes a movie trailer to demonstrate the traits of a good introduction, tips for writing a paragraph, tips for formal writing, and guidelines for citing sources.