Curated OER
Goal: Ending Child Labor
For this ending child labor worksheet, 4th graders read, evaluate and analyze an article on ending child labor and answer seven comprehension questions associated with the article. Students either write a letter to a company trying to...
Curated OER
Whose Side Are You On?
Students role play, persuading and staying neutral during arguments. In this viewpoint lesson, students examine the viewpoints of soldiers in the Spanish-American War and role play. After a discussion, some students try to persuade the...
Curated OER
Designing the New Silver Dollar
Students create a design for a silver dollar based on a historical figure. In this historical lesson, students choose a person who impacted history to memorialize in a custom designed silver dollar. In addition, students will create a...
Curated OER
Essay Writing
Teachers can involve their students in activities that expose them to a variety of essay styles.
Curated OER
Analytical Essay
What is an analytical essay? Introduce this type of thinking to your young writers. First, discuss what it means to analyze something. Then, identify the different components of an essay and what details are embedded in each component....
Teach-nology
Author’s Purpose: Persuade
Explore author's purpose with an activity about persuasive arguments. After reading a short passage about Spain, learners identify three main passages that the author uses to persuade the reader.
Curated OER
Favorite Activity
Students write persuasive essays about favorite activities. They present on a topic of personal interest or one that has been studied in another subject area. They write a composition of a favorite activity, describing the activity and...
Curated OER
Effective Letter Writing
Learners explore letter writing. For this persuasive writing lesson, students write a letter to a local organization based on a topic of their choice. Learners employ the correct letter writing procedure as outlined in the checklist...
Curated OER
Examine Persuasive Elements by Reading, Analyzing, and Discussing Persuasive Text
Students identify persuasive strategies and analyze arguments. In this persuasive writing lesson, students read "Chief Red Jacket's Reply" and "Reverend Cram's Speech to the Iroquois Nation" and chart major elements of each argument....
Curated OER
Writing an Academic Argument on the House of Lords
Students debate the main roles of the House of Lords and argue whether or not it is necessary. Teams debate the pros and cons of the House of Lords then take a class vote on which side argues it case most persuasively. Using the...
Curated OER
Double V Campaign: Victory at Home and Victory Abroad
Students write a persuasive essay as if they were an African American in World War II and decide if they would contribute war bonds or not. In this World War II lesson plan, students study the segregation of World War II and the unity...
Curated OER
Putting it Together: Analyzing and Producing Persuasive Text
Young orators demonstrate what they have learned about persuasion and persuasive devices throughout the unit by analyzing a persuasive speech and then crafting their persuasive essays. Class members engage in a role-play exercise, use...
Teaching Tolerance
Persuasive Letters
Sharpen persuasive writing skills while trying to solve a community problem. Learners choose a burning topic and then write letters to persuade others to come around to their views. The provided procedures walk through how to guide the...
E Reading Worksheets
Boxes and Bullets: Persuasive Outline
Strong persuasive essays are the result of careful planning. Give your writers a leg up on the planning process with a graphic organizer that models the format and asks them to provide their thesis, main points, evidence they will use,...
Curated OER
Refugees at Center Stage
What is an advocate? Help high schoolers understand the issues forcing refugees to leave their home country. After gaining some information on the subject, high schoolers create a dynamic presentation and persuasive essay encouraging...
K20 LEARN
Ethos, Logos, Pathos: Persuading Your Audience
Ethics, emotion, reason—scholars investigate advertisers' persuasive techniques to attract buyers. After examining the techniques used in infomercials, writers craft a persuasive essay on a topic of their choice.
College Board
AP® English Language and Composition Special Focus: Writing Persuasively
It's not always easy to persuade others. However, it may even be harder to teach others how to be persuasive. Educators get personal insight from Brent Staples, an influential commentator, as well as gain ideas and activities on teaching...
ReadWriteThink
The Chinese New Year Starts Today
As part of a celebration of Chinese New Year, class members research the Chinese zodiac and examine the description of the personality attributes associated with the animal of their birth year. Individuals then craft a persuasive essay...
Museum of Tolerance
Immigration Journeys
Through the journey of four stories of immigration, scholars complete graphic organizers and apply knowledge to create a visual representation of their findings on a large poster. Third and fourth readers write a letter to their family...
Curated OER
Student Opinion: How Far Would You Go for Fashion?
Is being uncomfortable worth it if you look good? Inspire discussion about fashion and culture with a brief New York Times article about painful fashion. Whether used as a persuasive essay prompt or as a discussion starter, class members...
Curated OER
A Goldfish is the Best Pet
Provide your class with a list of possible topics (three are included here, but they're not exactly gripping), and polish their persuasive writing skills. This plan really emphasizes the prewriting process, and several graphic organizers...
Museum of Tolerance
The Role of Citizens in a Participatory Democracy
Groups research participatory democracies and compare the role and rights of citizens in ancient history with those in recent U.S. history. Guided by a series of questions, individuals compose a persuasive essay in which they discuss the...
Curated OER
The Outsiders Debate Project
Eighth graders read the book The Outsiders for understanding. They develop arguments, with support, for six assigned debate points. They write a position paper based on six debate points. The dress up as a character in the book and...
Media Smarts
Violence and Video Games
Widespread video gaming makes this content relevant and high interest. Developing youth awareness about the impact of violence in games is important to promote literacy, critical thinking, health, and consumer awareness. After reading...