Anti-Defamation League
Sexism and the Presidential Election
Young historians investigate how sexism impacted the 2020 United States presidential election. They examine media coverage of the six women candidates, engage in a four-corners debate reacting to statements about gender and the...
Alabama Learning Exchange
The Big Bang Theory: An Evidence-Based Argument
What evidence supports the big bang theory? Individuals analyze scholarly resources about the the theory and develop arguments backed by evidence. They brainstorm, share ideas, watch a video, and read articles to complete a graphic...
EngageNY
Pitching Your Claim with Best Evidence
Does Bud use his rules to survive or thrive? That is the driving question of a lesson plan following the reading of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. In an argument essay prewriting activity, pupils use textual evidence to...
EngageNY
Selecting Evidence to Logically Support Claims
It's time to make a rule sandwich! After exploring the writing assignment's rubric and analyzing a model essay, learners are guided through the prewriting phase using the sandwich technique. Pupils create their sandwich addressing the...
Fluence Learning
Writing an Opinion Requiring Voting
Challenge writers to compose an essay detailing their stance on, and the history of, voting. Three assignments, each broken down into three parts, requires fifth graders to take notes, read and complete charts, write paragraphs, compare...
Curated OER
Unit 2: Post-Revolution: The Critical Period 1781-1878
The post-Revolutionary Period of 1781-1787, also known as the Critical Period, is the focus of a series of lessons that prompt class members to examine primary source documents that reveal the instability of the period of the...
Curated OER
American Dream and The Great Gatsby
Is the American Dream alive and well or has it dried up and died? As part of a study of The Great Gatsby, class members search for articles on the state of the American Dream, analyze the arguments presented in those articles, and then...
Fluence Learning
Writing an Argument: Is Electronic Communication Helpful or Harmful?
Technology has undoubtedly improved the lives of people around the world—but has it improved communication? Seventh graders read two informative passages about the rise of texting and emailing versus in-person conversations before...
Louisiana Department of Education
Fahrenheit 451
In his 2013 introduction to Fahrenheit 451, Neil Gaiman states, “Fiction is a lie that tells us true things, over and over.” In this extraordinary unit plan, readers "explore the power of written language to educate and...
Mikva Challenge
Political Forum Viewing Guide
Is there a way to determine a winner of a political debate? Use a helpful rubric to evaluate the issues, specificity, evidence, reasoning, and delivery of candidates in a debate. After assessing each person's performance, high schoolers...
Curated OER
The Music and Message of Lauryn Hill
Students explore the music of artist Lauryn Hill and analyze the way she uses her music in a socially responsible manner. In this music artist lesson, students read the lyrics to Hill's songs and listen to some example songs. Students...
McGraw Hill
Writing Prompts, Student Rubrics, and Sample Responses
Whether you are teaching mainstream, advanced, or intervention language arts classes, you will find something helpful in a thorough writing packet. It includes prompts, rubrics, responses, helpful hints, graphic organizers, and many...
Curated OER
Individuality vs. Conformity
Spark an animated debate in your class! Young adults consider some of the fads or trends that are prevalent at their school, as well as their own level of participation in them. Just how much of a role does popular culture play in their...
Carolina K-12
The Results are In! Examining Our First Vote Election
The 2016 election is over, and now it's time to dig in to some data! An activity revolves around data gathered from the First Vote Project in North Carolina wherein thousands of students voted. After diving in to the data using...
Curated OER
I Heard the Owl Call My Name
Tenth graders read I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven. They share interpretations and conclusions in either oral or written form. They deliver a speech that conveys information using clear and concise language.
Curated OER
Using Primary Sources to Discover Reconstruction
Fifth graders discover how reconstruction had an impact on racial issues in the United States. In this Reconstruction lesson, 5th graders are introduced to primary vs. secondary resources and then rotate through stations to view...
Louisiana Department of Education
Louisiana Doe: Louisiana Believes: English Language Arts, Grade 9: Fahrenheit 451
Students explore the power of written language to educate and influence others. They read various argumentative essays and engage in virtual collaboration to develop their own arguments. They also research a self-generated question...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: 8th Grade Argumentative Writing Unit: Improving Society
Complete teaching unit for 8th Grade Argumentative Writing Unit: "Improving Society." Students will read six texts about problems in society. Throughout the unit, 8th graders will gather information from their readings in a graphic...
Other
Critical Thinking Community: Remodeling Lessons Grades 6 9
Learn to re-model your lesson plans to include room for critical thought and higher levels of learning. Re-modeled lessons cite specific critical thinking strategies. Wonderful examples include "Human Migration," "Integrated Grammar,"...
TES Global
Blendspace: Opinion/persuasive Writing 3rd Grade
A collection of resources that includes videos, images, activities, and graphic organizers to use while learning to write opinion and persuasive pieces.
Quizlet
Quizlet: Flashcards 8th Grade Evidence/inference
This set of interactive flashcards focuses on terms having to do with evidence and inference-related definitions. These terms include the following: evidence, analysis, inferences, explicit, and imply.
Read Works
Read Works: Fat and Fed Up
[Free Registration/Login Required] This passage contains arguments about the problem of obesity in America. This passage is a stand-alone curricular piece that reinforces essential reading skills and strategies and establishes...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Life Isn't Fair Deal With It" by Mike Myatt
A learning module that begins with "Life Isn't Fair-- Deal With It" by Mike Myatt, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free...