K20 LEARN
Writing An Argumentative Paragraph: Argumentative Writing
Learning how to craft a cogent argument based on a solid claim, supported with evidence and solid reasoning, is an important life skill. Teach middle schoolers about argumentative writing with a lesson asking them to analyze the claims,...
K20 LEARN
The New Colossus: Determining Author's Perspective
Introduce young scholars to the concept of the author's perspective with a lesson that uses Emma Lazarus's poem, "The New Colossus," as the anchor text. Groups use a T-chart to identify words that reveal the author's point of view of The...
National Council of Teachers of English
Writing Acrostic Poems with Thematically Related Texts in the Content Areas
Scholars scour thematically aligned texts to gather a bank of words they can use in an original acrostic poem.
Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: Political Parties
To demonstrate their ability to craft an analysis of informational text, class members read excerpts from James Madison's "The Federalist No. 10," from George Washington's Farewell Address, and from Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural...
Curated OER
Borrowing Narrative Skills from Mr. Fletcher: Using a "Prompts in Reverse" Technique to Inspire Your Writers
Help your class find their writing voices with this instructional activity which uses the work of Ralph Fletcher to guide a "Prompt in Reverse" activity. Using the chapter "First Pen" from Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams, learners decipher...
Curated OER
Details, Details, Details
Writing can become one-dimensional if authors don't involve all their senses. First, scholars observe a strange object which, ideally, they can touch and even smell. Without using certain words (you can create a list or have the class...
Curated OER
Family Life
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...
Curated OER
Creative Writing: Haiku
Haikus by Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki are used as models for a brief lecture on the importance of poetry in Japan's history and the structure of this poetic form. Students then go on a nature walk, record impressions, and return to the...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 4: Unit 2, Lesson 8
Shakespeare's Macbeth has something for everyone. Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment. They craft multi-paragraph essays to analyze how the author's structural choices create tension and suspense in the play's first two acts.
Reed Novel Studies
Lion: A Long Way Home: Novel Study
Home is where the heart is. Saroo, a main character in Lion: A Long Way Home, desperately wants to be home. However, he is lost in a train station and has no way to contact family or get back to his home. Scholars learn new vocabulary,...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 5
How do learners use textual evidence from a close reading to write a well-developed essay? Scholars try it by completing a mid-unit assessment based on their analysis of the first 15 paragraphs from "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia...
New York State Education Department
English Language Arts Examination: August 2014
Tired of searching for complex passages suitable for high school level assessments? A challenging examination includes numerous complex text excerpts as well as question items to match them. Learners analyze literary elements, author's...
College Board
2003 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions
How does perspective change a person's view? Scholars view different perspectives as they compare the styles of two different authors describing a flock of birds. Writers also create essays in response to entertainment ruining society...
College Board
2005 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B
Communication is the key. Prompts from the 2005 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B allows scholars two opportunities to analyze the use of communication to express thoughts. First, pupils look at...
Santa Ana Unified School District
Getting to the Core: Early American Poets
How do poets convey emotion and represent their views of life? Pupils learn more about Whitman and Dickinson through the unit and analyze their bold reinvention of craft and style for poets to come. Looking at classic pieces such as...
Teacher's Corner
Tanka
The Tanka, another fix from of Japanese poetry, is featured in the final exercise in a 10-part series of poetry writing activities.
Curated OER
Pourquoi Tales
Lead a web search for information on writers and discuss the craft of purposeful writing as a class. Your students investigate "pourquoi tales" which are "why" stories. and then write their own examples of pourquoi stories to share in a...
Curated OER
Picturing America: Images and Words of Hope from Romare Bearden and Langston Hughes
A carefully crafted three-day lesson plan integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The lesson plan...
Curated OER
Poetic Justice: Understanding the Life of a Tethered Dog
The Humane Society provides a lesson in which class members explore the issue of tethering dogs. Through the resources used -- a comic, a poem, and narrative and expository writings -- class members realize that messages can be conveyed...
Curated OER
Justice for All
A reading of Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter opens a discussion of justice and fairness. Using a Venn diagram and an Idea Wheel graphic organizer, class members consider the similarities and differences in these two terms. They then...
Curated OER
Boogie Woogie with a B: Using Alliteration while Exploring Patriotic Tunes
Are you looking for a way to bring writing into your history instructional activity - or history into your writing instructional activity? This cross-curricular activity is helpful and fun, no matter what class you're teaching! Using...
Curated OER
"Lawd! Lawd! Lawd!"
From British accents to Texan drawls, a character's dialect can be an important part of the reading experience. A Six-Trait writing activity guides learners through the analysis of a character's dialect (Daniel Keyes's Flowers for...
EngageNY
Writing the Children’s Book: Day Three
Illustrations are a key feature of children's books. Using the resource, pupils learn about adding illustrations to their children's books. Next, as they complete their storyboards and work on their second drafts, they consider their...
Curated OER
Found Poetry Finds Popularity
Writers use non-fiction pieces to craft found poems across all domains for a New York Times writing contest.