Virginina Department of Education
Planning Persuasive Writing
A nice starting exercise that organizes a learner’s persuasive writing assignment by issue, claim, and hard and soft evidence. Definitions of the terms aforementioned are provided, as well as the worksheet needed by the class. The...
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Power of the People
Pupils determine the meaning of democracy and investigate accomplishments of a number of United States presidents. They look at images of the presidential one dollar coins before they determine how the job of the president differs from...
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Persuasive Letters and The Tell Tale Heart
Students write persuasive letters based on "The Tell Tale Heart." They brainstorm topic sentences, main ideas, and details. They analyze the character and determine if he is innocent or guilty. They create a map listing their reasons to...
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Smiles Change the World
Students develop speaking and listening skills while evaluating a list. In this consensus lesson, students define consensus and discuss how it might be used at recess. After students understand how consensus works, students review and...
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Philanthropy in Literature
Students research philanthropy in three genres: a play, a fable, and a parable. Students read an Aesop fable and answer questions in groups. Students complete steps in two worksheets from 'The Good San Franciscan' and 'Someone Should.'...
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Breaking News English: U.S. Missile Shield
In this U.S. missile shield worksheet, students read the article, answer true and false questions, complete synonym matching, complete phrase matching, complete a gap fill, answer short answer questions, answer discussion questions,...
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Author's Purpose
Readers identify the author's purpose. First, they read a passage and utilize details from the piece to determine the author's purpose. Then they will explain how they arrived at their conclusion. Links to materials are provided.
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Verbal Versus Nonverbal Communication
Young scholars create a multimedia presentation. They will complete a verbal versus non-verbal communication chart to create a multimedia presentation which will include the different types of communication strategies. Then answer a...
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Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in Civil Rights Movement Speeches
Examine three speeches while teaching Aristotle's appeals. Over the course of three days, class members fill out a graphic organizer about ethos, pathos, and logos, complete an anticipatory guide, read speeches by Martin Luther King Jr.,...
Prestwick House
Author’s Purpose in Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” Speech
President Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech, delivered on June 12, 1987 before the Berlin Wall, provides class members with an opportunity to examine three key aspects of informational text: author bias, the use of facts and...
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Poetic Elements
Poetry is all about sound and rhythm. The sound of the words, the rhythm of the lines, and the emotional atmosphere created by these elements and the literary devices poets use, compress whole stories into a few stanzas. The specialized...
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Family Foodways
Discover, document and share the knowledge of family food and ways special occasions are treated. Your class will explore the context in which food traditions are created and adapted in their families and communities. Each student also...
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Design a New Dollar Coin
Students create a design for a new coin after researching people who have impacted history. Students must write a persuasive essay about why this person should be memorialized on the dollar coin and present their person to the class.
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A Thanksgiving Language Lesson!
Sixth graders, in groups, create restaurants, menus, and advertisements to attract Thanksgiving Day customers.
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Creative Inventions
Ninth graders develop ideas for an invention and write a persuasive essay explaining why their invention is best. In this invention essay lesson, 9th graders review persuasive essay writing. Students create a graphic web for an original...
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The Great Gatsby
Eleventh graders investigate the concept of the American Dream. They use the novel "The Great Gatsby" as an example from literature. Students brainstorm in order to define the American Dream.
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Propaganda Techniques
Sixth graders locate examples of persuasive writing. In this persuasive writing lesson students work in a groups to identify and analyze the use of propaganda techniques. Students use newspapers to find editorials, or advertisements,...
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That Was Then - Persuasive Essay
Student explain how geographic and cultural settings influence a person's identity. They compare and contrasting Esmeralda Santiago's Puerto Rican self with her American self by participating in a close reading of the text and writing a...
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"I Don't Pay Attention to Advertisements? (At least I don't think so?)"
Sixth graders study eight persuasive techniques that occur in a variety of media types. They write a persuasive essay and present it to the class. They create a "new product" for which they produce an advertisement using persuasive...
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Apply Post-Reading Skills and Discuss Persuasive Text
Learners put their reading comprehension skills to practice. In this interpreting text lesson plan, students read "Chief Red Jacket's Reply," and then respond to questions that require them to reason, infer, and analyze the selection.
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Writing a Persuasive Essay
Learners consider the attributes of persuasive essays. In this written communication activity students examine sample persuasive essays and discuss their impressions of the essays by completing the provided post-reading strategy.
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"Anything We Love Can Be Saved" -- A Contemporary
Young scholars compare authors Rachel Carson and Mary Eliza Church Terrell. They read an introduction by Alice Walker and summarize the main points. They also identify the language she uses to persuade readers. They write their own...
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Project Playhouse
High schoolers read about Kent State's ongoing support for Hurricane Katrina victims by building and auctioning off playhouses for children. They create an ad for the playhouses, including a headline and some copy (words) plus visuals...
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Picture America's Sweetheart
Learners examine Seventeen Magazine's America's Sweetheart contest and one of their finalists by reading about Sunia Arif and what made Seventeen choose her. Students then write a 300-word essay about what would make them or someone they...