Curated OER
Understanding Types of Writing
Students analyze the types of writing and answer questions about the writing genres. In this writing types instructional activity, students define and discuss the types of writing including expository, descriptive, persuasive, technical,...
Curated OER
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
In this literature worksheet, students respond to 3 short answer and essay questions about Sinclair's The Jungle. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.
Curated OER
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 12 short answer and essay questions based on A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Students may also access an online quiz on the selection using the...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Classical Appeals and War Speeches
Discuss classical appeals of rhetoric through the speeches of Winston Churchill and FDR. Learners read, annotate, and analyze the speeches by the men before using a graphic organizer to track the use of ethos, pathos, and logos.
Curated OER
Analyzing Persuasion
A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...
Curated OER
Finding the dress code balance
Students write a persuasive essay, expressing their opinions of how the school dress code should be changed. Students investigate their own school's dress code, developing their own opinions of whether the dress code should be more or...
Curated OER
Comparison and Contrast: Neat People vs. Sloppy People and Batting Clean-up and Striking Out
After your class reads Neat People vs. Sloppy People and Batting Clean-up and Striking Out, provide them with this resource. Use it as a quiz or a homework assignment to assess your class's understanding of the author's...
Curated OER
The death penalty; What is your view?
Students write a persuasive essay about the death penalty. Students respond to students at St. Ignatius Catholic High School in Cleveland protesting the death of Adremy Dennis. Students research both sides of the debate, before writing...
Virginia Department of Education
Deciding the Mode
Are your young writers having difficulty distinguishing between expository and persuasive writing? Discuss the difference between the two, and how some prompts can be responded to in either fashion. Included here is a simple lesson plan...
Curated OER
Peer Editing Worksheet
The strength of this peer editing worksheet is that it addresses all the elements that should appear in a well-written essay. In addition, editors are encouraged to avoid one-word responses and instead, to make specific suggestions for...
Curated OER
Author In The Spotlight
Complete an in-depth study of the works or a specific author. Working in pairs, students read at least four works by the same author. After completing the reading, they create an essay comparing and contrasting the works and create an...
Curated OER
Shizuko’s Daughter: Discussion Web
Is Yuki a selfish character? Analyze her motivation and behavior during a unit on Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori. Readers fill out two sides of a graphic organizer with reasons why or why not she is selfish, and then come up with...
Novelinks
The Book Thief: The Power and Influence of Words
To culminate a study of Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, individuals craft a persuasive essay in which they assume the voice of a member of one of the political parties during the early 1920s, and advocate that their party offers the...
Curated OER
UFO Opinion Writing Page
In this opinion writing worksheet, students read a short introduction about UFO's. They write an opinion essay that describes their feelings about the existence of UFO's.
The New York Times
I Don’t Think So: Writing Effective Counterarguments
When it comes to writing effective arguments, writers must do more than simply make a claim, counterarguments must be considered. Aspiring writers analyze counterarguments in editorials, and then learn how to write counterarguments in...
Curated OER
Analyzing a Writer's Stance
Should college admissions decisions be based on whether whose family members attended? Secondary students read and respond to a New York Times article on the issue of 'legacy preferences' in college admissions. Following class...
EngageNY
Peer Critique and Revising: Formal English
Dear Sir or Madam: What's the difference between formal and informal language? Scholars focus on using formal English and transitions in their position papers. After revising their rough drafts, they engage in the peer editing process...
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
Down in the Dumps
After an introduction to municipal sludge, middle school ecologists consider the pros and cons of dumping in the Hudson River Canyon. The class is split into two groups: one to debate in favor or dumping and one to debate against the...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Strange Fruit: Lynching in America
To continue their study of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the beginning of the civil rights movement, class members watch the YouTube video of Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" as an introduction to an examination of...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
I Need a Superhero
Once the class learns about the hero's journey, they'll find it in every story and movie they see! Take characters from their humble beginnings to their atonement and apotheosis with a set of lessons about the hero's journey...
Curated OER
Which Car Will Mom Approve?
Eighth graders write a comparison/contrast essay to determine which of two cars should be purchased from the parents' perspective.
Curated OER
A Day at the Beach: How to Keep Our Planet Clean
Students write a persuasive essay based on cleaning up the coast and other philanthropic values. In this writing lesson, students determine what is needed in order to keep the planet clean, and offer solutions to the International...
Curated OER
Here's to Your Health!
Studets research a health issue. They write an essay about the health issue. The create a public service announcement.