Curated OER
Invent a Holiday
Who wouldn't want to create their own holiday? Use the 12 elements of a holiday to have learners of all ages create their own holiday. These days, it seems like we make any excuse for a holiday! Consider having some fun with your kids...
Curated OER
"Shooting An Elephant": George Orwell's Essay on His Life in Burma
High school readers examine George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" for examples of symbolism, metaphor, connotation, and irony. They analyze how these literary tools convey the writer's main point and contribute to the persuasive...
Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Arguments, i.e., Identify Fallacies (English III Reading)
A series of interactive exercises provide users with the ammunition they need to detect logical fallacies and defend themselves against persuasion. Learners read about 11 types of logical fallacies and identify the type used in sample...
Scholastic
Persuasive Communication (Grades 9–12)
Before your high schoolers reached your morning class to learn about persuasive writing, they probably saw dozens of examples of persuasive communication in the form of advertisements. A short, introductory instructional activity...
Curated OER
New Gun Control Politics: A Whimper, Not a Bang
Using an article from The New York Times, students answer discussion questions about gun control. They are divided into four groups to research different standpoints on gun control, including the Executive Office, Congress, Gun Control...
Curated OER
Using Aphorisms to Help Dealing with People
Here's a formal plan for what many effective teachers already do: Provide a week's worth of aphorisms and have learners choose one to write about in their journals each day. They reflect on the meaning of each aphorism and project how it...
Curated OER
The Persuasive Letter
Students explore techniques used in persuasive writing. After studying editing marks and business letters, they complete a business letter activity. As a class, students volunteer to read a business letter and make corrections on the...
Curated OER
How To Be Persuasive in an Entertainment Review
Students write persuasively through description and word choice while reviewing a topic of interest to them.
Curated OER
Don't Forget to Say Thanks
Learners practice descriptive writing in a thank-you note format. In this descriptive writing lesson, students read the example letter and analyze the corrections in the letter. Learners read the example thank you notes and focus on the...
Curated OER
Inventing and Presenting Unit 3: Persuasive Speaking and Invention Promotion
Students write a proposal for a speech. Students prepare appropriate visuals for use in the proposed speech. Students produce one or more graphs that summarize the results from the experimentation. Students deliver an effective speech in...
Curated OER
Book Selling Project
Students create oral presentations and posters about a book they have read. They try and interest their classmates to read the book by writing persuasive reports.
Curated OER
The Education of Shelby Knox Lesson Plan: The History of Teaching About Sex
Students examine the current debate over sex education. They examine a variety of sex education approaches and determine which one is use in thier school district.
Curated OER
Critical Literacy in the 21st Century: Sitti's Secrets
Fourth graders write persuasive letters. In this letter writing lesson, 4th graders read Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye and discuss their areas or topics of concern. Students select a person to write a letter to and how they could...
Curated OER
The Extinction and Rediscovery of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
An incredibly thorough, and well-designed lesson teaches youngsters about the presumed extinction and rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas. Learners discuss the environmental factors that led to the birds disappearance....
Curated OER
Into the Wilderness: Habitat vs. Development
By studying the once-assumed extinction, then rediscovery of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, learners look at the physical changes that have occured in habitats throughout Arkansas. This outstanding lesson is chock full of terrific...
Curated OER
Where Has It Been? Tracking the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
By studying the assumed extinction, and subsequent rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, learners use maps and come up with a scenario for the rediscovery of the bird. This incredibly thorough lesson plan is chock-full of...
PBS
Master of the Airwaves: How FDR Used Radio to Ease the Public’s Fears
The political and economic climate during the 1930's was uncertain and tumultuous. But Americans' minds and hearts were eased with the reassuring words of their president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and addresses over the radio. High...
Curated OER
What Makes a Cat a Cat?
Students investigate the lives of pets by videotaping them. In this animal life instructional activity, students videotape a cat and other pets using school cameras in a computer lab. Students review the footage from the cat and other...
Curated OER
The Art Of Persuasion
Students engage in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of persuasion and how it is used in a writing context. They create persuasive letters addressed to the president of the United States. Students brainstorm to find facts to...
Curated OER
Persuade or Die!
Students read Patrick Henry's speech. They review prior learning about persuasive writing, and the American revolutionary war. Students listen as the teacher reads Patrick Henry's speech aloud to the class using lots of emotion and...
Curated OER
Why Did You Write That?
Second graders use actual written media to identify and discuss an author's purpose for writing. They identify the author's purpose in a selection from the newspaper, and write a short description of how they came to their conclusion.
Curated OER
Editorial Writing: What's On Your Mind
Students write an editorial column for a newspaper. For this journalism instructional activity, students discuss and analyze editorials in print and broadcast media. Students will compare the differences in these two formats of editorial...
Curated OER
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,...
Curated OER
Deduction
Students investigate the linguistic devices used by writers to create meaning. For this writing lesson, students discover why writers write in different ways showing examples of different types of text. After reading each type students...