Curated OER
Phineas Gage: “How Do You Get Through Hard Times?” Chalk Talk
Hold a discussion in writing about coping strategies to prepare your pupils for reading Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman. After journaling, pupils come up in an organized fashion and write...
Teachers.net
How to Write a Movie Review from a Pet's Perspective
When would two paws up denote a blockbuster film in your classroom? Only when young writers create movie reviews from a pet's perspective in this imaginative expository writing practice. This engaging topic begins with a class discussion...
Curated OER
Diving into Iceland's Genetic Pool
Investigate ethical issues surrounding the Decode project in Iceland. Middle and high schoolers take the positions of the Icelandic government, scientific researchers, and citizens and defend or refute the Decode project in a Reykjavik...
Curated OER
Is That a Fact?
Investigate popular scientific claims and gather evidence to defend or argue against an author's stance. Writers synthesize information and compose their own "Really?" columns modeled after those found in the weekly "Science Times"...
EngageNY
End of Unit 1 Assessment: Analyzing an Excerpt from Barack Obama’s Back-to-School Speech
In order to assess their mastery of the concepts taught in a 12-lesson plan unit study of Christopher Paul Curtis' Bud, Not Buddy, individuals read excerpts from President Barack Obama's 2009 Back-to-School Speech and use the strategies...
Curated OER
Scaffolding a Reading/Writing Lesson
Students explore pre-reading activities. Through looking at titles, and observing pictures, students predict what will happen in a story. They listen to a part of the story and then write their own conclusion. Students complete the story...
Curated OER
Are You For Real?
Students try to find newspaper and magazine articles that are informative or persuasive. They practice determining the differences between the two types of articles. They identify the devices authors use to persuade the audience.
Curated OER
Lesson PlanThomas Jefferson's Library: Making the Case for a National Library
Students explore techniques of persuasive writing. In this persuasive writing lesson, students examine primary sources regarding the sale of Thomas Jefferson private library to Congress. Students write their own persuasive letters...
Curated OER
Washington's Newburgh Address
Students write a persuasive essay that compares George Washington to someone overcoming an obstacle. In this American History lesson plan, students study Washington's Newburgh Address and the character traits of the president. They write...
Curated OER
Propaganda & Persuasive Techniques: Do You Buy It?
Fifth graders investigate the basic persuasive techniques employed in advertising. They identify three examples of propaganda/persuasive techniques, complete an observation chart, take an advertising quiz, complete a spreadsheet that...
Curated OER
Apply Pre-reading Strategies and Read Persuasive Text
Learners apply pre-reading strategies to improve comprehension of An Account of Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha by Elbert Hubbard. In this literature lesson, students complete K-W-L and T charts based on the readings.
Curated OER
Parrot in the Oven: Letter to a Character
Readers of Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida place themselves in the story and craft a persuasive letter to a character in Victor Martinez's National Book Award-winning novel.
New York State Education Department
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 5
Are video games sports? Pupils investigate this question as well as various nonfiction selections to learn more about claims and the support that defines them. All of the selections mimic the rigor on state tests and encourage close...
Albert Shanker Institute
Dream Under Development
As part of their study of the 1963 March on Washington, class members do a side-by-side comparison of the original text of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream Speech" with a transcript of the speech he delivered. The take away from the...
Stockton University Wordpress
Civil Disobedience: Is it ever ok to break the law?
As part of a study of civil disobedience, class members read excerpts from the writings of activists who were willing to break the law to protest unjust laws.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Animal Farm: Allegory and the Art of Persuasion
Introduce your class members to allegory and propaganda with a series of activities designed to accompany a study of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Readers examine the text as an allegory, consider the parallels to collective farms and the...
Curated OER
Writing - The Persuasive Essay
Students, in groups, work together to develop a five-paragraph essay that defends the group's viewpoint on an assigned topic. Each student in the group writes one paragraph.
Curated OER
Examine Persuasive Elements by Reading, Analyzing, and Discussing Persuasive Text
Learners identify persuasive strategies and analyze arguments. For this persuasive writing lesson, students read "Chief Red Jacket's Reply" and "Reverend Cram's Speech to the Iroquois Nation" and chart major elements of each argument....
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
Persuasion in Historical Context: The Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a powerful text. Use it to teach persuasion and the importance of word choice. The activity detailed here includes a scaffolded background knowledge activity that includes image analysis of photos from the Civil...
Classroom Law Project
What do cartoonists see in this election?
Cartoons from the 2008 Presidential election provide the text for a lesson designed to help learners understand how political cartoonists use persuasive techniques to present a point of view.
Anti-Defamation League
The Movies, the Academy Awards and Implicit Bias
"And the award goes to. . . " High schoolers investigate bias in the movie industry by reading articles, watching a short video, and examining data about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) membership, nominees, and...
EngageNY
Speech Structure: Part 2 of the Commonwealth Club Address
Scholars continue reading and analyzing César Chávez's 1984 speech, "Address to the Commonwealth Club of California." Working with partners, they answer text-dependent questions about how governments and consumers affect working...
PBS
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech as a Work of Literature
To appreciate the oratory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, scholars examine the rhetorical devices and influences that make the speech so famous. They examine background information, conduct a close reading of the...