Standard 2: Reading Informational Text

In this lesson, students will read an excerpt from John F. Kennedy's speech, commonly titled "A Moral Issue", in response to the Civil Rights Movement. Upon reading the text, students will analyze and evaluate President Kennedy's use of ethos, as well as the impact of delivering the speech via live broadcast. 

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will read President John F. Kennedy’s “A Moral Issue,” delivered on June 11th, 1963. Students will analyze the central idea of the speech and examine the textual evidence within the speech that supports the central idea. As part of the analysis, students will make connections between President Kennedy’s speech and the ideas expressed in an excerpt from the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence. They will answer comprehension questions about the central idea and the connection to these important historical documents as well as answer text-dependent questions to further analyze the speech.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students analyze the language of a speech delivered by William Jennings Bryan (1896) in opposition to the Gold Standard and in support of bimetallism. The analysis will focus on connotation and bias in Bryan’s word choice. This lesson addresses the term rhetoric and the definitions and features of the rhetorical appeal, pathos.

Students will read the speech and analyze the use of connotative language that was used by Bryan to express a politically biased message.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will analyze testimony delivered to congress by Suffrage Activist Lucy Stone (1892) in support of amending the U.S. Constitution to give women the right to vote in this lesson. The lesson specifically focuses on Stone’s use of alliteration, antithesis (parallel structure), and rhetorical questions to help achieve her purpose.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will read Frederick Douglass’s 1852 speech “What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July.” Students will analyze Douglass’s use of rhetorical appeals throughout the text. Students will specifically identify his use of pathos and logos and examine how Douglass uses these appeals to support his overall purpose. Students will also learn important historical context about Douglass and the abolitionist movement.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan intended for the debate classroom, students will explore the ways two Supreme Court Justices interpreted the rights enumerated in the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. They will use these interpretations to explore the basics of argument and the many ways a single text can be interpreted to support an argument.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is the third lesson in a three-part series on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. In this lesson, students will analyze King's speech, which has been broken up into eight sections, for his perspective and tone. At the end of the lesson, students will respond to a prompt and write an essay based on what they have analyzed throughout the lesson. A graphic organizer, suggested answer key, and writing rubric have been provided.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the first lesson in a three-part series on Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop." In this lesson, the speech has been divided into eight sections with text-dependent questions that are specific to each section. Throughout the course of the lesson students will determine a central idea for each section and examine King's ideas and claims and how they are developed and supported. At the end of the lesson, students will determine an overarching central idea of the speech and write an extended paragraph to explain the central idea and how it is developed and supported with specific evidence throughout the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will conduct close readings of a teacher-selected news article that introduces a claim and two sides. As they read, they will implement vocabulary strategies, analyze the article’s claims and their validity. After they read, they will participate in a whole class discussion before choosing a side and writing a three-paragraph argument in the form of a letter.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will read, understand, and analyze a speech by Fredrick Douglass through close reading and scaffolded learning tasks. Students will write an essay to support their analysis of the central idea of Douglass's speech, "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro."

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the third and final lesson in a unit analyzing rhetorical appeals. In this lesson, students will identify and analyze rhetorical appeals in a speech from President Obama and plan an outline for an essay to explain President Obama’s choices to establish meaning and achieve his purpose in the speech.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is the second of a unit comprised of 3 lessons. In this second lesson, students will use small group discussion to analyze informational text, a speech given by Judge Learned Hand entitled "The Spirit of Liberty," in terms of central idea and author’s choices in achieving purpose.

Type: Lesson Plan

I Declare War Part 2 is an extension of Part 1; therefore, the lessons must be done in sequential order. In Part 2, students will use the TPC(F)ASTT analysis chart to analyze "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen and outline a comparative analysis of Owen's views on war versus Lincoln's views and examine the strategies they use to bring their viewpoints across. The poetry analysis of "Dulce Et Decorum Est" can be used to introduce students to literary analysis at the beginning of the year before they attempt more complex poems.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson (part one of a three-part unit), students will analyze the choices Lincoln made to establish the purpose and central idea of the Gettysburg Address.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is part one of three in a unit that will explore and analyze how American Puritanism has been represented in different texts. The goal of this lesson is for students to analyze the central idea and how the authors' style (figurative language, persuasive techniques) contributes to establishing and achieving the purpose in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

Type: Lesson Plan

Using the case study, “Tough Talk at Work”, students will learn how to have a tough talk at work, while addressing concerns and improving morale, relationships, and employee performance. Students will brainstorm how to have tough talks at work and then will have an opportunity to role play.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson plan is based on case study 207926 "Tough Talk at Work.” In this lesson, students will diccuss how to analyze employee evaluation data and create performance improvement plans.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will explore the role of critical thinking and teamwork in diagnosing and troubleshooting issues within the engineering design process. This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, Finding the Important Detail that Makes the Difference. See CPALMS resource ID# 207924.

Type: Lesson Plan

Using the case study, "Should the Business Expand?" students will compare two student created arguments, one for expansion of a business and another against. Students will compare the two claims by evaluating them for effectiveness and validity. Using the claims, students will act as the business owner and make a final decision about the expansion.

Type: Lesson Plan

Learn to analyze the use of rhetorical devices in a nonfiction text. In this interactive tutorial, you'll examine excerpts from President Obama's speech on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Selma and analyze his use of three specific rhetorical devices: antithesis, rhetorical questions, and anaphora. You'll also analyze how he uses these rhetorical devices to help achieve his specific purpose. Along the way, you'll brush up on some important American history. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn how speakers achieve their purpose when delivering a public speech. In this interactive tutorial, you'll learn the difference between the general and specific purpose of a speech. You'll analyze three different choices that speakers make to help achieve their purpose. This includes their choice of hook, or introduction, as well as their use of juxtaposition and allusions. We'll examine the use of these techniques using excerpts from Barack Obama's campaign speech titled "A More Perfect Union." 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In this lesson, student groups will discuss their understanding of the U.S. Constitution, Federalists' arguments in support of ratification, and Anti-Federalist arguments against ratifying the Constitution. Students will discuss controversies over ratification of the U.S. Constitution, as well as identify and analyze differences between Federalist and Anti-Federalist perspectives. Students will then complete a group writing assignment.  

Type: Teaching Idea

This resource provides the tools to help students analyze the rhetorical devices in one of the most pivotal speeches of the civil rights movement. In 1965, President Johnson addressed Congress and the nation in the wake of the events in Selma, Alabama. The American public had been jolted by scenes of state troopers attacking peaceful marchers.

Just days later, President Johnson addressed the nation to promote the passage of the Voting Rights Act. He skillfully drove home his purpose through the use of two rhetorical devices: imagery and anaphora. This resource will help students analyze his use of these devices and how they strengthen his speech.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching resource provides the tools to help students analyze the use of rhetorical appeals in President Franklin Roosevelt’s speech, “A Day that Will Live in Infamy.” The president delivered this powerful speech in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Students will analyze Roosevelt’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos in his address to Congress and the American people. 

Type: Teaching Idea

In this lesson, students analyze the speech delivered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The speech contains two distinct central ideas for students to analyze. Students will also read the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution to compare the foundational principles and ideals in the Constitution with those found in Roosevelt's speech.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching resource will provide teachers the tools to analyze the “Gettysburg Address” delivered by President Abraham Lincoln (1863) in which he dedicates a portion of the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg to honor the country’s Founders and the soldiers who died in the name of American ideals. He also urges the audience to continue to fight for the core principles upon which America was founded: equality and liberty. Students will analyze the two central ideas of Lincoln’s address. Students will also make connections between an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence and Lincoln’s speech, and they will make connections between the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and Lincoln’s speech.

Type: Teaching Idea

This resource intended for the debate classroom will help students write an attention-getting introduction to convey ideas, concepts, and information through the use of education and humor.

Type: Teaching Idea

In this activity, designed for students in the debate classroom, students will use prior knowledge on ethos, logos, and pathos to analyze the grievances in the Declaration of Independence and classify the rhetorical appeals in each.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching resource provides students with the opportunity to analyze President Jimmy Carter's use of rhetoric in his Inaugural Address. The resource contains historical context and both a student and teacher copy of the speech, along with text dependent questions and an answer key. Students will connect Carter’s use of rhetoric in achieving purpose in his speech to the role the U.S. has in establishing and maintaining peace.

Type: Text Resource

This teaching resource provides the tools to help students analyze Lucy Stone’s 1892 address on women’s suffrage. Students will analyze her use of two specific rhetorical devices: imagery and rhetorical questions. The resource will help students identify these devices within the text and analyze how they establish and support Stone’s purpose.

Type: Text Resource

This teaching resource will provide teachers the tools/ideas to help students analyze the speech delivered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This speech was given to Congress in order to persuade them to join the war efforts, protecting American ideals of freedom. This speech uses the rhetorical techniques of pathos and logos to persuade his listeners.

Type: Text Resource

This teaching resource provides teachers with the tools to help students analyze the central idea and mood within John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address. This includes examining how President Kennedy supports the central idea relating to foreign policy and protecting liberty throughout his speech. 

Type: Text Resource