Martin Luther King Activities Argumentative Essay Writing Prompt, Black History

This 100% editable lesson for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day or for teaching argumentative essay writing with exemplars is no prep. Your high school students will be engaged and challenged as they work through the carefully paired texts and expertly written prompt. If your state has adopted Common Core testing, then this comparing and contrasting literary analysis is directly aligned with that format. If not, a task such as this one will definitely add a challenging component to your reading and writing curriculum.

Student Experience: Students will recognize how authors share their opinions through their words, examples, figurative language, use of counterclaims, and rhetorical devices set with a Black History theme. The two texts chosen (Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a Dream" and Atticus Finch's "Closing Remarks" from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird) are both from the canon of great literary works, but the pairing of fact and fiction allows for the critical thinking and rigor needed in upper grades ELA classrooms. Also, I have included suggestions for working with these texts before administering the writing task; however, you could use this as a cold writing task for students as well.

There is no need to read the entire novel for this prompt pack to be effective. It is completely self-contained with everything you need including easy-to-print excerpts, graphic organizers, sample paper, etc. in this one download!

Suggestions for use:

-Excellent for a mini unit for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day or Black History Month.

-It is also a useful tool for supplementing the To Kill a Mockingbird movie with a text-based lesson since a complete movie viewing guide is included.

-Another way to use this lesson would be as a culminating writing task for your novel study of To Kill a Mockingbird.

-Use it as a text-based writing prompt to practice for an argumentative compare/contrast Common Core state writing assessment.

What's Included:

- Texts

- Graphic organizers

- Sample paper

- Rubric

- Teacher's Guide

- Bonus: To Kill a Mockingbird Movie Guide

- 100% editable PPT format

Get this prompt pack in a full bundle of argumentative writing prompts:

Argumentative Prompt Pack BUNDLE

See more easy to use and unique resources for Martin Luther King Day and Black History Month!

Martin Luther King Documentary Guide

Martin Luther King Nonfiction Lesson

Olaudah Equiano Teaching Pack

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Unit Plan

Classroom success stories from teachers who have tried this resource:

♥ "Great model essay included which demonstrates how to support an argument using text."

♥ "Planning to use this at the end of my TKAM unit! Thanks!"

♥ "Great job, and I was so pleased that I could use it for more than I had intended. Thanks!!"

Please take a moment to hop over to the video section of my shop right here on TpT to watch a tutorial of me discussing a strategy for teaching with model essays and for some tips on how to have your own classroom success story when you give this essay pack a try! Red Light Green Light Educational Video

See more ready-to-go writing resources!

Cyberbullying Argumentative Prompt

Paid for Grades Argumentative Prompt

Obesity Argumentative Prompt

Gun Control Argumentative Prompt

Duck Dynasty Explanatory Prompt

Zoo Dangers Explanatory Prompt

Fear Narrative Prompt

Choices Narrative Prompt

Imaginative Narrative Prompt

Summer Memoir Narrative Prompt

MLA Research Bundle

Paragraph of the Week

Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies and product launches. Look for the green star next to my store logo and click it to FOLLOW ME. Voila! You will now receive email updates about my store.

For more ideas and inspiration:

Faulkner's Fast Five Blog

Julie's Classroom Stories on Instagram

Julie's Classroom Stories on Facebook

Teaching Middle and High School English Facebook Group

Yearbook and Journalism Facebook Group

Pinterest

Terms of Use: Please, one classroom use only. Not to be posted online without proper security.