*Writing Unit Bundle - Personal Narrative, Slam Poetry, and Argumentative Units

This 3-unit, CCSS-aligned bundle includes units for Personal Narrative, Slam Poetry, and Argumentative writing for a total of 4 months of detailed lesson plans, slides, handouts, and rubrics. Purchase and you're set for a jam-packed, highly-engaging semester!

Each unit pushes students to pick topics, life lessons, or world problems that they are passionate about, and then identify real ways to publish their writing.

For the Personal Narrative unit, students get to know each other and deepen their relationships with you by brainstorming important moments in their lives through a variety of prompts and activities. By the end are encouraged to turn their best personal narratives into E-Books to share with the world.

In the Slam Poetry unit, students examine their multi-dimensional identities, then work to challenge assumptions through writing bars of finger-snapping poetry. The unit leads up to students organizing and performing in a Poetry Slam.

In the Argumentative Unit, students decide what issues around the world they're most passionate about changing, and then choose real people to mail their pieces to at the end during a "Democracy Party."

Throughout all units, students learn that we don't just write for school, we write to change the world.

Here are more details about each of these comprehensive units:

For EVERY unit:

Each lesson plan includes:

-CCSS Standards

-Content Objectives

-Language Objectives--especially useful for your Emergent Multilinguals (ELLs), but benefit all students

-Mini-lesson--plan and slides

-Work-time--plan and slides

-Share-time--plan and slides

-Ideas, logs, and handouts for formative assessment

Each day's slides includes:

-Do Now

-Objectives--both content and language

-Visuals for mini-lesson

Inside the Personal Narrative Unit:

This 5-week, 200+ page unit includes:

• 48 pages of detailed lesson plans (24 lessons in total)
• 123-Slide Powerpoint
• 39 pages of printables for scaffolding instruction and assessment
• Links to free mentor texts online
• Skill checklists and conference logs for you to keep track of student progress
• Rubrics for:
  • Narrative Writing skills
  • Revision
  • Peer Feedback

• Self- and Peer-Evaluation systems to place self-reflection and evaluation on students (and save you HOURS of grading time)

Skills include (but are not limited to):

• The Writing Process:
  • Brainstorming
  • Drafting
  • Revision (with rubrics for both revision AND peer feedback)
  • Editing (with a fun, "Musical Editing Chairs" activity)

• Outlining from a Story Mountain
• Using a variety of details, such as Dialogue, Thoughts, Sensory Details, and Emotions
• Using Transition Phrases
• Using Figurative Language
• Identifying and integrating theme
• Writing Flashbacks
• Writing Powerful Introductions and Conclusions
• Creating E-Books -templates included!

You can read more and see a preview of this unit here.

Inside the Slam Poetry Unit:

This 160-page, 3-4 week unit includes:

• 35 pages of detailed lesson plans
• 110 Slide Powerpoint
• 19 pages of handouts for scaffolding and integrated assessment
• Link to specially curated slam poetry videos, along with places online to find transcripts
• Performance rubrics
• Interactive poem rubrics

Skills include (but are not limited to):

• What is poetry? What is slam poetry?
• Identifying your own multi-dimensional identity
• Writing beginnings to poems
• Identifying poetic devices
• Writing to include poetic devices
• Writing endings to poems
• Revising poems
• Providing peer feedback
• Performance techniques

You can read more and see a preview of this unit here.

Inside the Argumentative Unit:

This 5-week, 200+ page unit includes:

• 50 pages of detailed lesson plans (25 lessons in total)
• 145-Slide Powerpoint
• 35 pages of printables for scaffolding instruction and assessment
• Links to mentor texts

Skills include (but are not limited to):

• Claim, evidence, and reasoning
• Connecting evidence to claim (reasoning)
• Including a variety of evidence
• Structuring logical body paragraphs
• Introductions
• Conclusions
• Coming up with research questions
• Evaluating reliable sources
• When to quote vs. paraphrase
• How to cite
• Writing counterarguments
• And more!

You can read more and see a preview of this unit here.

Here's what people have said about these units:

"I've taught slam poetry before but this unit engaged my students like nothing before. The choice of poems in particular was excellent and inspired my students to high quality writing." - Sarah R.

"WOW. JUST WOW. SO IMPACTFUL! Just what I was looking for. It's deep, but it's inspiring my kids to dig deep instead of just meeting a list of requirements. LOVE THIS SO MUCH." - Becky Z.

"I wish I could give this unit TEN STARS! I bought this unit to supplement my end-of-the-year, post-state-test kiddos who would rather be ANYWHERE but at school. I have never seen my middle schoolers so engaged! During the writing prompts, you could hear a pin drop in my room. It's absolutely incredible." - Sarah E.