Research Organizer & Essay Assignment: Mark Twain

Mark Twain has been called "the first American writer," and it's easy to see why after exploring his life and works. This resource provides your students with the opportunity to independently research and write about the life of the renowned author of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and many other classics, with this engaging research planner and essay assignment. This carefully scaffolded and easy-to-assign-AND-assess resource has been designed to guide student learning from Mark Twain fact-collection to the careful development of a five-paragraph research essay. 

Teaching this resource could not be easier! Start by handing out the background research and note-taking worksheet (you could also ONLY hand this out if you want a shorter lesson!). Once students have found their facts and sources, provide them with the essay outline activity, which guides them step-by-step through the requirements of a short research essay. From there, drafting their essay, using the provided peer review checklist, and submitting their final draft will be no problem at all. And then you can assess their work with the provided Common Core rubric!

Use this entire resource as a complete research lesson or just part of it as a short research activity or sub plan! 

This TeachSimple download includes:

• A Mark Twain essay writing assignment with directions, requirements, research essay writing tips, a peer review checklist, and Common Core-tied grading rubric 

• An editable rubric, provided as a link, that lets you make adjustments to the grade values and guidelines. This link is provided as as Google Sheet specifically built for integration into Google Classroom, although you can also modify it for use in other Learning Management Systems (LMSs)

• A Mark Twain biography and note-taking worksheet that will guide your students through information gathering. This straightforward two-page handout includes instructions for background research, a fun drawing section, and an area to cite quality sources and organize conducted research

• A research essay outlining worksheet, so students build on their Mark Twain notes in a clear and simple manner as they build their work towards a draft and final paper

• All 6-pages of this lesson are provided in full-color and B&W versions

Although this resource can be fitted for any secondary Language Arts classroom, it has been carefully designed to work best in grades 8 through 11. The included rubric is subtly but specifically tied to Common Core ELA Standards for Language (3) and Writing (2 and 7). This resource is provided as a print-ready, bookmarked, and adjustable PDF file. The rubric is also included as an editable Google Sheet.

This resource contains 6 pages and 1 Google Sheet.