Research Organizer & Essay Assignment: Thurgood Marshall
- Grades
- Grades 8–11, High School, Middle School
- File type
- Multiple File Types
- Subject
- Social Studies, History, History: USA
- Topic
- essay, rubric
- Resource types
- Activities, Projects, Worksheets & Printables, Worksheets
- Standards
- CCSS.L.8.3 CCSS.L.9.3 +10
About this resource
What's inside this resource
Few people have left a larger mark on the legal history of Civil Rights in the United States than Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. This resource provides your students with the opportunity to independently learn about and summarize the life of this law icon 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 Thurgood Marshall 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 Thurgood Marshall 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 Thurgood Marshall 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 Thurgood Marshall 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.
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In the classroom
Teaching tips & learning objectives
Learning objectives
- Describe Thurgood Marshall's Civil Rights work and Supreme Court achievements
- Evaluate Marshall's Civil Rights and cultural legacy using researched facts
Skills covered
- Legal and civic history — explaining Marshall's Supreme Court and Civil Rights achievements
- Thesis writing — framing a central claim about Marshall in the introduction
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Curriculum
Standards, concepts & topics
Standards
Standards
- CCSS.L.8.3 — Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. a. Use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the actor or the action; expressing uncertainty or describing a state contrary to fact).
- CCSS.L.9.3 — Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. a. Write and edit work so that it conforms to the guidelines in a style manual (e.g., MLA Handbook, Turabian’s Manual for Writers) appropriate for the discipline and writing type.
- CCSS.L.10.3 — Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. a. Write and edit work so that it conforms to the guidelines in a style manual (e.g., MLA Handbook, Turabian’s Manual for Writers) appropriate for the discipline and writing type.
- CCSS.L.11.3 — Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. a. Vary syntax for effect, consulting references (e.g., Tufte’s Artful Sentences) for guidance as needed; apply an understanding of syntax to the study of complex texts when reading.
- CCSS.W.8.2 — Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. b. Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples. c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts. d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. e. Establish and maintain a formal style. f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
- CCSS.W.9.2 — Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. a. Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic. c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts. d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic. e. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
- CCSS.W.10.2 — Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. a. Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic. c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts. d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic. e. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
- CCSS.W.11.2 — Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. a. Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. b. Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic. c. Use appropriate and varied transitions and syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts. d. Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic. e. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
- CCSS.W.8.7 — Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
- CCSS.W.9.7 — Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
- CCSS.W.10.7 — Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
- CCSS.W.11.7 — Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
Core concepts
Core concepts
- Civil Rights
- Supreme Court
- Biography research
- Works cited
Topics
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