End of Year Review for US Geography - Persuasive Writing Activity

In this end of year activity, students demonstrate what they’ve learned about US geography by writing a letter to their family and persuading them to visit an American state or region during their summer vacation. Both print and Google Drive™ compatible versions are included in this end of the year review project.

✓ Please note:

This resource is included in a money-saving bundle with 3 other End of Year Social Studies writing activities; you can find it HERE.

Resource at a Glance:

★ What will students learn?

* Which US state or region is their favorite, by reviewing the characteristics of all the states or regions they learned about.

* How to write a persuasive letter about the geography of United States regions or states that they’ve studied during the school year.

★ Who is it for?

* All students, including English Language Learners.

★ How does it help teachers?

* It helps you assess what your students learned in a geography course about the regions or states in America.

* It also gives students practice doing persuasive writing and writing friendly letters.

* Graphic organizers guide students through the process of collating their information, pre-writing their ideas, and writing their final products.

* An evaluation checklist is included so you can easily assess your students’ work.

* Printable and digital versions enable students to do the activity in-person classes or remotely.

* Instructions for implementing an optional speaking activity are included if you’d like your students to practice making speeches.

What educators who have used this resource say about it:

♥ "Great cross-curricular project!!" -- Zakiyyah C.

♥ "This is a great way to integrate different subject areas!" -- Diane S.

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What you get in this End of Year US Geography product:

In the PDF File:

★ Cover (1 page)

★ A table of contents for quick reference (2 pages)

★ A Notes to the Teacher section that contains explanatory information (2 pages)

★ A page listing the ELA Common Core standards addressed (1 page)

★ Directions for accessing the Google Drive Materials (1 page)

★ Pages listing the lesson objectives, for regions and for states (1 page each for a total of 2 pages)

★ RAFTS pages, in color and grayscale, for regions and for states (2 pages each for a total of 4 pages)

★ Directions to students' pages, in color and black-and-white, for regions and for states (2 pages each for a total of 4 pages)

★ The writing prompt about U.S. regions, in 3 versions: one with space for listing all the regions studied, one with a color map of the U.S. to help students recall the regions they learned about, and one with the map in grayscale (3 pages)

★ The writing prompt about U.S. states, in 3 versions: one with space for listing some of the states studied, one with a color map of the U.S. to help students recall the states they learned about, and one with the map in grayscale (3 pages)

★ A graphic organizer for writing notes about three regions or states (1 page for each version; 2 pages total)

★ A graphic organizer for writing notes about a selected region or state (1 page for each version; 2 pages total)

★ A pre-writing organizer to write about the selected region or state in a logical, sequential way (2 pages for each version; 4 pages total)

★ A model of a friendly letter (1 page in the regions section and 1 page in the states section; 2 pages total)

★ A lined page with a border for writing the first draft (1 page in the regions section and 1 page in the states section; 2 pages total)

★ A blank page with a border for writing the first draft (1 page in the regions section and 1 page in the states section; 2 pages total)

★ A lined page with a border for writing the final copy (1 page in the regions section and 1 page in the states section; 2 pages total)

★ A blank page with a border for writing the final copy (1 page in the regions section and 1 page in the states section; 2 pages total)

★ Checklists to assess the finished product; one for regions and one for states (1 page each; 2 pages total)

★ Copyright, social media and credits information (1 page)

In the Google Drive Materials:

★ Cover (1 slide)

★ A slide showing the section for regions slides, states slides, and instructions for drawing a circle on the writing prompt (1 slide)

★ RAFTS pages for regions and for states (1 slide each; 2 slides total)

★ Directions to students pages for regions and for states (1 slide each; 2 slides total)

★ The writing prompt about U.S. regions, in 2 versions: one with space for listing all the regions studied and one with a color map of the U.S. to help students recall the regions they learned about (2 slides)

★ The writing prompt about U.S. states, in 2 versions: one with space for listing some of the states studied and one with a color map of the U.S. to help students recall the states they learned about (2 slides)

★ A graphic organizer for writing notes about three regions or states (1 slide for each version; 2 slides total)

★ A graphic organizer for writing notes about a selected region or state (1 slide for each version; 2 slides total)

★ A pre-writing organizer to write about the selected region or state in a logical, sequential way (2 slides for each version; 4 slides total)

★ A model of a friendly letter (1 slide in the regions section and 1 slide in the states section; 2 slides total)

★ A slide for writing the first draft (1 slide in the regions section and 1 slide in the states section; 2 slides total)

★ A slide for writing the final copy (1 slide in the regions section and 1 slide in the states section; 2 slides total)

★ Checklists for assessing students work (1 slide in the regions section and 1 slide in the states section; 2 slides total)

More Info:

For this US Geography end of year activity, students select 1 of the regions or states they studied and describe some of its features, then explain why that is the region or state they should visit. There are 2 versions of the RAFTS writing prompt so if you taught your class about regions of the U.S., you can use the prompt that refers to regions and if you taught about the states, you can use the writing prompt that refers to states instead.

This geography resource includes the following materials for each version (i.e. the states version and the regions version):

* A writing prompt in RAFTS (Role, Audience, Format, Topic, Strong Verb) format,

* Graphic organizers for note-taking and pre-writing,

* A model of a friendly letter,

* A checklist for assessing the final product, and

* Pages for writing the first draft and final copies.

The writing prompt pages come in 3 versions:

*Without clipart,

* With clipart in color, and

* With clipart in black-and-white.

You can use this resource with both your English Language Learners and your native English-speaking students.

Directions for an optional oral presentation component are also included, if you would like to give your students practice in giving speeches.

This activity can be done in class or for homework; if done entirely in class, it will take 3 - 4 periods, depending on how much time is allocated for note-taking, pre-writing and revising.

Pages with lesson objectives, a list of ELA Common Core standards this resource helps address, and a sample WIDA Model Performance Indicator are also provided for your convenience.

You can use this US geography resource remotely in 2 ways:

a) When teaching synchronously or asynchronously online, use the Google Drive version. If you are using a platform that allows you and your students to talk with each other in real time, you can have your students do the optional speaking activity — students can prepare their presentation at home and then deliver it to the class when everyone is online.

b) For students to do on their own: Photocopy the student pages (without or without the RAFTS, Objectives, and Checklist pages) and send the material home. Alternatively, if students have printers, email the pages to them and tell them to print the work out themselves. Tell students what to do and have them email/send you their work when they’ve completed it. Use the included evaluation checklist to correct students’ work. To do the optional speaking activity, students can prepare their presentation at home, then they can record themselves using any presentation program or app that allows them to do that. Students can post their presentations on a class website if it’s set up for that or email their presentations to you.

This culminating activity enables students to review what they have learned over the past year about US geography in a fun way!

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You might also like these products:

★ End of Year Review for English & English Language Arts - Persuasive Writing Activity

★ End of Year Review for Science - Persuasive Writing Activity

★ End of Year Review for Ancient and World History - Persuasive Writing Activity

★ End of Year Review for US History - Persuasive Writing Activity

★ End of Year Review for Social Studies - Persuasive Writing Activities BUNDLE

Or buy all 4 Social Studies End of Year products in a BUNDLE and save 20%:

★ End of Year Persuasive Writing Activities: Social Studies BUNDLE

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