writing assignment for the outsiders

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Engage your students as soon as they walk into your classroom with my best-selling, full-year bell-ringer set. Each day includes a unique and creative task. Topics include grammar, vocabulary, writing, and figurative language.  

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I’m a curriculum writer, literacy educator, and all around book lover with a passion for helping English teachers engage their students with creative, high-quality resources. My mission? To make teaching English a whole lot easier for you, teacher friend! 

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7 Creative Activities to Teach The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

S.E. Hinton was only 15 when she started writing her classic novel,  The Outsiders. Now, over 50 years after its publication, Hinton’s coming of age novel continues to provide an impactful commentary on society. Year after year, many English teachers return to this story, each time glimpsing something new through the eyes of its memorable protagonist, Ponyboy Curtis. This has long been a favorite in the ELA classroom. Its dramatic and emotional plotline lends itself incredibly well to creative activities that make teaching The Outsiders  engaging year after year. Below are my 7 favorite activities for teaching S.E. Hinton’s classic.

1. Identity Activity

This first activity gets students to dig deeper into themes of identity in the novel. It challenges students to think about how identity is represented in The Outsiders  by teaching them to make connections to the way they view their own identities.

How this activity works:

On the day after students have read chapters 1-2 from  The Outsiders , I like to initiate this activity by putting up an identity-related poster on the classroom door. This gets students thinking about the idea of “identity” before they even sit down.

At the start of class, I explain that Ponyboy identifies himself as a greaser. Then, in small groups or as a whole class, I get students to discuss the important elements of identifying with this group (i.e. appearance, interests, actions, personality, etc.). Students should develop a list that may include such things as having long greased hair, fighting, committing crimes, being tough, carrying a switchblade, and showing loyalty, for example.

Students then get the chance to analyze their own identities. I have them consider what kind of group they associate with. I hang identity cards on the wall all around the room (football player, musician, academic etc.). Then, I explain that students should look around and have them choose one that they identify with the most. I always offer the option for students to create their own identity card as well as some may not feel connected to the pre-selected options.  It’s important to tell them that it doesn’t matter if they are alone in a group since perhaps the other people who identify with this group are simply not in this class!

To close the activity off, I like to start a whole class discussion using questions like…

• Which group in the class do you think your group has the least in common with? Why?
• Can you identify with more than one group? What other groups in this class activity do you identify with?
• What did you learn about identity through this activity?

2. Stereotypes

The second activity I use for teaching The Outsiders  will prompt students to dig deeper and empathize with the characters. This time, however, it is by deconstructing the stereotypes at the center of the novel. I usually do this activity after students have finished reading chapters 3 and 4.

I start this activity by putting up 5 pictures of strangers around the classroom. Then, in small groups, I get them to discuss assumptions they have about what their personalities would be like, what job they would have, etc. After they’re done this first part of the activity, I like to pause and provide students with the definition of stereotype: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. I have students discuss with their groups whether or not they stereotyped during this activity.

Then, I explain that in The Outsiders , the Socs and Greasers cannot get along with each other because they hold stereotypes. The Socs think the greasers are low-life thugs while the greasers think the Socs are rich snobs. I also explain that in these chapters, Cherry and Ponyboy, two people from completely different groups, are able to break down stereotypes and find common ground with one another.

As a second part of the activity, I have students try to find examples of Ponyboy’s shift in perspective. Below are a few possible responses that students might share:

• “It seemed funny to me that Socs – if these girls were any example – were just like us” (37).
• “I don’t know why I could talk to her; maybe for the same reason she could talk to me” (39).
• “It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset” (41).

I like to conclude this activity by starting a class discussion with questions such as “How do you think it feels to be stereotyped” and “What are the negative consequences of believing stereotypes?”

 3. Nothing Gold Can Stay

In chapter 5 of  The Outsiders , Ponyboy recites Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” The poem is referenced again later on in the novel when Johnny Cade says to Ponyboy, “Stay gold.” After students have read chapters 5 and 6, I get them to complete an activity centered around Frost’s poem to prepare them for the impact of Johnny’s memorable line.

For this activity, I put students into groups of 3 or 4. I hand out printed copies of Frost’s  “Nothing Gold Can Stay”  to each group, and I project a video of Ponyboy reciting the poem from The Outsiders movie, getting students to follow along.

I then go through the poem line by line, and I ask them questions that invite them to dig deeper into the poem’s meaning. For example, for the first line, I ask “What does nature’s first green mean” and “Why is it gold? Do you think Frost means the color gold? What else could gold symbolize/represent?” Students record their answers on a  brainstorming sheet,  and then once we’ve gone through each line, we discuss possible interpretations and lingering questions about the poem as a whole and its significance to the novel so far.

The idea of impermanence is central to Robert Frost’s poem—and to The Outsiders. As a final question, I ask students to reflect on things in their lives that will eventually change. I get them to consider how will they cope with these changes.

4. The Interview Activity

This activity is designed to be used for after students have read chapters 7-8 of The Outsiders . In these chapters, Ponyboy tells the reader about being interviewed by reporters while in the hospital visiting Johnny and Dally. Not much detail is provided on who is interviewed and what questions are asked, but the reader gets more insight into this in chapter 8 when Ponyboy says what information was included in the article.

I start this interview activity by putting students into pairs. Students will be using the information we have from the newspaper article for this activity, so I have them read the long quotation in the novel where Ponyboy describes the information included in the articles. Then, I get them to choose one of the characters listed below to be interviewed:

• Cherry Valance
• Darry & Sodapop
• Randy Adderson
• The School Principal

From the long quotation , they will infer what questions a local reporter might ask the character they’ve selected. Their questions should also be informed by their reading, and they must include responses from the interviewee. I encourage students to try and make this as realistic and professional as possible. I usually give each group some time to practice their written interview before performing it out loud in front of the class.

This activity is not only entertaining, but it will also force students to further invest themselves in the characters and the details of the novel!

5. Socs vs. Greasers Rumble

The Socs vs. Greasers rumble activity can be done after chapters 9-10 to get students thinking critically about the idea of the rivalry between Socs (East) and Greasers (West). In these chapters, the hostile relationship between the Socs and the Greasers comes to a climax with the planned rumble. Students will be exploring this rivalry using information from the whole novel.

For this activity , I put students into groups of four and label their table Greasers or Socs. I then tell the students that they are now looking at their new gang! Sometimes, I’ll even pit them against another specific group from the opposing gang for a little added fun.

Next, I have the groups complete an “East vs. West Rumble Assignment” where they answer distinguishing questions according to their assigned gang (Soc or Greaser). Students should be encouraged to “get into the character’s brain” and really pretend that they are a member of that gang to answer questions like “What are some things you dislike about the Socs / Greasers?” and “How would you react if a Soc / Greaser was insulting a member of your gang?” After they’re done, I get each group to share what they wrote with the rest of the class from the perspective of a Greaser or Soc. The answers are always mostly very negative towards the other gang as they are biased towards their own.

After students have shared, I tell them that they will now look at each gang objectively—not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts. They will share the biggest differences and similarities between the gangs and the gang members. Through this activity, it is always my goal for the students to realize that the gangs actually have a lot in common.

6. Wanted Poster

When I’m teaching The Outsiders,  I like to separate the last two chapters of the novel into two fun activities. The first is this wanted poster assignment.  Earlier in the novel, Ponyboy is involved in an altercation where his friend Johnny ends up killing someone, and Dally instructs them to get away and hide in an abandoned church until he comes for them. For the wanted poster activity, students will create a “Wanted Poster” for one of these two characters who were on the run. This is a fun activity that will allow students to show their understanding of key details surrounding these characters.

Using a graphic organizer,  students plan out their poster before they begin working on a good copy. I get students to focus on the following information:

• the full name of the character
• their nickname
• a physical description
• specific acts committed
• personality traits
• known hangouts/associates
• what to do if found
• a reward amount.

I also get them to include an image (either drawn or found), and I encourage them to be as creative as possible!

7. Outsiders Tattoos

This final activity for teaching The Outsiders  is one that students tend to really enjoy! Tattoos are not only something that is sure to spark your students’ interest, but they also lend themselves well to teaching about symbolism in  The Outsiders. 

I start this activity by asking my students to imagine that a character from  The Outsiders  decides to get two tattoos on his or her arm. Then, I get them to consider what they would choose based on what they know about the character. The character, the tattoo designs, and the explanation behind them are up to the students. However, the choices should be grounded by concrete details in the novel. Students get to draw the tattoos. I like to give them a tattoo worksheet for this with a bare arm graphic as a canvas.

To make this even more fun, I suggest putting the artwork up on the walls and turning the class into a full-on  Outsiders Tattoo Expo . Get students to go around and look at all the tattoos. Then, wrap up with a discussion on which tattoos each student liked and why!

I hope you found these 7 creative activities for teaching The Outsiders  helpful! If you are interested in more tips and resources for developing students’ reading skills in ELA, click here.

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Engaging Activities for Teaching The Outsiders

When I learned I’d most likely be teaching The Outsiders this year, I was a little skeptical. Only vaguely remembering the book from when I read it, I was totally judging the book by its publication date and the dust on its cover. Truth be told, I was wondering how in the world I’d sell my tough-to-please 8th graders a story about a kid named Ponyboy in 1960s Oklahoma. But I resolved to reread the book with an open mind and just see. Maybe I would teach it, maybe I wouldn’t.

It took me just a few pages to remember how much I loved Ponyboy as a narrator and just why this story continues to resonate with teenagers decades later. T he Outsiders has that unique written-by-a-teenager magic that I wish I could bottle up and sprinkle on everything in my classroom library. And while I don’t ever want to be a teenager again, remembering what it felt like was pretty powerful. It made me want to teach this book and do it justice, too. So I got to work planning engaging lessons and activities that would extract all the juicy goodness from this timeless classic. And the rest was history: I planned and taught a unit that would stay gold for my students, half a century after this book was published. 

Together, we empathized with Ponyboy’s struggles, explored the idea of identity, learned from Ponyboy’s curiosity and empathy, admired sunsets, brainstormed how to overcome stereotypes, mourned the death of Johnny, and cherished the “gold” in our lives. Oh yeah, and we hit all of the big standards and skills, too! 

The Outsiders is pretty powerful, but if you’ve been teaching it for years, you’re teaching it for the first time, or you’re just not feeling your lesson plans, you might want to add a little dash of “gold” to keep it fresh. Whether that’s a unique, kinesthetic lesson, a new nonfiction pairing to spark some brilliant connections, or a creative twist on your typical comprehension questions, I’ve got you covered with fresh, new lesson ideas.

If you’re ready to revitalize your unit on The Outsiders and make the novel even more engaging and relevant for your students, here are 10 of my favorite activities.

PRE-READING LEARNING STATIONS

Learning stations are my favorite strategy for hooking my students before reading and building essential background knowledge, and The O utsiders is no exception! In fact, I think a good hook activity is even more important with a book like this so students aren’t judging it by its cover and/or setting. No offense, but 1960s Oklahoma has never been on my students’ reading radars. But do you know what will register on their radars? The ridiculous-sounding slang! So I take advantage of that and use it to reel readers in through a well-designed set of learning stations. Not only do these stations spark students’ curiosity before they read a single page, but they also equip students with the pre-reading information they need to start the book strong.

Here’s what my learning stations for The Outsiders look like:

• Students preview and discuss essential questions with an anticipation guide
• Students “meet” Ponyboy and make inferences from provided excerpts
• Students sample some of the fun 1960s slang in The Outsiders
• Students learn about the coming-of-age genre and make connections
• Students preview the Greaser vs. Soc conflict

Click HERE to see a video of these stations in action in my 8th-grade classroom! As you can see, these station tasks engage students and help the class start the novel with a strong foundation. These print/digital pre-reading learning stations are available separately or bundled with other resources for The Outsiders HERE.

For more information about pre-reading activities and creating your own learning stations, check out the following blog posts:

• 5 Engaging Ideas for Pre-Reading Activities
• 10 Reasons to Implement Learning Stations
• How to Create Engaging Learning Stations
• How to Facilitate Successful Learning Stations
• 10 Ideas for Virtual Learning Stations

CHARACTER REPORT CARDS

It can be challenging for students to keep all the characters straight at the beginning of The Outsiders . To help students dig into the most important characters in a unique, memorable way, try assigning Character Report Cards. This activity is exactly what it sounds like: students “grade” characters on different categories, like intelligence and loyalty, and then cite examples/evidence to support the grades. This lesson is a great way to spark discussions about the moral complexity of the characters and their relationships with each other. Students love the chance to be the teacher and assign “grades” to the characters. You’ll be surprised at just how willingly they will cite textual evidence to support a failing grade! (Rarely do middle schoolers cite evidence without complaining…)

After you do this activity, you can connect it to stereotypes and labels! Essentially, you are asking students to judge characters based on the little information they have after a few chapters. As students continue to read the novel, encourage them to return to the report cards and reevaluate the grades they gave each character. 

CHARACTERIZATION & FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE QUESTION TRAIL

As I mentioned, digging into characterization at the beginning of The Outsiders is crucial. But instead of assigning worksheets, keep the momentum strong with an engaging question trail over the characters and the figurative language SE Hinton uses to describe them. If you’re unfamiliar with the wonderful question trail strategy, it’s a unique, kinesthetic activity that gets students up and moving around the classroom on a quest to complete a “trail” of multiple-choice questions.

During this lesson, different questions are posted around the room. Each question answer (A, B, C, D) sends students to a different question “on the trail,” so if students answer each question correctly, they complete a full circuit. But if students answer a question incorrectly, they’ll end up at a question they’ve already been to, which is their cue to backtrack and problem-solve. This means that question trails give both teachers and students clear, immediate feedback. It’s engaging and effective…a win-win! If this question trail idea sounds a bit complicated, I promise you it’s easier in person. And it’s easiest when you can use an already-organized and student-ready trail, like this one for Chapters 1-3 of The Outsiders. You can find this resource available separately or in my unit bundle for the book.

For more information on question trails:

• Click HERE to watch a quick video on this lesson
• Click HERE to learn about how to create your own question trail
• Click HERE to check out a blank question trail template for any text, skill, or subject

BOB’S DEATH: BLAME CHART

The murder of Bob the Soc propels the plot of The Outsiders, so it’s important to pause and process after this key event. One creative way to get students critically thinking about this scene is through a “Blame Chart,” where students analyze the different sources of conflict that lead to Bob’s death. Obviously, Johnny is physically responsible for Bob’s death, but any good reader knows there are multiple factors playing into the murder. Students always have strong opinions on whether the murder was self-defense and enjoy discussing their pie charts after this activity. This lesson is also a great way to spark predictions for future chapters and discuss how everything goes back to the Greaser vs. Soc conflict.

PONYBOY’S CHANGING PERSPECTIVE ACTIVITY

Studies have shown that drawing can help with memory and comprehension, so I always like to incorporate a little room for creativity and sketching during my novel units. (Stick figures are welcome!) Since The Outsiders is a coming-of-age novel that follows Ponyboy as his perspective changes, it only makes sense to challenge students with the task of pinpointing his perspective shifts. To do this, ask students to consider what impacts Ponyboy’s perspective the most. Then, give students a graphic organizer with space for them to visually represent the moments that impact Ponyboy’s perspective the most. This activity sparks some incredible discussion, and it’s interesting to see how students approach it. Some end up focusing on events that impact Ponyboy, while others focus on relationships with other characters. 

This activity is great because it gets students thinking about the most important characters and parts of the plot that ultimately contribute to the themes of the novel. The more you discuss throughout the text, the easier it will be for students to analyze the development of themes at the end of the book!

FUNERAL FOR JOHNNY: EULOGIES & ELEGIES

I’ve been doing character funerals ever since my days of teaching The Great Gatsby in high school (RIP, old sport), and they’re always one of the most memorable lessons of the unit! It feels cruel to keep on reading, business as usual, after a character passes away, so it only makes sense to put the novel on pause and host a funeral.

This is exactly what we do after Johnny passes away at the end of Chapter 9 of The Outsiders . Before the funeral, students write eulogies or elegies from the point of view of Ponyboy or Dally. During the funeral, I pass out funeral “programs” (to sneak in some learning) and students can volunteer to dramatically read aloud their eulogies and elegies during our class service. This lesson is also a great time to return to the “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem and start thinking more about the themes of the novel.

RELEVANT NONFICTION PAIRINGS

When it comes to The Outsiders , the possibilities for nonfiction pairings are endless! There is simply so much you can discuss when it comes to this book: stereotypes, empathy, identity, grief, group behavior, and more! I’ve rounded up multiple texts that you can pair with The Outsiders , and you can find lessons for each in my unit bundle. Here are a few of my favorites:

• “The Danger of A Single Story” TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: We watch this before reading the book, but you could play it at any point during the novel for some great connections to stereotypes and Ponyboy’s perspective.
• “How One Man Convinced 200 Ku Klux Klan Members To Give Up Their Robes” mini-podcast episode from NPR: This is quick but powerful, so I highly recommend giving it a listen and using it in your classroom. This story illustrates the power of relationships and interpersonal curiosity when it comes to overcoming stereotypes.
• “How to Be More Empathetic” guide from WebMD: This article is perfect for helping students recognize the strategies Ponyboy is using to gain empathy for Socs like Bob and Randy. It works well after Ponyboy sees Bob’s picture in the yearbook and finally sees him as a fellow human being.

SPEED DISCUSSION

So you’ve finished the book…now what? With a book so rich in life lessons like The Outsiders, the post-reading phase of your unit can be overwhelming. How do you do a book like this justice? How can you help students understand the enduring themes and appreciate the story as a whole? There’s so much you can discuss, but before you try to host that magical whole class discussion, soft-launch it with speed discussion! This strategy will get every student engaged at the same time and help readers think through important questions before a whole-class discussion.

During this activity, students discuss different questions with different peers during different rotations of discussion. In each “round” of discussions, students rotate to a new peer and discuss a new question. This means that by the end of class, students will have interacted with at least a dozen peers and discussed a dozen questions (or more, depending on your class periods). It all adds up to a lot of low-risk discussion practice

Speed discussion is always an engaging, effective lesson, but it’s especially helpful as a review before a literary analysis essay, final test, project, or Socratic Seminar. It gets students thinking about the big ideas, themes, and the So what? after reading!

BOOK COVER GALLERY WALK

One perk of The Outsiders’ 1967 publication date is the fact that so many different covers of the book have circulated since then. And a plethora of book covers makes for the perfect lesson: a book cover gallery walk! To do this lesson, pull some book covers from Google Images, print them out, and hang them around your classroom. You can frame your gallery walk with any question/s you’d like, but I like to structure it with my favorite open-ended question: “What do you notice?” You can see the graphic organizer I give students below. This activity sparks such powerful discussions and helps students better understand the theme, symbolism, and author’s purpose!

MOVIE ANALYSIS

Anytime I teach a novel with a film adaptation, I’m all about showing that movie in class–not just for fun, but to engage students in meaningful film analysis. Teaching students how to analyze a movie is an engaging, accessible way to scaffold the challenging skill of literary analysis. With thoughtfully crafted questions, helpful modeling, and a strategic approach, students can analyze a movie just like they’d analyze a text. By switching out your comprehension-based “viewing guides” for thoughtful film analysis worksheets, you will prompt much more critical thinking and spark rich discussions about the text and film adaptation. 

In addition to asking students to compare/contrast the text and the film, try asking them why they think the film directors made certain changes and how these changes affect the audience. These kinds of questions spark more thoughtful insight and engaging discussions.

The Outsiders is especially perfect for this because you can show the extended “full novel” version but ask questions about scenes that were deleted from the original version. This will prompt students to think about how scenes impact the story and its themes.  For print/digital worksheets with these types of questions, check out my film analysis worksheets available separately or in my unit bundle.

I hope these lesson ideas help you bring new life to this classic. For more engaging activities and resources for teaching The Outsiders, check out this unit bundle full of print/digital learning stations, quickwrites, creative activities, vocabulary resources, and more.

To see some of this unit in action, check out these Instagram posts for more info:

• How I Launched Our Unit on The Outsiders
• Pre-Reading Learning Stations
• The Outsiders: Reading Schedule
• Engaging Activities for Chapters 1-4 of The Outsiders
• Character Report Cards
• Characterization/Figurative Language Question Trail
• Engaging Activities for Chapters 5-9 of The Outsiders
• Engaging Activities for Chapters 10-12 of The Outsiders
• The Outsiders: Novel Unit

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Easily Plan your Unit on The Outsiders (+ Free Final Project)

• April 25, 2018

The Outsiders is an ideal book for the ELA classroom. Don’t you agree? The novel, about a teenage boy who questions the divisions – social, political, economical – of the society he’s trapped in, is wildly engaging for students. The voice is gripping, real, honest. Probably because the book was actually written by a teenager dealing with truly difficult experiences.

Like so many of our students.

Though the book is at a relatively easy reading level, it’s a great option for hooking kids who have defined themselves as non-readers. And it’s quite the platform for discussing things that matter to our kids – the ways they define themselves, the raging social divisions going on around them, the complexities of being a teenager.

If you’re lucky enough to get to add it to your curriculum, it lends itself to SO MANY wonderful creative activities! Here are ten to make your unit planning easy peasy. Sprinkle these in between your discussions and you’ll be set for a fabulous unit. And don’t miss the free final project, integrating STEM + ELA, at the end of the post.

#1 The Open Mind When you’re looking to get students thinking deeply about characters, consider an activity I call “The Open Mind.” Either assign students a character, or let them choose one they are most interested in. Then ask them to go inside that character’s head, creating a page of sketchnotes that go deep with the relationships, crucial life events, dreams, and developments relating to that character. Ask them to include several quotations.

#7 Peacemakers Presentations Ponyboy is a peacemaker. Despite all that he has been through, he builds bridges. One great extension activity would be to have students research other peacemakers, creating a wall of peace in your classroom with visual displays on great leaders of peace throughout history.

Suggest people like:

• Mahatma Ghandi
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Nelson Mandela
• Desmond Tutu
• Malala Yousafzai
• Aung San Suu  Kyi
• Jane Addams

#8 “This I Believe” Essay for Ponyboy

You know how I feel about PBS’ “T his I Believe” curriculum (LOVE). Writing personal belief essays is a great activity with any class, but it also functions well as an activity for a literary character. Ponyboy has a strong mind of his own, and his beliefs get clearer and clearer as the book progresses. Asking him to write a “This I Believe” essay in the style of the PBS radio series, focusing in on one crucial belief with lots of specific, detailed anecdotes and examples to support the power of that belief, would be a great activity for an Outsiders unit.

#9 Bring in a Touch of Transcendentalism

Ponyboy walks his own road. It’s not too hard to connect his story to the transcendentalist movement. I especially like to bring in one quotation by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Ask students to consider the meaning of this quotation, and how the different characters in the book stack up to it. Who is willing to let their views change when confronted with new ideas and circumstances? Who grows instead of stagnating? What characters cling to their consistency and small-mindedness?

#10 Create the App Final Project

Particularly if you’ve already experimented with the critical thinking required for One-Pagers and This I Believe essays, you may wish to do a creative final project for the novel rather than an essay. Build a bridge to the ever-popular themes of STEM by launching your students into an app creation project. Have them imagine they are Ponyboy, creating an App that would help real people break down the barriers between them. You can download this final project completely free here .

I’ll help you find the creative ELA strategies that will light up your classroom. Get ready for joyful teaching!

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The Outsiders Essay Topics & Writing Assignments

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of social and/or class division in the novel. Is the rivalry senseless? What motivates the rivalry between groups?

Essay Topic 2

What elements in the novel make the story more real? Discuss elements like point of view, characters, and how thematic elements like violence are handled.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the significance of the title of the novel. Who is an "outsider" throughout the story, and what makes that person an "outsider"? What other interpretations of the title are there?

Essay Topic 4

Explain the similarities between the greasers and the Socs. How are they not really all that different from each other? Why does each group think the other is better off? What specific events or conversations in the novel indicate that the two groups have some things in common?

Essay Topic 5

Describe the setting of the novel. What time period is it, and...

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The Outsiders Argument Essay

Engage your students in an argument essay assignment that will challenge them to think about S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders in a new way! This final essay for The Outsiders is a great writing task to get students critically thinking, writing, and supporting their claims with strong evidence! and supporting their claim.

This argument essay includes everything you need in order to assign an essay and go through the writing process with your students!

Here’s what you’ll get:

• an argumentative essay prompt for The Outsiders
• a brainstorming organizer
• a five-paragraph essay outline
• a body paragraph graphic organizer
• two different grading rubrics (a 100-point rubric and a rubric that allows you to write in your own points values)
• a handout for writing a strong counterclaim
• a handout for writing a strong thesis statement
• a peer editing form
• two graphic organizers to help students organize their thoughts

You will love how this essay writing resource breaks down the writing process for your students. Your students will love how all of the organizers build on one another to make essay writing a breeze!

Prep is quick and easy… Just print the student pages, gather the materials listed, and you’re ready for a fun and engaging class!

TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lisa W. says, “I really enjoyed the layout of this resource. I gave it to my middle school English Resource students to help with outlining and writing an argumentative paper.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jason C. says, “My students loved the Outsiders and this material really added valuable information to my unit. Thanks.

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You may also like…

→ The Outsiders Novel Unit with 5-week Pacing Guide

→ Academic Vocabulary Program

→ Essay Writing Unit

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