Teaching ELA in Atlanta in Grades 9–12

Quick answer: Teach high school ELA through speeches: students identify purpose and audience, name rhetorical devices, weigh ethos, pathos and logos, then write arguments of their own. Use Analysing Political Speeches: Rhetoric and Stylistic Devices for the core method and a King speech as the local anchor text.

Georgia's K-12 English Language Arts Standards replaced the Georgia Standards of Excellence for ELA in 2025-26, so many Atlanta teachers are reviewing their units this year and next. Whatever the wording of your standards, reading arguments closely and writing arguments clearly stay at the center of high school English.

Speeches are a practical way to teach both. They are short, written to persuade and meant to be heard, which makes rhetorical choices easy to spot. Atlanta also gives you a strong local anchor: Martin Luther King Jr. was born in the city in 1929.

What should students in Grades 9–12 learn about rhetoric?

Students should be able to describe the rhetorical situation of a text and explain how specific choices serve the speaker's purpose. Focus on a small set of terms they can use accurately rather than a long glossary they only memorize.

• Rhetorical situation: speaker, audience, occasion and purpose
• Modes of persuasion: ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion) and logos (reasoning and evidence)
• Devices: anaphora (repetition at the start of lines), antithesis, tricolon (groups of three), metaphor, rhetorical question
• Effect: how a device changes what listeners think or feel
• Argument writing: claim, reasons, evidence, counterargument and response

How do I sequence a speech analysis unit?

About four weeks works for most classes, ending with a written argument.

1. Show a short, current speech clip and ask students what the speaker wants the audience to do. Record answers as the purpose.
2. Introduce the rhetorical situation with the Analysing Political Speeches worksheets. Students fill in speaker, audience, occasion and purpose for two contrasting speeches.
3. Teach ethos, pathos and logos with one example each, then ask students to sort ten sentences from speeches into the three modes.
4. Teach five devices with examples. Anaphora: We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds. Students find one example of each in a new text.
5. Read excerpts of King's “I Have a Dream” with the “I Have a Dream” analysis workbook. Students track repetition and imagery and explain their effect on the audience in 1963.
6. Write a timed analysis paragraph: claim about one device, quotation, explanation of effect.
7. Move to argument writing with Writing a Comment and Argumentative Essay. Students take a position on a school or city issue and draft a five-paragraph argument.
8. Peer review with a checklist, revise and submit.

How can I use Atlanta in speech and argument lessons?

King's connection to Atlanta gives the unit a local anchor. His birth home is part of a National Historical Park, and students can compare the young King they learn about there with the speaker they hear in 1963. Ask how his experiences growing up may have shaped the images he chose.

For argument writing, local topics work well because students have evidence from their own lives: school start times, public transport to school, or how the city should mark civil rights history. Ask for at least one piece of evidence students can check.

What pitfalls do students fall into with rhetorical analysis?

• Device spotting without explanation. Naming anaphora earns little; explaining what the repetition does to the audience earns the credit.
• Summary instead of analysis. Students retell what the speaker said rather than how they said it.
• Treating pathos as bad and logos as good. Strong speeches use all three modes on purpose.
• Quoting too much. A quotation of four to eight words is usually enough to support one point.
• Ignoring the audience. The same line lands differently with supporters, opponents and undecided listeners.

How do I differentiate for Grade 9 and for English learners?

The “I Have a Dream” workbook is listed for Grades 5–9, which makes it a good entry point for Grade 9 or for students who need more support. Its six differentiated worksheets and rhetorical glossary let you start with comprehension before moving to analysis. Older or stronger groups can go straight to the political speeches unit.

For English learners, provide sentence frames for analysis: The speaker uses ... to ... . This makes the audience feel ... because ... . Let students listen to a speech before reading it, since speeches are written for the ear.

How does assessment work, and where can I find more?

Georgia Milestones End-of-Course tests are given in high school. Whatever format your course uses, timed analysis paragraphs and one full argument essay give you and your students clear evidence of progress. The political speeches and argument units both include answer keys with expected solutions, which help students compare their work to a model.

More units for speech, rhetoric and writing are in the ELA collection for Grades 7–12. The Atlanta teaching resources page lists resources for history, music and math.

ELA in Atlanta: at a glance

Frequently asked questions

What changed with Georgia's new ELA standards?

Georgia's K-12 English Language Arts Standards replaced the Georgia Standards of Excellence for ELA in 2025-26. Review the Georgia Department of Education documents for the exact wording in your grade. Close reading, analysis of argument and clear writing remain central, so speech units adapt well to the change.

Which speeches work best for Grade 9?

Short speeches with clear purpose and strong repetition work best. King's “I Have a Dream” is a natural choice in Atlanta. Pair it with one contrasting speech, such as a school graduation address, so students can compare audiences and occasions.

How do I teach ethos, pathos and logos without oversimplifying?

Show that one sentence can use more than one mode. A speaker who cites their own experience with a statistic uses ethos and logos together. Ask students which mode is strongest in a passage and why, rather than asking them to assign only one label.

How long should a student argument essay be?

For Grades 9 and 10, aim for five paragraphs of about 500 to 700 words. In Grades 11 and 12, students can write longer pieces with a fuller counterargument. What matters most is a clear claim, relevant evidence and an honest response to the other side.

Related reading

• Atlanta teaching resources: selected units and subjects
• Teaching Civil Rights History in Atlanta in Grades 5–8