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Lesson Plan
California Department of Education

Evaluating Web Sites

For Teachers 8th Standards
If it's on the Internet, it must be true—right? How can someone tell if a website contains less-than-truthful information? Savvy surfers evaluate sources in the fifth of a six-part college and career readiness instructional activity...
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Unit Plan
American Press Institute

Introductory News Literacy

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Aspiring journalists learn about media literacy, journalism, and the press. Units come complete with handouts, assignment rubrics, notes, and extension suggestions. Each unit also comes with a list of vocabulary words and learning...
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Lesson Plan
Consumers Energy

Conductors and Insulators

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Why did the orchestra director use a copper baton? She heard it makes a great conductor. Scholars select six items to test in a circuit to determine if each is a conductor or an insulator. Clear instructions for using electricity allow...
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Unit Plan
Santa Ana Unified School District

The Giver

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Wouldn't it be great to live an a community without pain, without danger? Such a society is the goal of the community in The Giver. Using Lois Lowry's dystopian novel as the core text, class members read primary source materials about...
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Unit Plan
7
7
Online Publications

Become a Journalist

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Explore the newspaper as a unique entity with a detailed and extended unit. The unit requires learners to consider the newspaper's role in democracy, think about ethics, practice writing and interviewing, and examine advertising and news...
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Activity
2
2
Scholastic

Narrative Writing

For Teachers 5th - 9th Standards
If you're looking to start a unit based around narrative writing, make sure to consider this resource while you're planning. This book covers five topics: writing personal narratives, writing narratives about others, writing narratives...
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Lesson Plan14:52
1
1
Howard Hughes Medical Institute

The Making of the Fittest: Got Lactase? The Co-evolution of Genes and Culture

For Teachers 8th - Higher Ed Standards
Got milk? Only two cultures have had it long enough to develop the tolerance of lactose as an adult. Learn how the responsible genes evolved along with the cultures that have been consuming milk. This rich film is supplied with a few...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Socratic Seminar on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter From Birmingham Jail

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Key in the struggle to gain the rights of democratic citizenship was the April 1963 arrest of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for civil disobedience. To deepen their knowledge and understanding of events during the civil rights movement,...
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Lesson Plan
7
7
The New York Times

Stress Less: Understanding How Your Mind and Body Respond to Anxiety

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What could be more relevant to teens and preteens than experiencing stress? Use an article from the New York Times website to practice valuable Common Core skills for informational text reading, and also get a discussion going in your...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Narrative Writing

For Teachers 8th Standards
Binoculars are used as a metaphor for good descriptive writing. Class members first view a small picture and then an enlarged view of the same image in which the details come into focus. Next, learners examine a paragraph lacking sensory...
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Lesson Plan
3
3
Curated OER

Agriculture: It Doesn't Just Happen

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
After reading an informational text on the Agricultural Research Service, learners research the role of the ARS in Oklahoma. Using reputable online sources, they label a map of the state with relevant areas. Researchers focus on one of...
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Lesson Plan
4
4
Curated OER

Redistricting: Drawing the Lines

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Difficult redistricting concepts are covered in a context that will make it understandable to your government scholars. They begin with a KWL on the term redistricting and then watch a video to answer some questions. They analyze...
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Lesson Plan
5
5
Curated OER

The Internet of Things: IoT

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
How has the Internet of Things affected our lives? Scholars examine the massive influence of mobile devices in this analysis activity, which begins with a seven-minute documentary clip. They also read a New York Times article (linked)...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Curated OER

How Will We Create a Future without Waste?

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Many young people act globally by reducing, reusing, and recycling, Now they take it to the next level by upcycling. Middle schoolers design a proposal to eliminate waste by exploring the new material cycle and applying their knowledge...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing an Author’s Craft: Carlotta’s Journey to Justice

For Teachers 8th Standards
Find your voice. Readers look at a passage from A Mighty Long Way and discuss what it means for Carlotta to find her voice. After discussing figurative language and idioms, learners listen to the song "This Little Light of Mine" and...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Final Performance Task: Presentation of Photograph and Song Selections

For Teachers 8th Standards
The presentation is the thing. Learners combine all their skills by creating a pitch for their films about the Little Rock Nine. They explain to classmates why they selected the images and songs using self-created prompt cards. The end...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Preparation for Performance Task: Practicing Presentations

For Teachers 8th Standards
Practice makes progress. Working in pairs, presenters rehearse and refine their presentation skills before the big day when they pitch their film choices. Rehearsing also allows for refining prompt cards based on peer feedback and...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Preparation for Performance Task: Using Writing to Make Prompt Cards

For Teachers 8th Standards
Writing becomes dynamic in a presentation. Presenters transform a piece of writing they have already composed about the Little Rock Nine into a presentation. The focus is transferring ideas from their writing into short prompts on cards...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Choosing Songs for the Film Soundtrack

For Teachers 8th Standards
Music has the power to bring topics alive. Learners take on the role of sound director in their film planning and choose the songs to accompany their photographs. They must also support their decisions with evidence and reasoning as they...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit Assessment: Analysis of Language Techniques

For Teachers 8th Standards
Show what you know. Learners demonstrate mastery of English grammar and usage by completing a pen-and-paper assessment of verbals and verb shifts. In addition, they begin composing a book review based on an independent reading book. The...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Launching the Performance Task

For Teachers 8th Standards
This word or that, this picture or that. Individuals dive into the lives of The Little Rock Nine and the connotation used in the book A Mighty Long Way as they begin the performance task. The task scenario establishes literature lovers...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing a Central Idea: Carlotta’s Journey to Justice

For Teachers 8th Standards
Verbs are deceptive and like to disguise themselves. Young linguists identify verbals, specifically gerunds, infinitives, and participles when analyzing the third stage of Carlotta's journey in the novel A Mighty Long Way. Bridge...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit 2 Assessment, Part 2: Revise Essay Drafts

For Teachers 8th Standards
Time to revise! Scholars revise their argument essays based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream using feedback from their teacher and peers. They begin their revisions after reviewing a mini-lesson on proper writing conventions.
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Final Performance Task: Becoming Visible Again

For Teachers 8th Standards
It's task time! Scholars complete the final lesson plan of the unit by completing a performance task. Readers begin in groups, working on a task card. Once complete, they move to an independent task, writing responses to a prompt about...