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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Speak Up! Four Categories Of Speeches

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
High schoolers examine the four major types of speeches: informative, demonstrative, persuasive, and extemporaneous. Groups then select one type and craft and share a presentation highlighting this format's characteristics. Finally,...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Summarizing and Sorting Details from an Informational Text: Identifying the Main Idea

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars participate in two activities that teach them to identify the main idea and key supporting details in informational text. Partners create a visual that reflects the main idea and key supporting details in an informational text...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Presenting with Confidence: Speech and Debate

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Stage fright? Class members learn strategies to overcome stage fright and develop confidence when giving speeches and engaging in debates.
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Reframing the Argument: Examining Argument through a New Lens

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of crafting compelling arguments, class members tackle the problem presented in Lawrence Kohlberg's "The Heinz Dilemma." After discussing the dilemma with classmates, writers draft an essay with a claim, support it...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Preparing for Othello - Frontloading Meaning (Part 2): Pre-reading Strategies

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The second lesson in a two-part series that prepares high schoolers for a study of Othello focuses on additional pre-reading strategies. Pupils reflect on what they have learned and consider what they would like to learn about the play....
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Preparing for Othello - Frontloading Meaning (Part 1): Pre-reading Strategies

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The success of any lesson based on a complex text relies heavily on what instructors do before beginning the reading. Before reading Othello, scholars engage in a series of pre-reading activities, including completing an anticipation...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Sentence Structure in Siddhartha: Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences

For Teachers 9th Standards
While wisdom may not be communicated, knowledge of sentence structures certainly can. Teach young grammarians the power of syntax with a lesson plan that uses Herman Hesse's Siddhartha as a mentor text. Learners first rewrite captions...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Say It with Style: Syntax and Parallel Structure

For Teachers 9th Standards
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech provides the text for a lesson that introduces scholars to the significance of syntax. After examining several types of clauses, phrases, and structures, class members use the...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Monster Monday - The Good, the Bad, and the Sparkly: Vampire Tropes through History

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Fangs, capes, pale skin, and beady eyes! High schoolers investigate the tropes associated with vampires by examining excerpts from stories and films. They then create a timeline that reveals how the depictions of vampires have evolved...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

It’s Raining Whats and Whats? Colloquial Language

For Teachers 8th Standards
"Yuns betta outten the lights!" Colloquial language is the focus of a lesson that asks middle schoolers to consider the pros and cons of using idioms. They read articles, match expressions with their meaning and place of origin, and...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

It’s All Greek to Me: Greek and Latin Roots

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Ancient Greeks and Romans have contributed far more to modern culture than mythic heroes and stunning architecture. Greek and Latin roots are the foundation of many English words. Middle schoolers engage in an activity that asks them to...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Mob Mentality and "The Outsiders": Integrating Fiction and Nonfiction

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders allows middle schoolers to reflect on mob mentality. After reading an article and watching a video about herd mentality, class members find examples in the novel of when characters go along with the crowd and...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Of Mice and Men in the Great Depression: Background and Setting

For Teachers 9th Standards
What were living conditions like in the United States during The Great Depression, and how do those conditions compare with today? That's the question young scholars consider as they prepare to read John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men....
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Multimodal Narrative Writing: Thumbprint Autobiography

For Teachers 8th Standards
Thumbprints, like people, are unique. Middle schoolers watch videos that explain how fingerprints are created and why they are unique. Learners then respond to guiding questions about themselves and use these details to create their...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

If I Had... Conditional and Subjunctive Sentences

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Lines from popular songs are used to teach middle schoolers about conditional and subjunctive moods. Groups engage in a card sort activity to identify conditional and subjective sentences and then partners draft sentences of each type....
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie: Conditional Statements

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
If, then, Else is not only a basic programming language command, it is also the basis for conditional statements used in writing. Middle schoolers try to craft conditional statements with a card sort activity and then collaborate on a...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Sweet and Savory Writing: Descriptive Writing

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
The engagement is in the details. Young scholars learn the benefit of weaving descriptive and sensory details into the fabric of their writing through the activities in this lesson. As their hands explore items concealed in bags, a...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

It's All About Balance! Parallel Structure

For Teachers 9th Standards
I came, I saw, I conquered! Parallel structure, employed by writers even before Julius Caesar, is the focus of a lesson that teaches young writers the power of this rhetorical device. Class members analyze speeches by Dr. Martin Luther...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Is Pizza Epic? Word Choice

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Remember when everything was Fantastic! Fabulous! Awesome! Iconic! A series of activities encourages young writers to move beyond these overused descriptors and instead choose a more precise language.
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Nose Like a Cherry: Understanding Similes and Metaphors

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Clement Moore's "Twas the Night Before Christmas" models the power of descriptive language for middle schoolers. They identify the similes and metaphors in the tale and consider what these descriptions add to the story's emotional...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

No Imitations, Please! Avoiding Plagiarism

For Teachers 8th - 10th
With all the stuff available online, good essays are just a click away. But talk about tracking! Writers beware! New tech can now identify plagiarism, and the consequences of presenting someone else's work as your own are severe. Here's...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

More than Meets the Eye: Direct and Indirect Characterization

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Willy Wonka takes center stage in a lesson about direct and indirect characterization. Scholars read a passage from the story about Wonka's Grand Entrance and watch a film clip of the same, noting examples of direct and indirect...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Introduction to Expository Writing

For Teachers 6th - 9th Standards
Move beyond the five-paragraph essay with a instructional activity introducing young writers to various forms of expository writing. Class members examine description, cause and effect, problem solution, sequence, and comparison forms....
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Making Sense of MLA: Citing Sources and MLA Formatting

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Modern Language Association (MLA) Style Sheet is about giving credit where credit is due. And while there are different style sheets, the one most often used in Language Arts is the MLA. In this lesson, high school scholars learn how...