EngageNY
Bringing Douglass’s Words to Life: The Fight with Covey
Readers have the opportunity to bring the words from an excerpt of Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass to life. They use strategies from the Storyteller’s
Toolbox anchor chart as a guide and then work in pairs to prepare...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment, Part 1 and Excerpt 4 Third Read
I hear you! Scholars work on the mid-unit assessment by listening to a story told orally rather than reading it themselves. After watching a video clip of Thelma Thomas performing Harriet Tubman, they answer questions about what they...
EngageNY
Analyzing Douglass’s Purpose: An Escape Attempt
Time for more team work! Class members work in a team once again to complete Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Excerpt 5 Analysis note catcher. Before beginning, teams review the Group Work anchor chart and roles....
EngageNY
Reflecting on Douglass’s Narrative
The conclusion of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass comes to life in a reader's theater. The class discusses the use of quotation marks in the text and then divides parts among the groups. After the performances,...
EngageNY
Writing an Analysis Essay: Introducing the Writing Prompt and the Model Essay
A model analysis essay provides writers with an opportunity to examine a response to the end-of-unit assessment writing prompt. Scholars define key words in the prompt and discuss how the model essay meets the demands in the prompt....
EngageNY
Writing an Analysis Essay: Planning the Essay
Writers work on creating a plan for their end-of-unit essay of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass using a Frederick Douglass Essay Planner to help guide their thought process. They then regroup as a class to...
Curated OER
Poetry Assignment
As the culminating activity in a unit study of poetry, class members demonstrate what they have learned about poetry by creating a notebook containing original poems they have written, published poems they enjoy, and analyses of...
Santa Ana Unified School District
The Giver
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...
Curated OER
Understanding Tiananmen Square
William Bell's Forbidden City is used as the basis of a study of China, Chinese culture and government, and especially of the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Class members select a topic for Internet research and then prepare a...
Curated OER
Childhood Lost: Child Labor in the United States, 1830-1930
Working in groups, middle and high schoolers describe and discuss photographs depicting working conditions experienced by child laborers in the 19th century. They then write a persuasive paragraph supporting an amendment to regulate the...
Curated OER
It's a Matter of Opinion
Dissect the parts of an advertisement with your class. Middle schoolers discuss advertisements and locate the hook in them. Then, they create an advertisement for a business, in which they include the name of the business, an...
Curated OER
Interpreting the Evidence
Middle schoolers find out about the social changes that caused the collapse of important ancient civilizations in Central America, Mesopotamia, the southwestern United States, and western Africa.
Curated OER
Using Primary Sources in the Classroom
Scholars study a historical photograph to make predictions of what happened right after the picture was taken. They research a variety of different topics and use primary sources to answer questions about common food, fashion trends, and...
Curated OER
Mandala Portfolio Project
Here's a great idea for writing portfolios. Kids decorate all four sides of their portfolio, introducing themselves, their families, goals, dreams, and favorite things. Detailed directions for all four panels and a rubric are included in...
Curated OER
Creating a Life Map
Students create their own life map in which they introduce themselves to each other by sharing what they are most proud of. They use a life map to expressive themselves creatively.
Curated OER
"Take my Advice": Poems with a Voice
Discuss the meaning of the phrase tone of voice with the class. They respond to a variety of scenarios where a particular tone would be prevalent. They then read "Mother to Son" without knowing the title and answer some questions about...
Curated OER
Mapping Your Identity: A Back-To-School Ice Breaker
Identify the unique personal attributes of your class members. Begin by viewing the Visual Thesaurus and discussing displayed attributes associated with famous American leaders. Using these identity maps as models, pupils generate nouns...
Smithsonian Institution
The Soldier’s Experience—Vietnam versus World War I
The Vietnam War and World War I were two very important—and different—wars. To understand the differences, and similarities, class members watch videos, examine primary source documents, and then create a newscast that examines the...
Student Achievement Partners
Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston's "Farewell to Manzanar"
Passages from Unbroken and Farewell to Manzanar provide the context for a study of the historical themes of experiencing war, resilience during war, and understanding the lasting trauma of war. Appendices include extension...
Curated OER
Seventh Grade Geography Research Paper Project
Seventh graders work on a cross curricular project in both geography and writing classes. Students conduct research on Latin America using both non print and print sources and follow the MLA form of research. Students turn in source and...
Curated OER
Exploring Descriptive Language With Different Parts of Speech
Students practice experiencing writing with appropriate language and incorporating the eight parts of speech. They assess that many words have multiple functions when used in different contexts. Each student free writes in response to a...
Curated OER
The Holocaust in Art, Photography and Writing
Students explore paintings, photographs and writings about the Holocaust using the internet. Researching the various websites, they will discover different human experiences of Holocaust victims. After researching, students write about...
Curated OER
Storytelling: Using the Arts to Enrich the Curriculum...
Students explore the art of storytelling and stories from various cultures. Students experience Japanese and Chinese culture as well as Greek mythology. Students create and present their own Greek mythology topic to the class.
Curated OER
Against The Tide: Three Who Made It!
Young scholars examine the lives of three people from New Haven, Connecticut who have careers in law, politics and entertainment. In groups or individually, they read excerpts of information about the three people and what contributions...