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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "We All Return to the Place Where We Were Born" by Oscar Gonzales

For Teachers 6th - 12th
What do you remember about your childhood home? Scholars listen to Oscar Gonzales reading his poem "We All Return to the Place Where We Were Born" in Spanish and English, then discuss what they learned about Gonzales.
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "The Snowfall Is So Silent" by Miguel de Unamuno

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Cold, beautiful, unique! Class members closely examine John Singer Sargent's watercolor "Snow," taking note of the artist's techniques, and pair up to discuss how the image makes them feel about snow. They then repeat the process with...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Untwining And Intertwining: Chemical Reactions

For Teachers 9th - 12th
What happened when the chemistry teacher told a bad joke? There was no reaction! A creative take on the traditional reaction types lesson invites learners to draw their own conclusions about how compounds and elements combine. Groups...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Timmy Made Mistakes: Lab Safety

For Teachers 8th - 12th
It's better to be safe than sorry ... just ask Timmy! Engage learners with a hilarious lab safety review activity. The lesson, part of the K20 series, revolves around identifying, describing, and remediating disastrous lab practices.
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Understanding and Analyzing “The U.S. of Us” by Richard Blanco

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Current immigration issues and the rhetoric surrounding the controversies come into focus with a lesson that uses Richard Blanco's anthem, "The U.S. of Us," written after the August 2019 attack in El Paso, Texas, to open a discussion of...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

What Is the Dream Act and Who Are the Dreamers?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act) is the focus of a lesson that asks high schoolers to investigate the act's provisions and read statements by individuals who support and oppose the act. They then...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "November 2: Día De Los Muertos" By Alberto Ríos

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Scholars examine a colorful and detailed picture, then view an engaging video in preparation for reading the poem "November 2: Día De Los Muertos" by Alberto Ríos. Learners discuss their observations, feelings conveyed, and the...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "The Teller of Tales" by Gabriela Mistral

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
The poem "The Teller of Tales" by Gabriela Mistral is the subject of a thoughtful lesson that allows scholars to listen to or read the poem, then discuss its meaning. 
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

“Walling Out the Unwanted”: Understanding the Barriers that Perpetuate Anti-Immigrant Bias

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of immigrant bias, high schoolers investigate the language used in blogs, readings, media reports, and current legislation whose language perpetuates xenophobia. They then consider ways they can get involved in...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

‘Migrant Caravan’ and the People Seeking Asylum

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The controversies surrounding migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. have recently been a hot topic. To understand some of the issues involved, young scholars investigate the Migrant Caravans of 2018. A 10-page packet, including photos, a...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Introduction to Arguing Effectively: Argument Writing

For Teachers 10th - 11th Standards
Which is better—Chick-fil-A or MacDonalds? High schoolers learn how to craft an argument essay by beginning an opinion statement. They state a claim, back up their claim with evidence, and consider counter calms. Scholars then create a...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

I Theme, You Theme, We All Theme For Ice Cream: Themes In Literature

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Teach readers how to distinguish between a topic and a story's theme in a short lesson that uses the children's book, Should I Share My Ice Cream, as an exemplar. After listening to the story, pairs generate a list of topics covered in...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

I Need A (Super)Hero: Literary Elements And Narrative Writing

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Need a hero? Super! Groups create their modern-day marvel and craft a narrative with all the elements required in such a tale.
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Freedom And Restraint: Elements Of Fiction

For Teachers 11th Standards
Kate Chopin's short story, "The Story of an Hour" and John H. Young's "Our Deportment, or the Manners, Conduct, and Dress of Refined Society" offer high school juniors an opportunity to compare the role of women in the 19th century with...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Emotions: Julius Caesar

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Scholars, high schoolers, class members! With the help of this instructional activity, you too can identify the three persuasive appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos) the characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar used to...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Growing Themes

For Teachers 7th - 11th Standards
The theme of a work is not a single word! Rather it is a statement that reflects what a writer believes or wants readers to understand about a topic or subject. Here's a short, but powerful lesson that utilizes passages from The...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

From Apples To Oranges: Examining Literary Devices

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Make learning the definitions of literary terms memorable with a fun and engaging activity. Teams of scholars are given several terms and create an acrostic poem with simplified definitions and examples.
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Lesson Plan
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Anti-Defamation League

Building Alliances

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Bystander or up-stander? The final lesson in the "Looking Back Reaching Forward" unit asks participants to consider how they can become involved in encouraging change in their school and community. 
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Lesson Plan
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Anti-Defamation League

Bringing It Home

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The "Bringing It Home" instructional activity asks scholars to investigate segregation and diversity in their school. They research, collect, and analyze local demographics. After reflecting on their personal experiences with cliques and...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Anti-Defamation League

Sixty Years Later

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Has any progress been made in desegregating schools since 1954's Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education? To find out, class members examine charts and graphs representing U.S. schools' racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic...
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Lesson Plan
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Anti-Defamation League

With All Deliberate Speed

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Has the integration of U.S. schools proceeded "with all deliberate speed?" Has progress been made? Those are the questions young historians must consider as they examine the barriers to and opportunities revealed in a study of timelines...
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Lesson Plan
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Anti-Defamation League

The Road to Brown

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
As part of the study of segregation in U.S. schools, scholars research and create a timeline of events that led to the historic Supreme Court case, Brown V. Board of Education. Groups research a topic or event that led to the decision,...
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Lesson Plan
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Anti-Defamation League

The Problem We Still Live With?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Norman Rockwell's painting "The Problem We Still Live With" launches a unit study of racism in the United States and segregation in U.S. schools. In the first lesson, scholars discuss the painting, review key elements of the Supreme...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Ethos, Logos, Pathos: Persuading Your Audience

For Teachers 10th - 11th Standards
Ethics, emotion, reason—scholars investigate advertisers' persuasive techniques to attract buyers. After examining the techniques used in infomercials, writers craft a persuasive essay on a topic of their choice.