Polk Bros Foundation
Answer the BIG Question with Cited Examples and Evidence
Close up your unit of study with an examination of one of the guiding or essential questions as it relates to what your class has studied and other research. Class members first write down the question. Then they note down information...
Building Evidence-Based Arguments: Grade 9
New ReviewHigh schoolers investigate the dilemma of a proportional response with a lesson about the history of terrorism and militant extremists in the United States. As they examine memos from the FBI and speeches from President Bush and Obama,...
Fluence Learning
Writing Informative Text: School Days
A three-part writing assessment challenges scholars to think critically about schools of the past and present. Learners read informative texts, answer questions to prepare for a discussion, research in small groups, complete a Venn...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Courage “In the Time of the Butterflies”: A Common Core Exemplar
The courage of Las Mariposas, the Mirabal sisters, is the focus of a series of activities designed to accompany a reading of In the Time of the Butterflies that ask readers to consider what it means to be courageous. Beautifully crafted...
Listening Library
The Sign of the Beaver
Extend a class reading of the novel The Sign of the Beaver across all subject areas with this literature unit guide. From basic discussion questions and writing prompts, to a research project about tracking animals, this resource offers...
Curated OER
Toulmin Argument Essay
After viewing a Prezi presentation on Toulmin’s argument, (claim, reason, warrant, backing, grounds, qualifiers, rebuttals), groups re-examine the format, and then individuals craft an argument essay in response to Lord Chesterfields...
Curated OER
American Literature and the Civil War
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes fourteen lessons from the American Literature, The Civil War and Its Aftermath: 1845-1880 series, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading...
Curated OER
Which Way To Go?
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package of lessons includes nine lessons from the American Literature series, each covering a different reading selection about a man making a key life decision. Pre-reading...
Curated OER
Responding To Literature
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes nineteen lessons, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and response activities are included for each lesson as well as extension and...
Curated OER
World Literature From Africa
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes twenty-four lessons from the World Literature series, each covering a different reading selection from Africa. Pre-reading and response activities are...
Curated OER
Getting To Know You
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes ten lessons from the American Literature series, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and response activities are included for each...
Curated OER
Larger Than Life Figures
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes six lessons about larger than life figures from the American Literature series, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and response...
Curated OER
American Literature Unit Two
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes nineteen lessons from the American Literature, A New Nation: 1750-1850 series, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and response...
Curated OER
American Literature, The Earliest Days
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes eleven lessons from the American Literature, The Earliest Days: Prehistory to 1750 each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and response...
Curated OER
American Literature Unit Four
Students prepare for and respond to literature selections. This package includes twelve lessons from the American Literature, Regionalism and Realism: 1865-1910 series, each covering a different reading selection. Pre-reading and...
Curated OER
Disco - Voices of a New Generation
Students analyze lyrics of selected Disco songs for content, theme and vocabulary. They write an extended response citing specific lyrics in response to three general themes.
Curated OER
Noncombatancy and the Seventh day Adventist Church
Upper graders investigate how the Seventh Day Adventists are objectors to the practice of war. The lesson covers the Civil War and examines the church's position about the practice of war. The research extends to modern wars and learners...
Curated OER
Defining Character, With Help from History
In a single, soundly-designed class period, high schoolers define good character, think-pair-share about thought-provoking quotes on character (More options would enhance the discussion, worth searching online for other quotes to add.),...
Curated OER
Exploring Gullah Culture...Through Language and Numbers
First graders examine the culture of the ancient Gullah people. As a class, they practice saying and writing the days of the week and numbers in Gullah. They are read a Gullah folktale and put the events of the story into the correct...
Curated OER
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Explore Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in this literature analysis instructional activity. Middle schoolers read and summarize the plot of the story. They then adapt passages for a contemporary audience and analyze the...
Curated OER
Roles and Responsibilities of Organisations
Students determine the roles and responsibilities in the United Kingdom's travel and tourism industry. They research the main firms in the tourism industry.
Curated OER
Comparing Themes Across Texts
Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...
Curated OER
Biography Newsletters
Have your pupils just finished reading biographies? Extend their study by having them craft a biography newsletter about the subject of their biography. Using a word processor, they create, revise and edit their report, and add graphics...
Curated OER
Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Eighth graders read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and participate in whole class discussions. They evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information in the text in order to explain character motivation and action. Students produce an essay...