Fluence Learning
Writing an Opinion: Student Council
A three-part assessment challenges scholars to write opinion essays covering the topic of the student council. After reading three passages, writers complete a chart, work with peers to complete a mini-research project, answer...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Informational Text: Everybody Can Bike
A three-part assessment challenges scholars to read informational texts in order to complete three tasks. Following a brief reading, class members take part in grand conversations, complete charts, and work in small groups to research...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: Comparing and Contrasting Characters in Heidi
Scholars read excerpts from the story, Heidi, in a three-part assessment that focuses on comparing and contrasting characters. Each part contains three tasks that challenge learners to discuss, answer comprehension...
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...
Channel Islands Film
Magic Isle: Lesson Plan 4
After watching West of the West's documentary on Catalina Island, The Magic Isle, class members research how Walt Disney's and William Wrigley's different visions impacted the island.
Fluence Learning
Writing an Argument: Free Speech
How do you assess whether pupils have mastered certain concepts and skills? Designing a performance task that asks learners to demonstrate their skills and providing writers with a rubric that identifies these skills and provides...
Google
Beginner 4: Searching for Evidence for Research Tasks
Having a strong searching skill set can make a research project much easier and much for successful for pupils. Tackle finding evidence with the ideas included here. The ultimate goal is for class members to learn the stepping stones...
College Board
Calculations Aren't Enough!
Unlike mathematics, statistics comes with a context. The author reminds teachers that data analysis involves using the context to make sense of the numbers. The article stresses good communication skills by highlighting the scoring...
University of North Carolina
Dissertations
Bring on the coffee—it's dissertation time! As a handout on dissertations explains, over 50 percent of PhD candidates never finish their dissertations. The handout, part of a larger series on specific writing styles, helps motivate...
Google
Advanced 1: Picking the Right Search Terms
Many people, when searching online, will type in what they are looking for without much thought. But what's the next step, if they don't get the desired results? Careful selection of search terms. Your class can develop a sense for...
Curated OER
College Selection and Admission
What do you want to be? What colleges will prepare you for this career path? What are the admission requirements for these institutions? Prepare college-bound learners for the admissions process with a series of activities that ask...
Santa Ana Unified School District
Getting to the Core: Globalization
How have advances in technology and communication changed our world? That is the questions that world history students contemplate as they examine a series of primary and secondary source materials
Channel Islands Film
Dark Water: Lesson Plan 1 - Grades 3-4
As part of their study of the history of the Channel Islands, class members craft an informational article to post on a bulletin board that features the Chumash ancestral tradition of tomol paddling.
Channel Islands Film
Dark Water: Lesson Plan 3 - Grades 6-12
After watching the documentary Dark Water about a traditional Chumash ceremony and reading a Chumash origin story, viewers are asked to create a coat of arms and to craft an essay that details a family tradition or their own origin story.
Curated OER
Unit 2: Global to Local: Understanding My Place in the Hydrosphere
What does the ground around your home have to do with water pollution? Young ecologists learn about their local watershed and create their own cause-and-effect models of the hydrosphere.
University of California
Impact of the California Missions on Native Americans
While the Spanish claimed to bring civilization to California indigenous peoples, in reality, they also brought violence and forced assimilation to European values. Primary sources, such as the reports of Catholic priests and Europeans...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 4
West of the West's documentary Arlington Springs Man introduces viewers to the remarkable finds on Santa Rosa Island. Archaeologist have discovered on this small island that is part of the Channel island chain, human and pygmy mammoth...
Illinois State Board of Education
Common Core Teaching and Learning Strategies
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...
Smart Museum of Art
The Making of a Superhero
Thor, Loki, Iron Man, and Captain America. As part of their study of Greek and Roman gods and heroes, middle schoolers compare the characters in The Avengers to Greek counterparts. Individuals then create their own superhero,...
Channel Islands Film
Eminent Domain
After viewing the documentary The Last Roundup, a documentary about the transitioning of Santa Rosa from a privately own island to a National Park, class members debate the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment that permits the...
Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Byzantine Architecture
View Byzantine architecture from the comfort of your classroom. A PowerPoint presentation introduces important vocabulary terms and examples of Byzantine architecture in the ninth lesson of the 11-part series. A Jeopardy game reviews...