Curated OER
Stanza Proud
Students examine different decades in American history, finding connections between the historical events and the poetry written during these time periods. They write their own poetry based on current world events.
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Pet-agogy
Students explore interesting animal behaviors and adaptations. They create information sheets about an animal residing in a fictional sanctuary and assess the animal's likelihood of being a good pet.
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Confronting College
Students investigate what they need to meet their future academic goals, then investigate the college admissions process by preparing materials for a mock college fair.
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It's A Dog-Eat-Dog World
Students examine the dangers of owning and breeding aggressive dogs. They debate whether aggressive dogs should be kept as pets. They write an essay from their point of view about aggressive dogs as pets.
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Helping Hands
Students discuss what they can do to help their community, then create posters for the school that list and provide details for 'Ten Things You Can Do To Help' in different social service areas.
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This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land
Students explore the difficulties, and some absurd situations, caused by repeated land subdivisions in the rural areas of poor and overpopulated regions.
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The Writing's on the Wall
Students examine a job-training/violence reduction program that removes gang graffiti in East Los Angeles. They discuss issues confronting their own communities and propose community service programs to address these issues.
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Legends in Their Own Times
Students learn folk tales from many different cultures and retell them using the medium of their choice. They write about the cultural indications found in these tales.
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Clearing the Air
Students read a New York Times article and investigate a variety of emissions that contribute to global warming. They participate in a mock international summit in which they present recommendations for reversing the global warming trend.
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Work Cut Out For You
Young scholars read about teenagers who forgo college for work. They plan their own progression toward their careers of choice by creating 'fantasy résumés' that list both their present accomplishments and things they hope to do in the...
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The Last Meow
Students explore the popular culture phenomenon of the musical 'Cats' and the T.S. Eliot poems that were its inspiration. They write original poems about animals, and read them aloud to their peers.
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Political Race
Students explore political topics and issues that often involve discussions of race or ethnicity. They develop campaign speeches voicing their stances on their assigned topics and explore how their racial and/ or ethnic backgrounds shape...
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Getting Fired Up
Learners explore first-person accounts of volcanic eruptions throughout time and use second-hand information about volcanoes. They use both types of accounts to write news articles covering the events of a historic volcanic eruption as...
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Inter-State Matters
Students explore the six phase transitions between gases, liquids and solids for a variety of elements. Each group of students focuses on a different element, investigating its physical properties during each of the six phase transitions.
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Get a Life!
Students read a New York Times article associated with the issue of the decoding for genomes, the creation of life in scientific laboratories and various genetic engineering topics. They present speeches of the pro's and con's of these...
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Ad Nauseam
Students explore the role of special-interest groups in American campaigns. They create their own political advertisements.
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The Eleventh Hour
Students examine their own understanding of the issues and events that are framing this year's presidential race. They explore the candidates' stances on eight issues and present their findings to the class.
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Political Puzzles
Students investigate how different liberal democracies around the world organize their governments and decide major policies. They compare their findings to the American political system, using examples of current political issues.
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Get Surreal
Students analyze and write text for audio guides about particular pieces of art from the Surrealism movement.
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Mission Discovery
Students examine the changes to the space shuttle Discovery and its history by creating a classroom exhibition about NASA's space shuttle program. They create an informative and attractive invitation about the gallery for outside visitors.
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Fight For Your Rights
Young scholars explore issues related to tenants' rights in New York City, or in the area in which they live. They then create informational pamphlets designed to inform tenants of their rights.
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Safety Catch
Learners consider their own beliefs about gun control after examining the effects of and speculations about a decade-long ban on semiautomatic assault weapons.
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Trial By Wire
Students identify the arguments on both sides of the new Medicare policy debate over claim hearings. They participate in a mock trial to adjudicate the fairness of the new policy.
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Security and Savings for All?
Students act as either Democrats or Republicans to debate plans to alter Social Security. For homework, they consider whether Social Security has become too politicized and propose their own solutions.