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Sex, Guise, and Video Games
Students examine the portrayal of women in action-adventure video games and in other forms of entertainment to assess whether or not these portrayals perpetuate positive images of women in today's world. They develop new female video...
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Online and Off the Record
Students evaluate how effectively teen Web sites abide by privacy protections of the studenT Online Privacy Protection Act. They write letters to the Webmasters offering recommendations for improving the privacy and appeal of the sites...
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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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Much Ado About Nothing?
Students explore their feelings regarding the celebration of various holidays. Using the New York Times article as a model, students write articles critiquing what they consider to be inappropriate expressions of holiday spirit.
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Sacred Space
Students consider the two finalists in the contest for architectural designs for the site of the World Trade Center. They create their own designs for a meaningful public space, then critique each other's designs.
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Stately Statements
Students closely read President Bush's State of the Union address, then develop interviews and write articles to assess a variety of points of view about The proposals offered in the speech.
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Our City, Our Words
Students write poetry that captures their feelings about their city or town. After presenting their poetry at a class reading students compare their poetry to the work of published poets who have written about the same city.
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Buying the Writes
Students explore the connections between non-fiction and fiction best-seller lists and current events that are shaping readers' lives and choices.
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Gender Bender
Students explore the effects of Title IX. In addition, tudents create revised rulebooks for a sport in their school based on their understanding of Title IX and write a related article for the school newspaper.
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See You Later, Alligator
Students explore the historical and social significance of animals as cultural symbols in various countries around the world, as well as the impact that humans have made on the population and natural habitats of these animals.
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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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Giving Beyond Measure-- Diary of Anne Frank
Young scholars examine the philanthropic concepts and values in the play, "The Diary of Anne Frank." They read the play, role-play characters, create a poster, and write journal entries.
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Don't Type To Strangers
Students create Web advertisements to protect young people from online predators. For homework, they write letters pitching their ads and analyzing their effect. They discuss their own use of the Internet and how to protect young people.
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A Snapshot Of Fame
Students debate the limits to celebrity privacy and to paparazzi rights after learning about some recent incidents. They imagine how their private lives might change if they became overnight celebrities.
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Dig Those Descriptions
Students practice writing descriptions by researching various artifacts from ancient Egypt and writing captions for them. They read and discuss the Times article, King Tut, Museum Trailblazer, Begins Encore.
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High Anxiety
The Learning Network section of the New York Times produces high-quality teaching materials. This issue gets middle or high schoolers reading an article about how people use art to express their response to high-stress events. They work...
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Reviews Revealed
Students discuss the benefits or drawbacks in consulting movie reviews. They analyze movie reviews from The New York Times and create a list of features in effective movie reviews. They write their own movie reviews based on this list.
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Press-ing Freedom
Students consider how free speech applies to journalistic practices in light of a legal case involving two reporters. They participate in a fishbowl discussion about journalism codes of ethics and write response papers.
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Sadness in Srebrenica
Students explore the atrocities committed during the war in Bosnia from 1992 to 1995 that prompted an apology from the international community in 2005.
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Alien Invasions
Students create an educational pamphlet on the origins, spread and impact of invasive plant species in their community.
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(In)fringe Benefits?
Students explore the "Copy Left" movement, then analyze and discuss the key legal issues regarding intellectual property and copyright legislation in the context of global communication and the Internet.
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Red, Undecided, and Blue
Students analyze voter preferences in past elections, and then write letters to a presidential candidate, recommending winning strategies drawn from their research.
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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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It's an Ad Eats Ad World
Students explore the power and influence of television advertisements in presidential campaigns. They choose issues in the 2004 campaign and create promotional materials addressing these issues from varying points of view.