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Jelly Bracelets: Fashion or Sex Game?
Ever-changing fashion fads are the ideal context for an engaging sociology experiment for adolescents. Through research and conducting a survey, learners draw conclusions about the controversial jelly bracelets fad, banned in some...
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The Kite Runner: Anticipation Guide
Introduce Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner with an anticipation guide that asks class members to consider their opinions on a series of statements related to themes presented in the novel.
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Words In The News: Japan Textbook Back In Spotlight
High-interest articles are a great way to get struggling readers to tackle difficult vocabulary. Here is a instructional activity that includes such an article. It is focused around a very interesting and controversial article about the...
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Leadership: Leading Off
Students explore leadership skills. In this leadership instructional activity, students examine leadership styles as they reflect on controversies and celebrations in American baseball. Students discuss the attributes of positive and...
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What is Terrorism?
Spark what's sure to be an interesting discussion in your classroom by introducing the topic of terrorism. Consider the meaning of the word terrorism and examine the associated connotations with a brief introductory reading. With your...
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Writing Prompts for High School
Are you teaching a high school language arts class and stumped for writing topics? Five pages of writing prompts for all kinds of writing should help you out. Many of these prompts refer to texts that are not included in this resource,...
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Cyrano do Bergerac Anticipation Guide
Introduce Cyrano de Bergerac with an anticipation guide that asks class members to rate a series of qualities that they look for in a friend. Groups then share their responses and present the class with the quality that provided the most...
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Friday Forum
Students research controversial issues and formulate their own opinion. They defend their position with supporting data and evaluate arguments from opposing viewpoints. They present their stand both verbally and in the written form.
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Religion in Public Schools
Students examine the presence of religion in public institutions. In this ethics lesson, students focus on one aspect of the presence of religion in public institutions, and the controversy surrounding religion in the public schools....
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Stem Cell Research Policy Lesson Plan: Create an Advocacy Brochure
Students after researching the science and the controversy around stem cell research, students create brochures to display their knowledge and a point of view.
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Sectionalism and the Kansas-Nebraska Act
Learners define and discuss sectionalism and popular sovereignty, analyze impact of popular sovereignty in creation of state of Kansas, compare issues in territorial Kansas to current politically divisive topic, and evaluate primary...
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Youth Engagement
Students examine and then discuss opposite sides of controversial issues such as neighborhood curfews, lowering voter age, etc. They learn civic responsibility and cultivate tolerance for others' opinions.
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Children's Health: Children Aren't Little Adults
This lesson plan is a compilation of interdisciplinary, technology-infused activities that focus on the often complicated and sometimes controversial issues related to toxic chemicals in children's environment. Special emphasis is placed...
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Unwind: Discussion Strategy, Chalk Talk
Readers of Neal Shusterman's young adult science fiction novel, Unwind, engage in a silent discussion, posting their responses to a series of statements about characters in the story.
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Military Women
Students review the history of female participation in the armed forces and throughout various conflicts. They participate in a class discussion and consider many of the controversial issues surrounding women in the military.
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Exploring Evolution Lesson Plans
There are evolution lesson plans that can help teachers get past the controversy to increase student understanding of natural selection.
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Evolutionary Exchange
Students discuss the difference between designed and natural elements. After reading an article, they discover information about current controversies in evolutionary science. In groups, they research and write dialogues between two...
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The Death Penalty
Students examine the controversy surrounding the death penalty in the United States. In this current events instructional activity, students research the history of the death penalty as well perspectives on the topic. Students interview...
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Biotechnology, GMOs and Food
Twelfth graders explore controversy around genetically modified foods, identify source of controversy, and role play town hall meeting on genetically modified foods, to examine viewpoints and arguments for and against genetic modification.
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The Wilderness Concept: Our National Parks, History and Issues
Students examine the history of the National parks. In groups, they discuss the concepts of conservation and preservation. They discuss the use of natural resources and how some are renewable and non-renewable. To end the lesson, they...
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America's Stone Age Explorers
Students watch a Nova program examining the earliest in habitants of the Americas. In groups. they take notes on various topics covered in the program. Among the topics covered are: the Clovis people, Solutrean culture, migration...
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Global Issues
Twelfth graders look deeper into a controversial or global issue. They complete five "Level 3" activities. Students complete three "Level 2" activities and complete one "Level 1" activity. They must complete a title page and table of...
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Wild About Wildfires
Students conduct a debate. In this wildfire and controlled burning lesson, students watch the video "Legacy of Fire" and discuss the topic of wildland fires and controlled burns. Half of the class researches the arguments for these...
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A Test Case for Individual Rights
Students examine the different points of view regarding testing students for drug use. They then work in pairs to create and perform dialogues that flesh out two sides of the argument around this controversial issue.