Curated OER
Crime Watch
Students analyze the recent rise of homicides in some American cities, create and share posters, and write reflective essays in the form of letters to community leaders.
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Word Perfect
Students explore the value of personal written communication as compared to the use of e-mail or text messaging.
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Protecting Our Space
Learners share opinions and information about safety issues and concerns on social networking Web sites, and develop public service announcements designed to inform their peers and parents/guardians.
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Public vs. Private
Students watch two commericals from previous presidential elections on the topic of healthcare. After reading an article, they identify the position of the various candidates for the 2008 election. In groups, they brainstorm their own...
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What's For Dinner?
Students share their own views on eating genetically altered foods. After reading an article, they research any issues concerning these types of foods in the United States. In groups, they create a campaign slogan to help gain funding...
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Life in Pictures
Students share opinions about the typical images that represent life in New York City. They create their own scavenger hunts to find images that represent the intrinsic character of their respective communities.
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A Disaster in the Making
Students compare the consequences of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco to Hurricane Katrina's impact on New Orleans as a basis for investigating the transformative effect of infamous United States natural disasters.
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Classes For The Masses
Students explore how class is represented in the media by developing ideas for television pilots that deal with class issues. They compile short lists of television characters from working, middle and upper classes.
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Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
Students design and promote technological devices for Father's Day gifts that reflect evolving social trends. They consider the new image of dads cast by today's media and advertisements and its influence.
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It's Art ... Naturally
Students consider the ways nature has been used in art, and then design and create their own original sculptures using materials from nature for a class exhibit.
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Healthy Relations
Students draw on their own experiences with health care to create educational skits to better doctor-patient relationships. For homework, they create guidelines and write recommendations for an appropriate government role.
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Fair Judgment
Students consider the demands of the judicial process and work in small groups to write editorials in response to the one that is read in class. For homework, they grade a television judge and write reflective essays.
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From the Moon to the Sun and Back Again
Students consider the aims of the space program, create posters comparing the voyages of Apollo 17 and Genesis and write response papers evaluating NASA's current mission statement.
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Disaster Talk
Students design new devices to help victims of natural disaster communicate with rescue workers, government, media and loved ones. For homework, they write proposals promoting their technology.
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Sorrow in Sudan
Students explore the various groups and organizations involved in the Darfur conflict. Through investigative research, students gain insight into this complex issue.
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Fantastic Foods
Young scholars explore the health benefits of dark chocolate. They research other foods which they consider to be both healthy and delicious for a "classroom pantry."
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Going For The Gold
Students share opinions about athlete endorsements. They write articles that provide an economic profile of an athlete for submission to their school newspaper.
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Printmaking for Grades 6-8
Students create a relief print. The chosen image for this print be a setting from a novel that played an important role in the plot of the story. They conclude this instructional activity by writing a literature response about their...
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Striving for Success
Students explore their own talents and create interview questions for a peer involved in a particular extracurricular activity. They write newspaper articles based on the interviews.
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Speaking in Tongues
Students examine their own family history of languages and investigate local and regional resources available to immerse themselves in a foreign language and culture. They write applications seeking an imaginary grant to fund their...
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All Those In Favor
Students share opinions about measures recently passed in their school, vote on and argue for and against hypothetical school policies, and respond to a "president's" decision to pass or veto the measures.
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Radical Reads
Learners recreate an "American Idol" contest in which they present their favorite books to their classmates using arguments for and excerpts from the books. Following the presentation, students will be polled and the least popular books...
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Be Our Guest
Students share their own opinions about proper and poor etiquette in school. After reading an article, they discover matters of etiquette and conflict that occur during holiday rituals. They role-play the potential conflicts and...