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Critic's Choice
Third graders read three to five genres and choose one as a favorite. They write an essay persuading the class to read the genre. This lesson serves as a nice introduction to different styles of literature.
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What If It Happened To Me? A Look At The Disabled in Society
High schoolers examine what it would be like to be disabled. They read literature with characters who have disabilities and discuss how society treats people with disabilities. They write an essay explaining why they are "normal."
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Peer Pressure
Eleventh graders analyze the social impact media plays in relation to peer pressure. In this peer pressure lesson, 11th graders listen to Afroman's "Lets All Get Drunk" and read the lyrics. Students write about the song and view a party...
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You Should Not Have Believed Me: Hamlet
High schoolers discuss the sanity of Hamlet and Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Students analyze an image from the play to address the sanity of the two characters. Then high schoolers read the text to determine whether the characters'...
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Truth, Trash and Treasure
Students examine how people can make a difference in the world. They read and analyze excerpts from a novel, discuss song lyrics, clean up a local park, and write an essay.
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Beauty Is Skin Deep
Students reflect upon the the experiences of superficial comments based upon physical appearance. The expectations of others is discussed in class. Also the influences of media is stressed and its expectations are demonstrated as either...
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Demystifying Mood in Creative Writing
Students discover how writing is affected by mood and emotions. They learn proper mood descriptors and read sample pieces of writing to better explain mood.
Orange County Department of Education
The Hero: Writing and Responding
Pupils identify heroic character traits that they admire and that inspire trust and result in service to others. They identify the heroic traits of a character of their choosing and defend their reasoning using evidence from the text and...
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From Whose Perspective?
Students critically analyze news coverage of Palestinian-Israeli violence by comparing information from a variety of news sources. They compose expository essays reflecting on how to obtain accurate, unbiased, and credible information.
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Shifting Gears
In this activity, students will write a personal narrative that is designed to help them reflect on the nature and meaning of change in their lives.
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How Prophet-able Are You? Ancient Advocates for Change
Students read and analyze classical literature of the ancient Hebrew prophets dealing with societal injustices. They identify present-day prophets, and write an essay about how the common good would be affected if people listened to the...
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Change Over Time
Learners write a personal narrative that is designed to help them reflect on the nature and meaning of change in their lives.
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Novel Analysis
Students read the novel, Lord of the Flies, then write an essay analyzing the novel. They analyze, in small groups, characters, plot, setting, style, symbolism, theme, critical responses, and historical influences
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Rock Art Around the World
Students analyze rock art. In this rock art lesson, students research cultures that created rock art, analyze their art pieces, and compose essays regarding their findings.
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News View
Students read and analyze three different news sources that describe the same event. They compare/contrast the similarities and differences of the news sources, and write an essay describing the main event.
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My Spanish Christmas
Tenth graders research Spanish Christmas customs on the interent and role play in their writing their findings in an essay. They teacher provides a list of web addresses for the students to locate information on and from that their...
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Dwellings Around the Globe
Students explore dwellings around the globe and conduct collaborative research on cliff dwellings, igloos, longhouses, and yurts. They then explore how different dwellings reflect environmental and cultural conditions, and they create a...
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Gender Bias in Language
Twelfth graders study the issues between male and females. In this current events lesson, 12th graders read an article and answer questions. Students watch a video and write an essay.
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Lost in Translation
Students reflect on the uses of mathematics in their daily lives and work in pairs to design brochures that make specific mathematical concepts clear and interesting to a popular audience.
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Texas History
Young scholars explore the history of Texas. Through researching factual books and folktales, students share their information about Texas. They discuss the Trail of Tears, Davy Crockett, the flags of Texas, and Sam Houston. Young...
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What’s in a Name? Understanding Malcolm X
Students study the life of Malcolm X. In this autobiography lesson plan, students read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, investigate and evaluate the time period of his life, and write an essay based on their reflections pertaining to his...
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Rebuiding Houses of Worship
Students explore architecture as a reflection both of culture and history as well as practical/functional considerations. They discuss examples of local architecture they find beautiful or interesting, and their criteria for making such...
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Capturing the Moment
Students create photography timelines of the Civil Rights movement and write journal entries reflecting on the capacity of photographs to evoke personal and collective historical memory.
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So Far From the Bamboo Grove
Students read and discuss the book So Far From the Bamboo Grove. They select and reflect on the events that they consider most important in shaping their lives.