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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Democracy in Danger: Should the Right to Vote Be Protected in the Constitution?

For Teachers 12th
High school seniors investigate what national, state and local rules say about voting. After examining the Constitution's articles, clauses, and amendments, researchers look at videos, listen to podcasts, and read articles to gather...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Black Women Writers: What Gets Black Women Heard?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Zora Neal Hurston, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou are featured in a guided inquiry unit. High schoolers research the lives and works of these and other Black women writers and craft an argument, using evidence from their research, to...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Can Words Lead to War?

For Teachers 7th Standards
"Words, words, words." Despite Hamlet's opinion, words can be significant. In this inquiry lesson, middle schoolers learn how the words in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, in the view of many, lead to the American Civil War. To...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

2020 Protests: Is There Anything New about the 2020 Protests?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Are marches and protests an effective form of resistance? That is the question high schoolers seek to answer in this inquiry lesson as they compare the 2020 protests to historical ones. Researchers use Venn Diagrams to compare images...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Celebrity Social Responsibility: Does Celebrity Require Social Responsibility?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Is much required of those to whom much is given? That's the central question asked of middle schoolers in this lesson. Scholars consider the actions of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Colin Kaepernick, Lady Gaga, and others who have taken...
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Lesson Plan
K20 Learn

Argument Is Everywhere: Introduction to Argument

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
C.E.R = Claim + Evidence + Reasoning. That's the framework behind building a solid piece of argument writing. Introduce young writers to this format with an engaging lesson plan that uses YouTube videos and a PowerPoint to illustrate the...
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Study Guide
Penguin Books

A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classic Edition of The Crucible by Arthur Miller

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
A 20-page guide is a must-have for any instructor, seasoned veteran, or first year-teacher, using Arthur Miller's The Crucible as an anchor text. The guide begins with extensive background information about Miller and the McCarthy era...
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Unit Plan
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Santa Ana Unified School District

Persuasive Writing

For Teachers 9th Standards
Should students be paid for doing well in school? That is the question at the heart of an argumentative writing unit that walks writers through the steps of crafting a persuasive essay. The carefully scaffolded scripted plans provide...
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Unit Plan
Odell Education

Building Evidence-Based Arguments: "Cuplae poena par esto: Let the punishment fit the crime."

For Teachers 11th Standards
Should a criminal's punishment match the crime? An argumentative writing plan explores this question as class members investigate a variety of mixed-medium sources by experts in the field, form evidence-based claims, and support them...
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Lesson Plan
New York State Education Department

TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 11

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
You'll C-E-R a difference in classroom achievement after using a helpful lesson. Designed for economics, civics, government, and US history classes, participants practice using the CER model to craft arguments about primary and secondary...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fighting Fake News

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Fake news. Alternative facts. Internet trolls. In an age of Newspeak, it's increasingly important to equip 21st century learners with the skills needed to determine the legitimacy of claims put forth on social media, in print, and in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Arti-Factual Evidence

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Practice responding to controversial information with the New York Times lesson provided here. Middle schoolers watch a video interview with the director of The Lost Tomb of Jesus. After reading a companion article, they identify the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Is That a Fact?

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Investigate popular scientific claims and gather evidence to defend or argue against an author's stance. Writers synthesize information and compose their own "Really?" columns modeled after those found in the weekly "Science Times"...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Campaign Trailblazers

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Explore the backgrounds, qualifications, and platforms of the presidential candidates for the 2000 election. Though the lesson plan is outdated, the activities within the informational text could be good practice for your young learners...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Curated OER

Can Scientists Discover a Limit to Discovery?

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Is there anything left to discover? Evaluate opposing sides of the debate regarding whether or not there is a future for scientific discovery. Middle and high schoolers assess quotations from the articles included to evaluate claims and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Pay to Play?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Lead your class in a discussion about how they believe money influences politics. After reading "Go Ahead, Try to Stop K Street" from the New York Times, they evaluate the claims in the article about the current lobbyist scandal in...
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Interactive
Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Arguments, i.e., Identify Fallacies (English III Reading)

For Students 11th Standards
A series of interactive exercises provide users with the ammunition they need to detect logical fallacies and defend themselves against persuasion. Learners read about 11 types of logical fallacies and identify the type used in sample...
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Interactive
Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Distinguishing Between Inductive and Deductive Reasoning (English III Reading)

For Students 11th Standards
Is Sherlock Holmes an inductivist or a deductivist? Users of this interactive to distinguish between inductive and deductive reasoning. They consider in various situations whether it is better to list evidence and then introduce a claim...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Anna - One Woman’s Quest for Freedom: What Did Freedom Mean for Anna?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The 2018 film Anna, One Woman's Quest for Freedom in Early Washington, D.C., offers high schoolers an opportunity to examine the sacrifices one woman endured to gain her freedom from slavery.
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Reparations: Why Are Reparations Controversial?

For Teachers 8th
To understand why the topic of reparations is controversial, young scholars gather background information by reading articles, watching videos, and examining cases where reparations were made. Learners consider the lasting repercussions...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Emancipation: Does It Matter Who Freed the Slaves?

For Teachers 11th
Scholars generally agree on the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. This inquiry-based lesson asks high schoolers to consider more than the claims of who freed the enslaved people but the significance of the issues...
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Unit Plan
Curated OER

Black Genius: How Did Black Genius Help Build American Democracy?

For Teachers 8th
"How did the slavery system undermine the United States' democratic principles?" This question launches a study of how the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, and Article IV,...
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Lesson Plan
K20 Learn

Voices from the Past: History and Literature

For Teachers 10th - 11th Standards
Art can enhance the understanding of history. That's the big idea in a lesson that has young scholars read Randall Jarrell's poem "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" and an excerpt from John Hersey's Hiroshima, which provide a...
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Lesson Plan
K20 Learn

Street Cred: Evaluating Sources

For Teachers 9th - 11th Standards
A lesson on evaluating sources of information teaches scholars to "think twice" before using a source. Researchers examine a resource's home page, author, and sponsor, as well as the date published and the documentation provided.