Curriculum
Expository Writing
The beauty of the way this expository writing resource is structured is that the units can be presented as a complete writing workshop or sequenced throughout a course of study
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Spinning Your Wheels
Students read various articles related to transportation and land use. They cite textual references as they engage in panel discussions, shared inquiry discussions and debates. They write a persuasive essay on the topic.
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Who's Sharing Our Stories on "The Hill"?
Learners explore parliamentary structure. They study the roles & responsibility of key players or representatives. This lesson plan presents a wide variety of rich activities students can engage in to further their understanding of...
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Writing with Writers
Students participate in Writing with Writer's, a step-by-step set of directions aimed at improving different genres of student writing. They identify the characteristics of different genres and follow a specified writing process to...
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Chasing Your Dreams
Students define success. They analyze what makes people successful and develop their own plans to become successful people. After a class discussion about success, students analyze the story of a young adult who is working in the real...
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Hamilton and Burr : Compare and Contrast
Who were Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton? High schoolers examine the character traits of these historical figures and watch the video, The Duel. Hamilton vs. Burr: An Event that Changed History (available from PBS), to gain an...
Facing History and Ourselves
Socratic Seminar
New to the socratic seminar format? Check out a resource that not only provides the rationale for the procedure and step-by-step directions, but also provides a list of suggested topics, rules and model statements.
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Aztec Myths: Writing Editorials
Middle schoolers write an editorial giving an opinion of whether or not Quetzalcoatl has arrived and if so, what the Aztecs should do. They discuss whether or not they believe Quetzalcoatl is a god or a man, and use an Editorial...
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Two Truths and a Lie: Internet Research Skills
It's tough for high schoolers to assess what is a credible resource and what is not. A helpful resource prompts class members to research a particular topic and record two facts—and create one lie—while documenting the sources. They then...
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Writing Myths I
Explain a natural phenomenon in an original myth. After researching the phenomenon they have chosen, young readers use factual information to include in their myth. They find synonyms and new phrases to create vivid images as they write...
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The Right to Vote
Students discover voting barriers. In this government instructional activity, students explore the history of voting. Students work in small groups to analyze and debate if certain groups of people should have the ability to vote or not.
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SAT Preparation
The verbal and quantitative sections of the SAT can be a challenge for even the most erudite logophile. Prepare your test takers for the vocabulary they will encounter on standardized exams by providing them with a helpful list of roots,...
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Conversation Lesson: Internet Craze
Learning to support your opinions, debate, build arguments, and effectively respect another's point of view are vital skills. Learners work through a series of topics to practice discussion engagement and verbal communication.
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Yellow Ribbons Show Support
Pupils research ribbon campaigns in the community. They interview students and community members who wear ribbons representing various campaigns. Pupils write a feature about these people and the campaigns.
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Writing: Laying and Covering the Foundation
Your middle schoolers can become stronger writers with a lesson covering the basics. They compose effective thesis statements and introductions, discuss different ways to capture a reader's attention, and compare a poorly written...
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Hurricane Katrina: You Be the Reporter
Students work in a small group to create news stories, feature stories and editorials/letters to the editor and organize them in a podcast, video-based program, or newspaper/magazine focused on Hurricane Katrina.
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Crisis Management
Students research the issues facing President Bush and write short political commentaries predicting what course the president take. For homework, they write editorials stating what they think the president should do to best serve the...
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On the Run
Students research famous F.B.I. "Most Wanted" cases; they then create PowerPoint, or other informational and visual displays, to present their case studies in class.
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Parts of Speech: Active Verbs
Students use White Fang to help them study active verbs. In this grammar lesson, students define active verbs and find examples in the the novel White Fang. Students then use ProQuest to research a place they'd like to visit. Students...
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Organizing One’s Thoughts
Students take a closer look at the organization of written pieces. In this writing skills instructional activity, students examine transitions, repetition, parallelism, and other organizational patterns in writing.
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The Three Dimensions: Health, Wealth, and Wisdom
Learners examine seven lifestyle factors. In this personal health lesson, students will examine healthy lifestyles and create a personal health, wealth, and wisdom calendar.
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Creating an Instructional Manual
Ninth graders create an instructional manual about using a mechanical device. In this technical writing lesson, 9th graders create a PowerPoint presentation that includes the step by step process of how to use the mechanical device.
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Revising Character Descriptions
Students effectively revise character descriptions. In this revising character descriptions lesson, students work with a partner to give and receive constructive criticism to improve their character descriptions.
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Re-Searching
Students take a closer look at the research cycle. In this journalism lesson, students discover and practice Internet searching skills. Students use the search techniques discussed to locate information on selected topics.