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Organizer
Curated OER

Reading Study Guide: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

For Students 8th - 11th
Meant for use with Maya Angelou's first autobiographical volume I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the materials here are designed for a homeschool setting, but they'd suit any classroom or text. Graphic organizers, chapter summary guides,...
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Lesson Plan
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Media Smarts

Bias in News Sources

For Teachers 9th - 12th
As young consumers of media, it is important for high schoolers to explore concepts of bias and prejudice, and how they may be present in media. After discussing ideological messages that media can contain, individuals complete a warm-up...
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Unit Plan
Odell Education

Reading Closely for Textual Details: "We, as a people, will get to the promised land!"

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
Take another look—there are probably more details than readers realize. Scholars analyze nine texts in a five-part unit that contains 21 activities to find textual details. Activities include close reading, independent reading,...
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Assessment
3
3
Curated OER

Performance-Based Assessment Practice Test (Grade 11 ELA/Literacy)

For Students 11th Standards
Support your eleventh graders with a practice assessment for the Common Core tests. The practice test features a series of literary and informational passages and related multiple choice and essay questions. An online version is also...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Maryland Department of Education

The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 8: Nonfiction Close Reading

For Teachers 10th - 11th Standards
As part of their study of Things Fall Apart, class members conduct a close reading of a section of Chinua Achebe's essay, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness." Jigsaw groups then compare the voice in the essay...
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Lesson Plan
1
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Turabian Teacher Collaborative

Parts of Argument II: Article Critique

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Break down the parts of argumentative writing with a critical thinking activity. High schoolers read an article of your (or their choice), and use a graphic organizer to delineate the ways the author structures his or her arguments.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

When I Set My Hat at a Certain Angle: Trying on Zora Neale Hurston's Voice to Dress-up Prose

For Teachers 9th - 12th
After reading and evaluating examples of prose nonfiction by Zora Neale Hurston and other authors, high schoolers write a personal reflective essay rich in figurative language. By incorporating this strategy, they utilize voice within...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Persona in Autobiography

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
A talkative old man? A naïve believer in Human Perfectibility? A Sage? Who is this guy, anyway? The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin launches a study of the way Franklin uses structure, style, and purpose, as well as different...
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Writing
Curated OER

Awesome Stories: Vincent van Gogh

For Students 9th - Higher Ed
Who was Vincent van Gogh? Most of the questions can be answered in two or three sentences; however, there is at least one essay prompt and one personal response question that require longer answers. Questions call for a good mix of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bias and Crime in Media

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Critical thinking and social justice are central themes for this resource on bias and crime in media. The class views and discusses an incisive PSA that highlights assumptions based on race. Small groups read newspaper opinion pieces...
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Organizer
3
3
Polk Bros Foundation

I Can Identify a Nonfiction Writer's Main Idea and Supporting Examples

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Use this page to quickly identify the central idea of a text and organize ideas for writing an informational or explanatory text. The worksheet is split into two parts. In the first part, pupils note down the main idea and supporting...
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Writing
Curated OER

Student Opinion: How Impulsive Are You?

For Students 9th - 12th
Sure to spark lively discussion in any Language Arts classroom, this article from The York Times asks the question, 'How much self-control do you have?'. Pupils begin by reading a short passage about a study on delayed gratification and...
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Interactive
Curated OER

Student Opinion: Should Couples Live Together Before Marriage?

For Students 9th - 12th
Bring nonfiction into the classroom with this high-interest op-ed piece from the New York Times about love, marriage, and relationships in the 21st century. Pupils read a short article on the topic of cohabitation and offer their own...
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Writing
Curated OER

The Learning Network: Reactions to Rating Teachers

For Students 9th - 12th
Meant to be used in connection with the article "In Teacher Ratings, Good Test Scores Are Sometimes Not Good Enough" also available on The New York Times website, this resource provides 12 short-answer writing prompts that ask both basic...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Writing Prompts for High School

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Here’s a great teacher resource - thirty-five writing prompts designed for high school writers. Categories include cause and effect, definition, expository/informative, persuasive, how to, descriptive, narrative, biographical narrative,...
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Writing
Curated OER

The Learning Network: More Like Disney

For Students 7th - 12th
A great source of high-interest reading for the language arts classroom! Meant to be used with an article also available on the New York Times website, this worksheet provides 10 comprehension questions about the reading as well as one...
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Lesson Plan
University of Arizona

Found News Poems

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Combine informational text and creative writing with one fun activity! Middle and high schoolers write found poems based on newspaper headlines that they find. The resource includes a thorough lesson plan and many links to articles that...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Short and Sweet Science

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Readers learn how to summarize scientific text and evaluate the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges in writing summaries. They select science-related articles you've pulled and collected from the New York Times and, with a partner,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Organizing One’s Thoughts

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Analyzing Irony in Nonfiction

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students examine the use of irony in non-fiction works. In this literature lesson, students read non-fiction war texts and explore the use of irony in the piece as they respond to discussion questions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Effects of Slavery

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The emotional and spiritual oppression of slavery in the African-American experience is the focus of this lesson. Middle schoolers analyze various texts by Frederick Douglass and Maya Angelou related to freedom and oppression. They use...
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Lesson Plan
BW Walch

Unexpected Family History

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The history of the northern states' involvement in the slave trade is not widely known. This resource uses the PBS documentary, Traces of the Trade, and the nonfiction book, Children of the New England Slave Trade, to examine this aspect...
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Lesson Plan
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program

Was Bias A Factor? Make an Argument

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
The ability to analyze an argument is a skill emphasized by the Common Core standards. Offer your class an opportunity to develop and hone their skills by providing them the testimonies in an Oregon court case. After reading the facts of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Language Arts: Reading Non-Fiction

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Students read and view information sent from seven high school students who travel to China. The daily reports that they send back to the weblog section of the site should be of high interest to students in Minnesota.