Curated OER
So where CAN I dump the snow?
Young scholars research the ordinance about dumping snow in their community. They interview city officials and the city web site. Students conduct research to find out what other cities like theirs have. They write an informative article...
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Weapons in school: Protection or danger?
Students write an editorial (staff opinion) or commentary (writer's opinion) if they/he or she believe the school rules are either too strict or too lenient when addressing weapons possession. Students research past situations in their...
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Police Arrest MySpace Users
Students research the background of websites, MySpace and FaceBook. In groups, they interview local experts about Internet crimes. They investigate what their school's policy is and write a news feature how local schools are disciplining...
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Student Travel in the Shadow of War
Students research and discuss pros and cons of study abroad during times of war, and document decisions and positions of local school administrators on topic. Students then write editorials voicing their opinions.
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How green is your school?
Pupils read about Sidwell Friends School and the Green School concept and develop coverage for their student media. They employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to...
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Citizens Hold Their Breath in Smoke-free Cities
Students investigate the laws covering smoking in public places in their community and find out if city council or other governing bodies have considered changing these laws. Students conduct interviews and write an article explaining...
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Don't Flick Your Bic!
Learners research the ban on lighters and how it is being enforced and interview community members who smoke, especially travelers who have or might be stopped for carrying lighters. Students then write an opinion piece about the situation.
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Stepping in: Good Samaritan or Fool?
Students write an opinion piece, including facts of this situation and any other statistics about helping others during a fight. Students offer suggestions about how to break up a fight, or when not to try (based on what national experts...
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Targeting Young Speeders
Students research the police ticketing of teens in their city or county. They determine if the police are targeting teens and why. Students explore other ways the community tries to ensure safer teen drivers. They survey teens in school....
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Towing Cars -- Legally and Not So Legally
Learners discuss the issue of having cars towed in a small community when they should not be. After watching a local news story on the issue, they work together to conduct three full days of research. They write an article to be...
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Football game seating: Security or Restriction?
Learners write an article or an editorial about the situation of Cleveland-area schools instituting policies to restrict seating at night football games. Students research their own school policy, as well as other school policies.
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Pet Food Safety A Con
Students use the internet to research pet food safety laws. In groups, they examine what happened during the pet food recall earlier this year and what is being done to improve the situation. They write a news feature story including...
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Vandalism leads to locked bathrooms
Learners research bathroom vandalism in other schools like Freedom High after reading an article about Freedom High and their situation. Students then decide if their school has a similar problem and interview administrators and janitors...
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Finding a Way to Cover a Student Death
Students read articles and discuss how to cover student deaths and consider developing a policy about how to cover deaths of students and/or faculty. Students also interview counselors, especially those who deal with grief counseling,...
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First Amendment and the Future
Students read the Knight report and discuss key findings before deciding what aspects of the findings students can replicate in their own school and conduct a survey. They write survey questions and test them on sample group before...
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The Candy Thief
Students research crimes and corresponding punishments of students. They interview local judges to see if they try to match the punishment with the crime. Students write an analysis article about crimes and their punishments in your...
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A VIP - Present Perfect Simple and Continuous
Here is an interesting way to teach the present perfect and present perfect continuous. Individuals practice these verb tenses as well as the simple past by asking a partner questions about an imaginary biography. The biography...
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Science TV: Making it Real
Students explore the ways science is presented in a children's television show. Students conduct internet research, and then create and design a skit that highlights the problem-solving process.
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Exploring Ethical Issues
Students learn about ethical issues and its connection to journalism. Students examine examples of ethical issues some journalists have faced. in small groups, students collaborate to write a code of ethics for their school newspaper....
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Read All About It!
Students research and develop a newspaper based on the day they were born. For this newspaper lesson, students write an editorial, look for a political cartoon, draw a visual and find music from that year. Students type...
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The Way Editorial Cartoons Work
Twelfth graders interpret visual language found in political cartoons.
Teaching Tolerance
Consuming and Creating Political Art
A picture is worth a thousand words, but political art may be worth even more! After examining examples of political cartoons, murals, and other forms of public art, class members create their own pieces to reflect their ideals and...
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Forms Of Knowledge
Young scholars put writing pieces into categories to show different organizational features in writing. In this writing lesson plan, students are shown examples of speeches, poems, editorials, cartoons, parodies, historical fiction, and...
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Reading/English Language Arts/ Instructional Strategies
Pupils are given a line drawing that only that students sees. They are asked to describe the drawings to the reset of the class to see if they can draw it as the teacher describes it. Pupils work with a partner, and they are given a...