EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 4
Connect with the text using helpful annotation strategies. As your class reads the first section of Karen Russell's short story, "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," they note important passages that establish character...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 3
Just like in real life, characters in short stories show their true personalities through their words and deeds. Decipher the character development in Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" with a set of activities...
Dream of a Nation
Congressional Debate
Should junk food be banned in schools? Should the US open its borders to all immigrants? Should the US impose term limits for the House of Representatives and for the Senate? Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a...
Dream of a Nation
Group Presentation Assignment
Rather than waiting for the world to change, encourage your class members to become agents of change with a project that asks groups to select an issue found in Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America....
Curated OER
Teaching Debate to ESL Students
Language learners use the debate format to practice formulating, expressing, and defending their ideas. Working in teams, class members develop resolutions, use opinion indicators to express their opinions and reasons, and prepare...
Bantam Books
The Tempest: Fishbowl Discussion Strategy
Readers learn together with a group discussion activity. As they read William Shakespeare's The Tempest, high schoolers prepare for a fishbowl discussion in which three or four learners sit in the middle of a large circle and have a...
Brigham Young University
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Fishbowl Discussion
After reading through Act II of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, take some time to discuss the references to death in the play. For this fishbowl discussion, learners prepare questions, practice answering individually and with...
Curated OER
Paradise Lost: Problem Situation
Let your class voice their opinions with a group debate activity. Before reading John Milton's Paradise Lost, they work in small groups in assigned roles to form a position about authority and rebellion, comparing a teenager's punishment...
Wild BC
Is Climate Change Good for Us?
Is it really that big of a deal if the global climate undergoes a little change? Young environmentalists consider this very question as they discuss in small groups the impact of different climate change scenarios on their lives, their...
IRISS
Exploring Self-Esteem 1: What Is Self-Esteem?
Adolescents explore self-esteem and the various factors that influence a person's sense of self in this four-part lesson series. Through a combination of whole class instruction, small group discussions, and independent work, students...
Career Solutions Publishing
It’s For Real Workplace Ethics
Discuss the ethical and practical consequences of dishonesty at work by analyzing a hypothetical situation in which a young employee at a pizza shop is being asked by her friends for free meals.
US Environmental Protection Agency
A Mock Town Meeting on a Proposed Tank Farm
Intended as a follow up to the Protecting Your Drinking Water activity, young environmentalists use their assessment of the a hypothetical town's water supply to debate the installation of underground chemical storage tanks. With the...
Ed Galaxy
Think Before You Speak Poster
"Think before you speak." Make this direction more meaningful for your young learners by using think as a guide for respectful speech. This is a great poster to reference during class discussions, conflict resolutions, or whenever anyone...
Pulitzer Center
Food Insecurity
Food insecurity, whether as a result of food scarcity or a lack of nutritious food, is a growing and serious problem in the world today. After discussing the concept of food insecurity, learners listen to an NPR radio broadcast on the...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Focus: The Paideia Seminar
Compelling discussions are the result of open-ended, challenging questions. An introduction to Paideia discussions includes explicit directions about how to prepare readers and how to model the kinds of questions they should develop in...
Discovery Education
Women Monarchs and Heads of State
From Queen Elizabeth I of England in the sixteenth century to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan in modern times, your class members will assume the roles of influential female rulers and take part in an informative and engaging...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Environmental Scrapbook and Podcast
High schoolers collect newspaper and magazine articles about the environment and construct a scrapbook using construction paper, glue, and scissors. To make it even more environmentally friendly, groups can create an online scrapbook...
University of Hawai'i
University of Hawaii: Communication Ethics
"Active Learning, Critical Thinking and Multicultural Education in Communication Ethics" discusses strategies to assist students in dealing with moral issues and to develop higher order thinking in the ethical decision-making process.
Virtual Salt
Virtual Salt: Ideas for Enhancing Oral Reports
A helpful review of important parts of your report and ways to strengthen it. SL.9-10.4 Presentation
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Core Conflict Problems and Negotiation
Site contains a wealth of information on conflict, negotiation, interpersonal relationships, communication, and more. Spends considerable time with "complicating factors" in communication.
Lumen Learning
Lumen: Boundless Communications: Presenting Group Thinking
In this Boundless Communication, students will learn about group presentation formats, individuals in a group presentation should know their role and stay consistent and cooperative, and how the group prepares for the presentation....
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Philosophical Chairs Discussion
Philosophical Chairs discussions allow students to make meaning of texts while developing, defending, and supporting their claims. This resource walks you through how to implement this type of discussion in your classroom. Included are...
CPALMS
Cpalms: Lafs.8.sl.1.3
Choose from among lesson plans, assessments, and original student tutorials to teach how to analyze a speaker's arguments.
University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburg: Communicating Behaviors for Effective Work Groups
Successful working groups are marked by a range of different communication behaviors-actions people do with words and gestures, which they can practice and improve over time. This site lists seven behaviors to improve communication in...