Curated OER
Civil Rights after MLK and RFK
Students are assigned to groups representing minority populations who produce a research project in a digital format from the list. A few of the choices are: speech, letter to the editor, editorial cartoon, etc.
Curated OER
Safe and Secure: More or Less?
Students discuss what they believe to be the state of security of the nation since September 11, 2001. Reading articles on security, they gather insight into new reports on security. They write letters to major newspapers expressing...
Curated OER
Immigration Reform: Understanding the Issue From Different Points of View
Learners examine the topic of immigration reform. They conduct research on groups representing various viewpoints on immigration, write and perform a role-play, and write a persuasive essay or letter to a state senator on their views of...
Curated OER
Problems with our Food System: Hunger
Students understand that hunger causes many deaths a year and many children are trapped as slaves through watching a video. For this hunger and child slavery lesson, students write letters to call attention to the problems of hunger and...
University of Pennsylvania
Decoding Propaganda: J’Accuse…! vs. J’Accuse…!
Reading snail mail is a great way to go back into history and to understand others' points of view. The resource, the second in a five-part unit, covers the Dreyfus Affair. Scholars, working in two different groups, read one letter and...
Curated OER
It's Your Opinion
Everyone has a different opinion about the characters they read about in books. Have your class explore forming an opinion and finding evidence to support it as they read and discuss what they think about a particular character. They...
Curated OER
"No News Like Ancient News"
Want to know more about Ancient history? Young historians will read a minimum of two web sites to complete the chart "Residents of Olympus". They choose one Greek god or goddess to research. This could be a small group activity or...
Curated OER
Pig Products
How do you feel about cloning? This issue is highly debated, so educate your class before they participate in a similar debate! Read a New York Times article related to the use of cloned pig organs for human transplants. Groups develop...
Curated OER
Denial on Trial
What is the "Faurisson Affair”? What is “Holocaust Revisionism”? What does freedom of speech entail? Do revisionists have a right to voice their ideas? Such questions are at the heart of a richly detailed, thought provoking lesson...
Curated OER
Get in the Newspaper Habit
Dive into journalism with your high schoolers! The resources provided here will help your learners write unbiased, clear, and succinct newspaper articles. First they spend time sifting through stacks of articles, filling out a graphic...
Curated OER
Justice Is Blind, Colorblind That Is
It's so interesting to see kids respond to articles about education. To start the day, prompt learners to discuss the words colorblindness and diversity. Then, split your class in two and have one side read an article from 2007 and the...
Curated OER
Serving Memory
Students read an article about a woman who lost her fiance in Iraq. Reading a letter he left his son, they discuss how his words will affect his son once he is old enough to understand. They research the number of casualties in the war...
Curated OER
Putting Writing Skills To Work
Tenth graders reinforce their knowledge of the format and elements of business letters by writing a request letter. A review of effective letter writing is provided prior to an independent assignment. This helps with scaffolding the...
TCI
Celebrating Our Constitution
School House Rock's "Preamble" launches a study of the Preamble of the US Constitution and the relevance of this 200 year-old document today.
Southern Poverty Law Center
Evaluating Online Sources
All sources are pretty much the same, right? If this is how your class views the sources they use for writing or research projects, present them with a media literacy lesson on smart source evaluation. Groups examine several articles,...
Curated OER
A Slave No More
Learners discover what it was like to cross into freedom. For this slavery lesson, students read the "Emancipation Proclamation," and letters written by Abraham Lincoln and John Washington (a former slave). Learners identify the key...
Curated OER
Aruba Cloud Cover Measured by Satellite
Students analyze cloud cover and compose written conclusions to a given related scenario. Students submit a letter of response and a report detailing their calculations and conclusions.
Curated OER
In My Honest Opinion
Pupils explore the function of letters to the editor for both a newspaper and its readers. They select a current event about which he or she feels strongly, reads a related New York Times article and responds to it in a letter to the...
Curated OER
What Did You Say?
Twelfth graders identify main ideas in reading selections. They read newspaper letters to the editor, identify the main ideas, list the supporting details, and present each side of the issue to the class.
Curated OER
Friday Forum (Day 5)
Young scholars evaluate their performance in different debates about the laws of Michigan. They write a letter to an editor of a newspaper sharing their opinions. They write journal entries as well.
Curated OER
Thomas Jefferson's Concept of America
Students study Thomas Jefferson's concept of America. They read a chapter from the book, Thomas Jefferson's America, and discuss its main events comparing it to current events. Role-playing a citizen from the 1790s, they write a letter...
Curated OER
All The News
Students simulate newspaper critics in the topics of heat and temperature. They write a scientific critique of evidence and claims used in a newspaper article and research using KIE software. They write notes on the letter to the editor...
Curated OER
Salton Sea - Live or Die?
Young scholars read and discuss the scientific article attached to the lesson. They compose a letter to the editor citing the importance of preserving an ecological environment.
Curated OER
Dress Reform in the 19th Century
Students read and discuss the writings of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Timothy Shay Arthur and others to explore mid to late 19th century dress reform. They use their findings to write a letter to an editor from a 19th century viewpoint.