Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character
Charlotte's Web: A Story About Friendship
Strengthen the bonds of friendship within your class with a reading of E.B. White's award-winning novel, Charlotte's Web. Focusing on the unique characters in the story and the relationships they develop, young readers draw from their...
Curated OER
Strong Convictions
How can the rhetorical structure of an editorial help to develop its argument? Use this New York Times editorial to emphasize the importance of structure in a piece of informational text. Adolescent writers then use the editorial as a...
Curated OER
Sequencing
Are you looking for a way to teach sequence of events in your narrative writing unit? Bring this lesson plan to your middle school class, as it prompts young writers to create a narrative sequence map of events that have happened at...
American Immigration Law Foundation
No Pretty Pictures
Here is a nice set of activities and discussion questions to accompany your class reading of No Pretty Pictures, a memoir of a young girl's experiences and struggle for survival during the Holocaust.
EngageNY
Evaluating Evidence: Adversities Faced in the Middle Ages
How is that relevant? Scholars gain an understanding of the words relevant and compelling. They then go back to the End of Unit 1 Assessment Prompt: Adversity in the Middle Ages and look at the second bullet that pertains to relevant and...
Brownsville Independent School District
Moral Courage
What does a morally courageous person look like? Discuss principles, peer pressure, and solving problems without violence in a worksheet about moral courage, and the ways you can be a hero to the people around you.
Facing History and Ourselves
The Audacity of a Vote: Susan B. Anthony’s Arrest
Susan B. Anthony's speech "Is It a Crime for Women to Vote?" takes center stage in a lesson that asks class members to consider how they might respond to what they consider an unjust law. Groups work through the speech paragraph by...
Curated OER
Brog-Cube-the Spam
A Middle school special ed class uses the acronym SPAM to learn the 4 parts of writing. They employ 4 different colors to help them visually distinguish each part of writing in a given prompt. This lesson is vague and uses a strong...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4
Although it does not properly address how to use the Common Core standard, this resource does provide a decent writing prompt that explores how minor characters influence Hamlet's decisions throughout the play. The prompt can be used for...
You Evanston
Social Emotional Activities Workbook
Split into five sections, you'll find plenty of activities, discussion prompts, and worksheets to address social-emotional intelligence. Learners focus on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and...
Education Development Center
Factoring a Degree Six Polynomial
Within collaborative groups, scholars factor a degree six polynomial. They can factor the polynomial using many different strategies — a great way to prompt mathematical discussion.
New York State Education Department
English Language Arts Examination: January 2018
Excerpts from classic novels make great material for standardized tests. A sample English language arts examination, part of a larger set of assessments, mixes excerpts from classic novels and more modern texts. The test includes three...
Bantam Books
The Tempest: Chalk Talk
Discussion doesn't always need to be spoken. Before you begin The Tempest by William Shakespeare, have kids connect their ideas and experiences to central questions of the play with a silent discussion activity. Once they have...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 10
"O, I am fortune's fool!" As they continue their analysis of Act 3, scene 1, class members consider the role of fate in the events. The lesson concludes with a viewing of a brief portion of Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, in which the...
Annenberg Foundation
Student Voices
Whether it's an election year or not, a unit on voting patterns and political campaigns will awaken the civic pride in your high school citizens. Divided into six parts, the curriculum covers various facets of an election, including...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
The Great Depression - Hard Times Hit America
To gain an understanding of how the Great Depression affected everyday citizens, class members examine letters written either to the president or to the governor of Alabama asking for assistance.
Carolina K-12
Minnesota v. White: Exploring a Judicial Candidate’s First Amendment Rights
After watching a documentary on the Supreme Court case Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, class members research how the First Amendment and free speech issues influence judicial elections and then conduct a mock judicial election.
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 14
After watching the scene from Romeo + Juliet in which Juliet argues with her parents because she does not want to marry Paris, groups do a close reading of Act 4, scene 1, lines 44-88, examining the word choices in the conversation...
Leadership Challenge
Inside Out
What are the internal and external qualities of a great leader? After individuals reflect on these questions, the group generates a master list. Individuals then consider what they have to offer and where they need help from others to...
Curated OER
Writing an Autobiography
Students identify life goals as they write an autobiography. They write a strong introduction for their autobiography. Students write a sequences of events using their Life Map as a graphic organizer. They write facts accurately...
Curated OER
Beginning Your Journal
Middle schoolers develop a deeper awareness of the use of journals and gather inspiration to begin their journal from their graphic time lines. They explore, ponder, test and illustrate self-expression through daily journal writing. Each...
Curated OER
Women Call Out: The Personal Narrative
After reading and discussing several personal narratives written by women in the 1920's, class members write a personal narrative of their own about a time in their lives they felt controlled. Sample narratives can be accessed through...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 17: Obituary
The Cay has been criticized by groups such as the Council on Interracial Books for Children because of the way race is portrayed. Explore the argument against the book while taking the author's perspective into account. Class members...
K12 Reader
National Symbols
What are the most prominent symbols of the United States? Learn about the bald eagle, the American flag, and the Statue of Liberty in a reading comprehension activity that includes a short passage and five reflective questions.