Standard 1: Communicating Through Writing

Students will read portions of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and review the text of the 15^th Amendment, then write a narrative piece in the form of a journal entry to express Frederick Douglass’ thoughts and feelings about how the 15^th Amendment could impact his life.

There are three lessons that can be used to complement a study of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and help students take a new perspective by merging ELA skills with civics knowledge.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will organize their research and ideas on water conservation or consumption from lesson 1 of this unit. They will transform their research into a flow chart that will become their digital plan for communicating or engaging with government officials.  This is lesson 2 of a 3-part integrated civics and computer science mini-unit.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this integrated lesson plan, students will reflect on their observations of weathering and erosion of Castillo de San Marco National Monument (from lesson 2) and the roles and responsibilities of those involved in its preservation. As a final product, they will draft a letter to the government official/agency responsible for the monument, detailing what they have learned about the Castillo monument, how the science of weathering and erosion apply, why it is important to prioritize restoration/preservation of the monument, and their ideas for better maintenance based on their research. As a culminating activity, students will peer review each others’ letters for improvement.

Type: Lesson Plan

In groups, students will decide how to promote their technology. Students will develop an impromptu 2-minute presentation in a format of their choice to share information about their technology with the school and community in this lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will write an expository text in the style of newspaper reporting. Students will write to discuss the role of the first amendment for each of the historical figures in the text, Freedom Walkers. This is the final lesson within a unit using this text.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will utilize historical trade flow data (import and export) to interpret, create, and draw conclusions about foreign policy, specifically the World Trade Organization. Students will write a claim using the data to make suggestions regarding foreign trade import and export in this integrated lesson plan. 

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will study four landmark Supreme Court cases all dealing with First Amendment free speech issues. Students will analyze all four cases using a graphic organizer. Then students will complete a short writing assignment in which they make and support a claim about one case and the Court's decision regarding free speech.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson 3 of a 6-lesson unit plan. Students will create specific questions to ask individuals invited to a Career showcase event, using one of the attached KWLH charts. Students will be tasked with writing and asking questions regarding one individual’s career such as their skills, abilities, and talents, and the level of training and education they have received. Additionally, using a timeline template, students will prepare questions pertaining to how much time was spent progressing through different stages of their career.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is lesson two in a three-part lesson series where students research and develop appropriate conflict resolution strategies to be applied in the workplace. In part one of the series, students researched conflict resolution and reviewed examples of both proper and improper workplace conflict resolution strategies. In this lesson, part two of the series, students use the research they conducted in part one to create a conflict resolution plan to use in the workplace. In part three of the series, students will be presented with a conflict and will need to use the plan they’ve created to resolve the conflict.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this four-part series, students will read informational texts in the form of brochures created by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. Students will work in groups to complete a graphic organizer to identify text features, determine the meaning of selected vocabulary, and compare central ideas. Students will also conduct research about Florida wildlife to create an original brochure with a variety of text features.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will read O. Henry's "A Retrieved Reformation" and an additional O. Henry selection to compare the themes of love and redemption. They will identify supporting details of the themes in each text and use them to support their analysis in a short written response.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will discuss various ways to get involved in their community and will research current organizations and their roles in supporting community needs. Students will use their research to write a well-developed essay explaining the types of community organizations that are currently involved in supporting community needs and will determine how they might want to become involved.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will engage in the narrative writing process to brainstorm ideas, produce organized, thoughtful drafts, provide peer feedback, edit their writing, and produce a final product. Students will create a list of ideas they will use as a basis for their writing. They will also practice each stage of the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) during writing workshop. Students will receive feedback from peer reviewers at each step of the way as they perfect their writer's craft. Students will produce a final narrative essay for the summative assessment.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read the autobiographical story "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote and view a teacher-approved film version of the same story to compare the themes of “nostalgia fosters self-reflection,” and “the love between two friends cannot be easily forgotten.” Students will then write an extended paragraph comparing how the two themes interact within each of the modes.

Type: Lesson Plan

Raising Your Garden MEA provides students with a real world engineering problem in which they must work as a team to design a procedure to select the best material for building raised garden beds. The main focus of this MEA is to recognize the importance of choosing the correct material for building a raised garden bed, what information is needed before starting a gardening project, and to consider the environmental and economic impact the garden will have on the school. Students will conduct individual and team investigations in order to arrive at a scientifically sound solution to the problem.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. 

Type: Lesson Plan

Using the case study, We Need to Hire, students will evaluate current staffing at a pediatrician’s office and determine what position should be hired to resolve issues described in the passage. Students will be able to justify their choice. Students will relate careers in the story to the medical career pathways.

Type: Lesson Plan

Using the case study, “The Best Customer Service,” students will analyze the server guest satisfaction reviews and employee summaries to determine which employees give the best customer service. Then students will collaborate to determine the employee who is recommended for promotion based on guest satisfaction and write a narrative outcome for the case study.

Type: Lesson Plan

Practice changing sentences from passive to active voice in this interactive tutorial about mythical creatures.

This is Part Two in a two-part series. Make sure to complete Part One first! Click HERE to launch "It's No Myth -- Part One: Distinguishing Between Passive and Active Voice."  

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn how to identify and write strong argumentative claims. In this interactive tutorial, you'll first learn how to create a strong claim, and then you'll practice writing the introduction to your own argumentative essay.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn to define and explain active and passive voice in this wizard-themed interactive tutorial. You'll also learn how to transform passive voice to active voice to make your writing stronger.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Students will debate which foundational ideas found in American documents are most important in the Great Mini Debate. Students will use evidence from the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble and the Bill of Rights to support their arguments. The Great Mini Debate Cheat Sheet will prompt beginning debaters as to what should go in each speech of the debate.

Type: Teaching Idea

This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice fixing comma errors in sentences. For each practice item, you must select the best choice to revise a sentence so that it uses commas correctly. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. 

Type: Tutorial

This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice fixing comma errors in sentences. For each practice item, you must correct the comma error in a sentence. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. The site also provides an explanation of the rules of proper sentence structure for you to study, simply click the hyperlinked "Comma Tip” that appears with feedback.

Type: Tutorial

This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice correcting two common types of run-on sentences: comma splices and fused sentences. For each practice item, you must identify the best way to correct either a comma splice or a fused sentence. Explanations of each correct answer are also provided. There’s also an explanation of the rules of proper sentence structure for you to study, simply click the hyperlinked word "rules."

Type: Tutorial

This interactive exercise will give you practice simplifying sentences with apostrophes. For each practice item, you must simplify a sentence by typing a revision that demonstrates the correct use of an apostrophe. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. If you don’t know which word or words to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.

Type: Tutorial

This interactive exercise will give you practice simplifying sentences with apostrophes. For each practice item, you must simplify a sentence by typing a revision that demonstrates the correct use of an apostrophe. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. If you don’t know which word or words to type, the “I Give Up” button will help you out.

Type: Tutorial

This interactive exercise will give you practice in correcting sentence fragments. For each practice item, you must select the best choice to correct a fragment in a short passage. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are also provided. There's also an explanation of the rules of proper sentence structure for you to study; simply click the hyperlinked word "rules."

Type: Tutorial

This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in correcting sentence fragments. For each practice item, you must select the best choice to correct a fragment in a short passage. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are also provided. There's also an explanation of the rules of proper sentence structure for you to study, simply click the hyperlinked word "rules."

Type: Tutorial

This fun and interactive exercise will give you practice in correcting sentence fragments. For each practice item, you must select the best choice to correct a fragment in a short passage. After every response, you will get immediate feedback. Explanations of each correct answer are also provided. There's also an explanation of the rules of proper sentence structure for you to study, simply click the hyperlinked word "rules."

Type: Tutorial

Luis Martínez-Fernández was born at the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. Dr. Martínez-Fernández immigrated to the United States with his family when he was 2 years old after the Bay of Pigs Invasion. His family moved to Lima, Peru after his father was offered employment there. Dr. Martínez-Fernández’s family left Peru after the President of Peru was ousted from power. The new government in Peru concerned Dr. Martínez-Fernández’s father and the family moved to Puerto Rico where they become U.S. Citizens. Dr. Martínez-Fernández moved to the U.S. after graduation from The University of Puerto Rico. He is a Professor of History, an author, and is civically engaged through his nationally syndicated column.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

In this animated video from TEDed, students will learn why words like "bad" and "good" are not descriptive and have no place in their writing. They will also be able to choose many other more appropriate and expressive words to improve their writing once they finish the video.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation