LAFS.910.RI.2.5Archived Standard

This close reading lesson focuses on Mary Schmich's comical commencement speech essay, "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young." Students will take an in-depth analysis to discover her powerful satirical style, as well as the power of social nuances. Students will focus on academic vocabulary and answer high-level text-dependent questions as a guide for their comprehension of the essay, evaluating if her choice of words and wisdom remain valid, relative, and sufficient for the youth of today.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will conduct research to answer the research question: How are current trends in education affecting higher education and/or the workforce?

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students read a non-fiction text as they learn of the artifacts unearthed from the remains of a Salvadoran village preserved in volcanic ash much like Pompeii. Students will discover how researchers piece together evidence to determine the significance the artifacts reveal in illustrating the daily lives of this ancient people. As students come to understand the researchers use the artifacts to infer religious, cultural and economic aspects of the Ceren village, they will answer text-dependent questions and compose a multi-paragraph writing response (sample answer keys included) asking students to describe the power of this natural disaster to destroy this ancient culture yet preserve its details for future generations to learn from.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the first lesson in a three-part series on Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop." In this lesson, the speech has been divided into eight sections with text-dependent questions that are specific to each section. Throughout the course of the lesson students will determine a central idea for each section and examine King's ideas and claims and how they are developed and supported. At the end of the lesson, students will determine an overarching central idea of the speech and write an extended paragraph to explain the central idea and how it is developed and supported with specific evidence throughout the text.

Type: Lesson Plan

"The line between private and public space is as porous as tissue paper." This is lesson two of three in a unit to introduce students to the central idea of privacy. In this lesson, students will continue to explore issues of privacy through their previous research on Edward Snowden. Students will use a graphic organizer to evaluate how an author develops the central idea. Students will be asked to consider to whether or not privacy has become an illusion due to our technological advances.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will conduct close readings of a teacher-selected news article that introduces a claim and two sides. As they read, they will implement vocabulary strategies, analyze the article’s claims and their validity. After they read, they will participate in a whole class discussion before choosing a side and writing a three-paragraph argument in the form of a letter.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will embark upon a journey of espionage and inquire how the rights of one can become a barrier for the greater good of a nation. This is the first lesson in a three-part unit evaluating the concept of privacy, surveillance, and technology. After learning briefly about former NSA agent Edward Snowden, students will research to find more information on Snowden’s actions and surrounding events. activity will require students to use textual support, reasoning and relevancy of the text, and analyze an author's claims. Students will synthesize the arguments, information, and claims within the text to participate in a class debate on whether Snowden is should be celebrated or considered a traitor.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is the second of a unit comprised of 3 lessons. In this second lesson, students will use small group discussion to analyze informational text, a speech given by Judge Learned Hand entitled "The Spirit of Liberty," in terms of central idea and author’s choices in achieving purpose.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze examples of ethical appeals, pathetic appeals and logical appeals using an excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail". Students will analyze the author/writer's purpose in these works, how they use rhetoric to develop their purpose, how the author/speaker's claims are developed in specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions, while citing textual evidence.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will read and analyze Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech. Using the knowledge and textual evidence gleaned from multiple readings, students will write a short response to support their analysis of this famous speech.

Type: Lesson Plan

Read excerpts from Maya Angelou's book of essays, Letter to My Daughter. In this interactive English Language Arts tutorial, you'll identify an important idea in each excerpt and examine how the author develops the important idea throughout the section of text. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In this interactive tutorial, you'll practice determining an author's claim and how it's supported by specific details. You'll read several nonfiction texts, including excerpts by Sojourner Truth and Harriet Beecher Stowe. You'll analyze how each author effectively expresses her claim.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This is a 10 day overview from the Library of Congress on a Historical Perspective of the time period surrounding To Kill A Mockingbird. Includes a lot of primary resources and writing activities.

Type: Teaching Idea

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence