LAFS.910.W.1.1Archived 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

The hero's journey is an archetypal plot structure found in novels and epic poems, yet it can also be found in other text formats. After students have read the novella Anthem and the poem "Invictus," they will craft an argument supporting their claim of whether or not the hero's journey is evidenced in shorter texts. They will find and organize evidence, draft their arguments, and perform a peer review as they complete the writing process. This lesson is lesson two in a two-part series.

Type: Lesson Plan

The hero's journey is an archetypal plot structure found in modern novels and can also be found in popular poetry. After students have read the novella Anthem by Ayn Rand, they will examine the poem "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley for elements of the Hero's Journey. Students will work collaboratively to decide whether or not all aspects of the hero's journey are demonstrated efficiently in this variety of texts.

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

Students often have difficulty envisioning and making sense of a story that is set in a markedly different time or circumstance than their own. This two-day activity introduces students to the dystopian society of 1984 by George Orwell. By analyzing Orwell's carefully chosen words, details, repetitions, and characterizations in these first few pages, students can construct a strong understanding of some of the key features of this society that will give them a solid framework for comprehending the rest of the novel. Doing this kind of close reading work also reinforces to students that authors do not randomly select the details they include in a text; they choose words carefully to create a mood or construct a particular image of a character or place in a reader's mind. The overriding question that students should be able to answer at the end of this exercise is: What can we understand about Winston Smith and the society he lives in based on the descriptive details George Orwell includes in the first few pages of 1984?

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is the 3rd lesson of a unit on Immigration and America. In this lesson, students will analyze the and make thematic connections to the previous works studied. The culminating activity is students' oral presentation of a digital presentation in which they compare the works in terms of theme. They will need to support their ideas with textual evidence.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is the third and final lesson in a unit analyzing rhetorical appeals. In this lesson, students will identify and analyze rhetorical appeals in a speech from President Obama and plan an outline for an essay to explain President Obama’s choices to establish meaning and achieve his purpose in the speech.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is part two in a series of three exploring and analyzing Emily Dickinson's style. In part two, students will use the historical and literary research conducted in part one and they will read and analyze a variety of her letters written during the Romantic Period. Students will use their analysis of the letters as sources for the summative assessment, a letter to the editor written in response to one or several of Dickinson's letters or topics.

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

Students will evaluate a variety of medications and their potential benefits for a diabetic patient.

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. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

"Poly Wants a Bridge" is a model-eliciting activity that allows students to assist the city of Polygon City with selecting the most appropriate bridge to build. Teams of students are required to analyze properties of bridges, such as physical composition and span length in order to solve 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. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will complete a lab using indicators to determine which foods contain carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and/or starches. The lab includes pre-lab questions, discussion, lab experimentation, post lab questions, results and conclusion. The students will submit a completed lab report that will be graded based on a rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will analyze the character development of protagonists and antagonists from literature read over the course of the school year. Students will complete a note-taking activity as well as a graphic organizer to use as they answer an analysis question about the characterization of protagonists and antagonists across various genres of literature.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will compare and contrast the tone and theme of two poems about death. Students will annotate text, complete a directed note taking organizer, and will write a compare/contrast essay.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will identify rhetorical terms and methods, examine the rhetorical devices of JFK's inaugural address, and analyze and evaluate the effects of the rhetorical devices on the delivered speech.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will compare and analyze information about Elie Wiesel and determine how rhetorical devices support his central idea(s) as evidenced across the various mediums.

Type: Lesson Plan

Practice creating a concluding paragraph for an argumentative essay. This tutorial will focus on four elements of an effective conclusion: transitions, summary, synthesis, and a gift.

This interactive tutorial is part 4 in a 4-part series about writing an argumentative essay. Click below to open the other tutorials in the series.

Part 1 - Planning Argument Writing: E-Waste

Part 2 - Introductions in Argument Writing: E-Waste

Part 3 - Body Paragraphs in Argument Writing: E-Waste

Part 4 - Conclusions in Argument Writing: E-Waste

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Practice creating a body paragraph for an argumentative essay on e-waste. This interactive tutorial will focus on four elements of an effective body paragraph: transitions; the topic sentence; reasons and evidence; and a brief wrap up.

This interactive tutorial is part 3 in a 4-part series about writing an argumentative essay. Click below to open the other tutorials in the series.

Part 1 - Planning Argument Writing: E-Waste

Part 2 - Introductions in Argument Writing: E-Waste

Part 3 - Body Paragraphs in Argument Writing: E-Waste

Part 4 - Conclusions in Argument Writing: E-Waste

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn to create an organized, detailed introductory paragraph for an argumentative essay using the H.E.A.R.T. approach. H.E.A.R.T. is an acronym that standards for hook the reader, establish the context, address the argument, reveal the main points, and tie it together with transitions.

This interactive tutorial is part 2 in a 4-part series about writing an argumentative essay. Click below to open the other tutorials in the series.

Part 1 - Planning Argument Writing: E-Waste

Part 2 - Introductions in Argument Writing: E-Waste

Part 3 - Body Paragraphs in Argument Writing: E-Waste

Part 4 - Conclusions in Argument Writing: E-Waste

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn how to create an outline to help you prepare to write an essay. You will read an informational text about technotrash, also called electronic waste or e-waste. Then, you will work on creating an outline that could help you write an argumentative essay about this topic. The outline will include a claim/thesis statement, main ideas, reasons, evidence, counterclaims, and rebuttals.  

This interactive tutorial is part 1 in a 4-part series about writing an argumentative essay. Click below to open the other tutorials in the series.

Part 1 - Planning Argument Writing: E-Waste

Part 2 - Introductions in Argument Writing: E-Waste 

Part 3 - Body Paragraphs in Argument Writing: E-Waste

Part 4 - Conclusions in Argument Writing: E-Waste

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This teaching idea addresses the pros and cons of discussion by analyzing the concept of utopia in a satire. Students collaborate in small groups to create a Discussion Web that addresses the question, "Are people equal?" Students engage in meaningful discussions analyzing all sides of their initial response, form a consensus, and present it to the class. Students then read "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and use supporting details to complete another Discussion Web that examines whether or not the people in the story are equal. Web-based graphic organizers, assessments, and extension activities are included.

Type: Teaching Idea

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

In this animated video from TEDed, students will learn the process of writing an engaging and insightful introduction. They will also examine how to compose an introduction that is tailored to a specific thesis. Looking at Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, they will identify the fundamentals of writing a great introduction by examining this masterpiece.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation