Cluster 3: Integration of Knowledge and IdeasArchived

In this lesson, students will listen to a mini-lecture by a history professor regarding two passages included in Thomas Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration of Independence but deleted from the final version. Students will then participate in an analysis of the two passages, then write an argumentative essay about the professor's argument.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will listen to a mini-lecture by a history professor regarding two passages included in Thomas Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration of Independence but deleted from the final version. Students will then participate in a close-reading analysis of the two passages to understand the professor's argument, explaining it in an essay. The hypocrisy of slavery is the primary theme: Can a people who enslave others validly plead for their own freedom?

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will conduct several close readings of the article "SeaWorld, Activists Make Questionable Claims on Killer Whale Life Spans" by Jason Garcia. For the first close reading, students will focus on selected academic vocabulary. In the second reading, students will analyze the claims made in the article, focusing, in particular, on the validity of each claim made. During the final close reading, students will analyze the argument presented in the article, choose a side, and participate in a Philosophical Chairs discussion.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will analyze the data given to decide which type of loan they will buy. After selecting their options, students will estimate the first loan payment. FHA loans offer a better interest rate than conforming loans, but buying premium insurance is a requirement to qualify for an FHA loan, increasing the upfront cost of the loan. Fixed interest rate loans seem like the best choice because you have the same mortgage payment every month; however, adjustable rate loans offer a better interest rate and it has a cap on the interest rate.

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 Part 1 of this three-lesson mini-unit students will practice and apply research skills through a short research project on Native Americans. Students will work in collaborative groups to gather information on Native Americans from specific regions to develop and present a multimedia project based on their research.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is Part three of a three-part series on the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Students will analyze F. Scott Fitzgerald's inspirations for both his characters and stories. In this lesson, students will analyze a 1928 portrait of Louise Brooks by Eugene Robert Richee as a stimulus for creating an original character living during the glitter and glamour of the 1920s. Finally, using compiled textual evidence recorded throughout the three lessons, students will create a narrative in the style of Fitzgerald for Louise Brooks.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students can practice answering reading comprehension questions with engaging texts on the history of women's athletics. With an account, students can save their work and send it to their teacher when complete.

Type: Student Center Activity

This teaching idea is designed to help students analyze grammar pet peeves. Students begin by thinking about their own grammar pet peeves and then read a "Dear Abby" column in which she lists several grammar pet peeves of her own. Students become aware that attitudes about race, social class, moral and ethical character and 'proper' language use are intertwined and that rants such as this one reveal those attitudes. Finally, students discuss the pet peeves as a class while gaining an understanding that issues of race, class, combined with audience expectations, help to determine what is considered 'proper' language use.

Type: Teaching Idea

In order to appreciate historical fiction, students need to understand factual context and recognize how popular culture reflects the values, mores, and events of a time period. Since a newspaper records significant events and attitudes representative of a period, students will create a literary newspaper (8 pages) depicting life of the "Roaring Twenties" utilizing primary source materials from the American Memory collections

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence