Through close readings of Zora Neale Hurston'sTheir Eyes Were Watching God, students will analyzehow Hurston creates a unique literary voice by combining folklore, folk language, and traditional literary techniques. Students will examine the role that folk groups play in both their own lives and in the novel.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
Students read Avi's "Nothing But the Truth" and examine the First Amendment and student rights, and then decide whether the rights of the novel's protagonist, Philip, are violated.
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan
In this triumph of magical realism, "One Hundred Years of Solitude" chronicles a century of the remarkable BuendÃa family's history in the fictional Colombian town of Macondo. The three lessons presented here explore the fantastic elements of this imaginary world, the real history that lies behind them, and GarcÃa Márquez's own philosophical musings on writing about Latin America.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
This lesson introduces the concept of "glance media" through an analysis of billboards. Students apply design concepts by creating a slide presentation to accompany an existing historical speech.
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan
Learn prepositions (on, under, next to, over and around) by singing a mariachi song with Sofia and Mr. Parrot! Viewers sing and dance along with Sofia as she learns prepositions demonstrated by Mr. Parrot being on the sombrero, under the sombrero, next to the sombrero, over the sombrero, and around the sombrero. Learning Objective: Understand and use the following parts of speech in the context of reading, writing, and speaking (with adult assistance): prepositions and simple prepositional phrases appropriately when speaking or writing (e.g., in, on, under, over).
Material Type: Lesson
Students listen to a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., view photographs of the March on Washington, and study King's use of imagery and allusion in his "I Have a Dream" speech.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
This lesson will examine the most famous speech in American history to understand how Lincoln turned a perfunctory eulogy at a cemetery dedication into a concise and profound meditation on the meaning of the Civil War and American union.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
In this lesson, students gain a sense of the dramatic effect of FDR's voice on his audience, see the scope of what he was proposing in these first two "Fireside Chats," and make an overall analysis of why the series of speeches were so successful.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
Students will listen to a brief biography, view photographs of the March on Washington, hear a portion of King's "I Have a Dream" speech, and discuss what King's words mean to them.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
By exploring myths and truths surrounding Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, students think critically about commonly believed stories regarding this famous speech from the Civil War era.
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan
Making Evidence-Based Claims ELA/Literacy Units empower students with a critical reading and writing skill at the heart of the Common Core: making evidence-based claims about complex texts. These units are part of the Developing Core Proficiencies Program. This unit develops students' abilities to make evidence-based claims through activities based on a close reading of the Nobel Peace Prize Speeches of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Barack Obama.
Material Type: Primary Source, Reading, Teaching/Learning Strategy, Unit of Study
This exemplar has been developed to guide high school students and instructors in a close reading of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The activities and actions described below follow a carefully developed set of steps that assist students in increasing their familiarity and understanding of Lincoln's speech through a series of text dependent tasks and questions that ultimately develop college and career ready skills identified in the Common Core State Standards. This unit can be broken down into three sections of instruction and reflection on the part of students and their teachers, which is followed by additional activities, some designed for history/social studies and some for ELA classrooms.his close reading exemplar is intended to model how teachers can support their students as they undergo the kind of careful reading the Common Core State Standards require. Teachers are encouraged to take these exemplars and modify them to suit the needs of their students.
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Lesson Plan, Reading, Teaching/Learning Strategy
In 1845 Frederick Douglass published what was to be the first of his three autobiographies: the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. As the title suggests, Douglass wished not only to highlight the irony that a land founded on freedom would permit slavery to exist within its midst, but also to establish that he, an American slave with no formal education, was the sole author of the work.
Material Type: Lesson
In this lesson, students analyze the allusions, slang, and literary analogies used in "Raymond's Run" by Toni Cade Bambara. To extend understanding, they will then write their own allusions and analogies.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to summarize the contents of the First Amendment and give examples of speech that is protected by the Constitution and speech that is not protected by the Constitution.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
Abraham Lincoln felt that the attempt of seven states to leave the American union peacefully was, in fact, a total violation of law and order. This lesson will examine Lincoln's First Inaugural Address to understand why he thought his duty as president required him to treat secession as an act of rebellion and not a legitimate legal or constitutional action by disgruntled states.
Material Type: Lesson Plan
How did Abraham Lincoln understand the relationship between principles of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution?
Material Type: Lesson Plan
This audio excerpt from Bayard Rustin's 1967 "Freedom Budget" speech outlines a nine-year plan to end poverty in America.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
Students create a persuasive case calling for the adoption of a particular young adult literature title into their school's language arts curriculum by writing letters or speeches.
Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan
