Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning
Brandy taught HS ELA in Missouri, Arizona, and Oklahoma before becoming a Curriculum Specialist at the K20 Center. She has over 12 years of experience in the classroom.
In this lesson, students explore emotional resilience and mental health through writing, media, group analysis, and literature. The lesson begins with a Quick Write on coping with uncertain times, followed by discussions and videos introducing mental health counseling and social work. Students analyze... Read more »
Created by: Brandy Hackett
Date Updated: May 28th, 2025
Theme and Characterization
Students will engage in a discussion about what it means to be human before trying to determine, much like the Turing Test, which images were created by artificial intelligence and which were created by humans. Students will read a passage from Frankenstein, analyzing the piece for how the author portrayed... Read more »
Created by: Brandy Hackett
Date Updated: August 9th, 2024
Thematic Links Between AI and Frankenstein
In this lesson, students will explore the meaning of the word "parallel" and analyze how and for what purposes parallel structure is used in speeches. At the end of the lesson, students will compose a tweet to summarize the purpose of parallel structure in writing. This lesson includes optional modifications... Read more »
Created by: Brandy Hackett
Date Updated: May 22nd, 2025
Parallel Structure
This lesson asks students to analyze the motivations of Montresor in Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado" and engages students by placing them in the role of a forensic psychologist. In this role, having students will answer questions in a clinical evaluation. Students will analyze... Read more »
Created by: Brandy Hackett
Date Updated: September 12th, 2024
Irony and Characterization in "The Cask of Amontillado"
Discussions are a natural, common practice in ELA classrooms. It is a daily challenge to engage students face-to-face, but engaging students online can feel especially difficult. This presentation introduces strategies that can effectively spark ideas for both face-to-face and virtual discussions: First... Read more »
Created by: Brandy Hackett
Date Updated: July 9th, 2024
This session focuses on the basics and best practices of universal design for learning in the online environment to help students access materials and participate. This session explores what universal design for learning is and why UDL practices should be used when planning and designing lessons and... Read more »
Created by: Brandy Hackett
Date Updated: March 7th, 2024
A scaffolded, two-paragraph argumentative writing template that allows students to enter into academic conversations by first summarizing the argument of the given text and then asking students to explain their own opinions regarding the topic. Read more »
Created by: Brandy Hackett
February 27th, 2024
