Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning
A dash of this and a dash of that works in cooking, but does it work in writing? In this lesson, students will explore the use of em and en dashes. Through reading the short story “Cooking Time,” students will get to explore the use of dashes. Students will also have the opportunity to write a response... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: April 24th, 2024
The Weirdest Sentence I'd Ever Heard
Chaucer's Wife of Bath Tale
In this lesson on The Wife of Bath’s tale from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, students will examine different perspectives of characters from the story. They will do a deeper dive on “What Women Want?” and the history of women’s movements. Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: March 13th, 2024
Chaucer's Wife of Bath Tale
During this lesson, students will analyze the techniques used in classical literature compared to comic book writing to determine how they contribute to the meaning of unknown vocabulary words. Students will use excerpts from the original text, Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney, and the corresponding... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: January 9th, 2024
Vocabulary in Beowulf
Swimming in your local lake, you feel what you think is seaweed. But is it? When there's something strange in your local habitat, who ya gonna call? Mulder & Scully! In this third lesson of the Monster Monday series, students examine informational texts for examples to model and craft their own informative... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: October 4th, 2023
Writing with Water Cryptids
Students will activate and build their background knowledge so that they are better able to comprehend Beowulf and draw connections to crucial parts of the story. This lesson is intended to be taught just before students read Beowulf. Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: October 6th, 2023
Introductory Material on Beowulf
In this lesson, students explore what a Faustian bargain is and examine examples in literature and pop culture. Students read, watch, listen, discuss, and write an argument as they work through the concept and its lasting legacy. Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: September 20th, 2023
Robert Johnson and Faustian Bargains
Day and night, yin and yang, love and despair, Biggie and Tupac—all opposite yet equal counterparts to one another. In this lesson, students explore the reaction to the American Transcendental movement, dark romanticism. They Jigsaw informational texts of this subgenre and come to a consensus on what... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: May 31st, 2023
Dark Romantic Author Nathaniel Hawthorne
Teachers know the importance of discussion in the ELA and social studies classrooms, but engaging students in discussion can feel especially difficult. To help teachers increase student engagement, this session will introduce the following strategies: Chat Stations, Agreement Circles, Elevator Speech,... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: March 17th, 2023
Werewolves Who Write
“And they called it puppy love…” This lesson will have students falling in love with werewolves from all packs as they explore how mythology and lore has progressed over time, place, and culture. After they discover which pack they belong to, they will work together to design a movie poster that depicts... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: February 8th, 2023
Werewolves Who Write
Students will be able to perform the following: Understand character motivation. Translate character’s motivations from “The Gift of the Magi” into a written present-day situation. Read more »
Motivations in The Gift of the Magi
