Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning
Shelby Blackwood is the English Language Arts Online Learning Writer at the K20 Center for Educational and Community Renewal. Shelby works collaboratively with other content curriculum writers and instructional designers in developing online instruction and curriculum to assist teachers in implementing the Oklahoma Academic Standards. Shelby’s mission in education is to cultivate the love of learning and encourage creativity, compassion, and innovation.
In Leadership Club, students will explore aspects of leadership and event management through designing, planning, and executing a variety of engaging student and family events. Students will improve leadership skills such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, decision-making, and creativity as... Read more »
Created by: Shelby Blackwood
Date Updated: April 17th, 2025
This activity has students engage with the many possible paths available in post-secondary education. Students embark on a scavenger hunt in which they locate facts about the many post-secondary education options by discussing college journeys with teachers, viewing college journey boards, or locating... Read more »
Created by: Shelby Blackwood
Date Updated: February 26th, 2025
In this professional development session, participants will evaluate vocabulary students might encounter in college and career readiness programming. Participants will engage in strategies that reinforce authentic vocabulary instruction of Tier 2 words. Read more »
Created by: Shelby Blackwood
Date Updated: October 11th, 2023
This collaborative strategy is a fun, active way for students to engage in substantive conversations. With meaningful prompts or questions, students can reflect on their learning, review content or vocabulary, and much more with this highly adaptable learning strategy. Read more »
Created by: Shelby Blackwood
July 11th, 2023
There is a special kind of magic in hearing the words you have written spoken out loud. Spoken word poetry is meant to be heard and performed rather than read silently from a page. In this lesson, students analyze the techniques spoken word poets use to engage an audience and examine the devices they... Read more »
Created by: Shelby Blackwood
Date Updated: September 12th, 2024
Techniques in Spoken Word Poetry
Do words matter? Does our choice of words affect the attitudes of others? In this lesson, students will explore the denotation and connotation of different words from the play "Romeo and Juliet" and how word choice affects understanding and perception of an author’s writing. This is a multimodality... Read more »
Created by: Shelby Blackwood
Date Updated: April 2nd, 2025
Connotation and Denotation in Romeo and Juliet
In this lesson, students explore themes of community and identity by analyzing a poem and creating their own poem inspired by the themes. Through these activities, students reflect deeply on their lives and learn to apply a variety of literary devices that allow them to express their creativity and... Read more »
Created by: Shelby Blackwood
Date Updated: September 13th, 2024
Poetry
In this lesson, students compare and contrast the poem, "The Hill We Climb," with an excerpt from the speech, "I Have a Dream," and analyze how the authors' messages are made clear through their word choices and rhetorical strategies. Students compose a poem, evaluate how poetry can be used to send... Read more »
Created by: Shelby Blackwood
Date Updated: November 25th, 2024
Perspectives in Poetry
Truth is a powerful thing. Sometimes it hurts, and sometimes it is hard to deliver. In this multi-genre lesson, students will analyze and compare three texts written on the subject of honesty. Students will determine the claim a text is arguing and the evidence and reasoning that is used to support... Read more »
Created by: Shelby Blackwood
Date Updated: September 11th, 2024
Claim, Evidence, Reasoning
In this lesson, students evaluate the historical and cultural perspectives behind spoken word poetry. Students review several spoken word poems and analyze their historical, cultural, and social connections while studying the history of spoken word poetry. Students then demonstrate and justify their... Read more »
Created by: Shelby Blackwood
Date Updated: September 12th, 2024
Historical and Cultural Perspectives in Literature
