Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning
In this session, participants will reinforce their understanding of authentic teaching and learning using the instructional strategy QC2E (question, claim, evidence, and explanation). They also will work in content areas to create meaningful questions related to their disciplines. Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Hawkins
Date Updated: January 23rd, 2024
In this professional development session, participants will engage in embedded instructional strategies that will allow them to examine the criteria for authentic assessments. Participants also will explore connections between the “whys” and “hows” of creating and using rubrics for authentic assessment... Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Hawkins
Date Updated: July 24th, 2023
This professional development session focuses on the components of authentic learning. Participants will connect the components of authentic learning to a Rumpelstiltskin lesson. Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Hawkins
Date Updated: August 6th, 2024
This professional development session focuses on the components of authentic learning. The session is designed to have a minimum of eight participants. Participants will connect the components of authentic learning to a Rumpelstiltskin lesson and explore ways to make their own lessons more authentic... Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Hawkins
Date Updated: August 6th, 2024
The "Reading Realities: Using E-Readers to Engage and Support Students' Critical Reading Skills" professional development focuses on using Kindle e-readers and Google Expeditions to support student reading engagement. Research suggests that students are more eager to read when using an e-reader or mobile... Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Hawkins
Date Updated: July 5th, 2024
In this session, participants will explore authentic strategies that promote comprehension across content areas. They will then make connections to these strategies and opportunities in their own classrooms to support college and career readiness. Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Hawkins
Date Updated: February 5th, 2024
This professional development focuses on defining and promoting literacy strategies across all subject areas. Participants will examine how literacy components are necessary for their subject areas, identify the specific literacy strategies appropriate for their content, and discuss ways to implement... Read more »
Created by: Keristy Nieto
Date Updated: April 25th, 2024
Participants in this activity immerse themselves in the K20 LEARN website and design process. Working with a peer collaborator, they complete the planning, design, and development stages of lesson building. At the conclusion of the activity, their lesson will be published. Read more »
Created by: Lindsey Link
Date Updated: March 7th, 2024
Productive student conversations are a vital part of deep, flexible understanding of content. During this session, participants will increase their awareness of productive and scaffolded student conversations in the classroom or within a synchronous online learning platform, such as Summit or Odyssey. Read more »
Created by: Lindsey Link
Date Updated: February 22nd, 2024
The Creating 5E Lessons PD focuses on familiarizing participants with the 5E instructional model. The goal of the session is to immerse participants in an authentic 5E activity with an emphasis on each element of the 5E model. Participants will identify and describe the components of a 5E lesson and... Read more »
Created by: Robyn Hilger
Date Updated: March 7th, 2024
This professional learning session focuses on providing teachers with foundational knowledge and strategies they can use to promote cognitive student engagement in the classroom. Participants will explore research on student engagement, analyze engagement scenarios, and generate strategies for generating... Read more »
Created by: Shayna Pond
Date Updated: January 19th, 2021
This professional learning session focuses on providing teachers with foundational knowledge and strategies they can use to promote affective student engagement in the classroom. Participants will explore research on student engagement, analyze engagement scenarios, and generate strategies for improving... Read more »
Created by: Matthew McDonald
Date Updated: March 18th, 2024
This professional learning session focuses on providing teachers with foundational knowledge and strategies they can use to promote student behavioral engagement in the classroom. Participants will explore research on student engagement, analyze engagement scenarios, and generate strategies for generating... Read more »
Created by: Matthew McDonald
Date Updated: January 12th, 2021
This professional learning session focuses on providing teachers with foundational knowledge and strategies they can use to promote emotional student engagement in the classroom. Participants will explore research on student engagement, analyze engagement scenarios, and generate strategies for improving... Read more »
Created by: Shayna Pond
Date Updated: January 19th, 2021
The Level Up for esports Professional Development Session will introduce the concept of esports clubs. Participants will explore resources and information on how esports clubs can promote college and career readiness, address potential challenges, and discover potential social/emotional benefits for... Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Williams
Date Updated: September 13th, 2024
Participants will experience a workshop session that provides the fundamentals of Essential Questions. They will then discover how they can use Essential Questions as a focus when lesson planning by creating their own content-specific Essential Questions. Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Williams
Date Updated: June 4th, 2024
This professional development will provide participants with literacy strategies to use in their classrooms as they implement document-based questions (DBQs). Read more »
Created by: Daniel Schwarz
Date Updated: May 20th, 2024
This activity aims to prepare faculty to design effective, technology-integrated project-based learning (PBL) experiences that leverage the opportunities afforded by a robust Makerspace or STEM lab. It is based on the "Design a Project" Project-Based Learning PD, which introduces participants to the... Read more »
Created by: Christina Naruszewicz
Date Updated: March 8th, 2024
During this introductory module, participants are introduced to foundational ideas about classroom assessment. They work to define and examine the main types of assessments and their role in a student-centered learning environment, Read more »
Created by: Lindsey Link
Date Updated: August 29th, 2024
Participants will actively engage in formative assessments that are in lessons on Learn and reflect on how those assessment strategies can be use with their students and in their specific content areas. Read more »
Created by: Lindsey Link
Date Updated: June 3rd, 2024
During this interactive professional development session, participants will explore what makes an instructional strategy effective and student-centered. The instructional strategies highlighted in this session promote authentic learning by encouraging student ownership of the learning process. Participants... Read more »
Created by: Mariana DeLoera
Date Updated: May 2nd, 2023
This professional learning session will focus on how to incorporate a love of reading and student choice into all classes. Participants will explore a variety of authentic strategies that support reading comprehension, substantive conversations, and student choice to gain a deeper understanding that... Read more »
Created by: Patricia McDaniels-Gomez
Date Updated: July 5th, 2024
Professional or employee engagements refers to the level of commitment, motivation, and involvement that employees have toward their work and their organization. The concept of employee engagement has been extensively studied by researchers in recent years. In this professional development session,... Read more »
Created by: Mary Braggs
Date Updated: June 5th, 2023
The Meet Your New AI Assistant session focuses on the use of AI technology to enhance teaching practices that increase student engagement and academic performance. In addition, participants will explore ways to use AI technology to streamline administrative tasks and increase their capacity to focus... Read more »
Created by: Jared Whaley
Date Updated: March 1st, 2024
The Leading Educators in Authentic Development (LEAD) workshop is a series of professional learning sessions that develop teachers’ skills in leading professional development at their school sites. This workshop features four sessions over a two-day period. This first session, Leading Educators in Authentic... Read more »
Created by: Mariah Warren
Date Updated: November 11th, 2024
This session dives into the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential to revolutionize student success. It is designed to explore how various AI tools can extend educators' and counselors' reach beyond the classroom, providing personalized support and streamlining administrative tasks.... Read more »
Created by: Allie Bishop
Date Updated: September 13th, 2024
In this professional development session, educators explore the benefits of acknowledging students' cultural backgrounds in the classroom. Participants explore lessons, strategies, and activities that integrate diverse perspectives and experiences. By the end of the session, participants develop a personal... Read more »
Created by: Mariana DeLoera
Date Updated: March 26th, 2025
Students engage in activities that explore the characteristics of good college admission/scholarship essays. Then, using the generated list, they create a personal outline for a college admissions essay. Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Hawkins
Date Updated: December 11th, 2023
This workshop prepares student for the ACT test by utilizing several K20 Instructional Strategies. The workshop is designed to be an after-school program lasting for seven weeks and including one 2-hour session each week. Sessions will be broken up into reading/ELA and science/math. This resource provides... Read more »
Created by: Lindsay Hawkins
Date Updated: April 10th, 2025
Through small-group activities, research, and discussion, students will be exposed to a variety of careers, along with their average salaries, educational institutions, and postsecondary requirements. Students will learn about a variety of jobs in eight career clusters and the educational institutions'... Read more »
Created by: Patricia McDaniels-Gomez
Date Updated: September 22nd, 2023
In this lesson, students explore what they have learned about creating resumes and then push further to identify critical strategies for tailoring resumes to apply to particular situations. Students will explore examples and non-examples of tailored resumes. Students will practice prioritizing information... Read more »
Created by: Will Markham
Date Updated: April 15th, 2024
This lesson focuses on scaffolding the use of the Get a Life college and career simulation game in the classroom, specifically targeting career awareness in middle school students. Participants will play the game and experience classroom activities designed to process the gameplay and facilitate discussion... Read more »
Created by: Shayna Pond
Date Updated: September 19th, 2024
This session focuses on helping students and their families prepare for college by learning useful task management and organization skills. Participants will play a game where they simulate organizing their weekly calendar, then they will explore digital tools that can aid them in their task management,... Read more »
Created by: Jane Reynolds
Date Updated: June 11th, 2024
Students will look at two accounts from opposing sides of the Civil War in order to analyze how Abraham Lincoln’s election fueled the decision to join the war effort. To demonstrate their understanding of the readings, students will use the writing strategy, RAFT (Role Audience Format Topic), where... Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: November 17th, 2022
Civil War Era
After reading a poem and article about the death of an African American man, students read an article about the death of an African American boy and write an elegy for him in response. While this lesson is currently aligned only to 9th grade standards, it would be appropriate to teach in grades 9th... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: November 14th, 2024
Reading & Writing Poetry
What does the raven really mean? In this lesson, students analyze Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Raven" to uncover the meaning behind its iconic symbol. Then, they create free verse poems, using symbolism to express themselves. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: January 14th, 2025
Symbolism in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"
This lesson is designed to take place after completion of another K20 lesson, "Arguing With Evidence." Students will read an article from the New York Times and integrate knowledge of key terms to construct an argument based on a claim, evidence, and reasoning. Read more »
Created by: Keristy Nieto
Date Updated: June 28th, 2023
Part 2: Constructing Arguments
Elements of an Essay
In this lesson, students will engage in multiple independent and group strategies to both identify and analyze essential structural elements of an essay. By doing this, students will both practice and gain a clearer perspective of how to write with greater clarity and effectiveness. Read more »
Created by: Jane Baber
Date Updated: August 10th, 2023
This lesson provides an overview of the key events and concepts of the Vietnam War. Using hands-on activities and discussions, students are able to explore the vocabulary and multiple perspectives of the war. This lesson is meant to be taught after this era and subject have been introduced to students.... Read more »
Created by: Chelsee Wilson
Date Updated: November 14th, 2024
The Vietnam War
In this lesson on Greek and Latin roots, guide students to explore word origins by discovering root words and applying them to their writing. Have students work in groups to recognize Latin and Greek roots using learning strategies. Lead them through a reading and annotation activity to identify English... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: February 12th, 2025
Greek and Latin Roots
Language, Character Motivation, and Theme
In this lesson, students will interactively explore Acts 3 and 4 of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Students will engage in various strategies, focusing on thematic elements of the play in consideration of language and character motivation. Students will engage in during-reading strategies designed... Read more »
Created by: Jane Baber
Date Updated: February 21st, 2024
Language, Character Motivation, and Theme
Using Sketchnotes to Analyze Mood and the Components of Author’s Style
In this lesson, students use sketching to help them analyze the mood and elements of the author's style of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: February 3rd, 2025
Using Sketchnotes to Analyze Mood and the Components of Author’s Style
Students will analyze primary documents to better understand the colonial resistance to British rule and how this resistance influenced the American Revolution. Read more »
Created by: Brandi Graham
Date Updated: November 27th, 2024
Colonial Resistance and Movement Towards Revolution
In this lesson, students learn to effectively identify and analyze themes in both fiction and nonfiction texts. Students evaluate universal theme sets then find examples of these themes in articles and passages from literature. Finally, students demonstrate their understanding of theme statements by... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: October 24th, 2024
Theme
In this lesson, students will critically examine how literary elements contribute to the theme of a text. Students will explore universal theme sets by examining pictures and engaging in the Four Corners strategy. Students will then identify a universal theme within a text by using the Why-Lighting... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: January 28th, 2025
Picture the Theme
In this lesson, students explore strategies that they can use to identify the main idea and key details in an informational text. Students identify main ideas, supporting details, and nonessential details in visual advertisements, paragraphs, and full texts. At the end of lesson, students reflect on... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: October 29th, 2024
Identifying the Main Idea
How do you persuade others? How did the characters in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" use ethos, pathos, and logos to sway the minds of the Roman people? This lesson explores the three modes of persuasion and invites students to analyze and notate the speeches in Shakespeare's tragedy for ethos, pathos,... Read more »
Created by: Chelsee Wilson
Date Updated: October 10th, 2024
Julius Caesar
Students will use close reading strategies to analyze an author’s tone within nonfiction texts. The class will begin with modern music lyrics, then shift to famous passages of nonfiction writers. Through collaborative exercises, students will scaffold knowledge of word choice and structure to analyze... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: August 10th, 2023
Tone Analysis Through Music and Nonfiction
Centered on the phenomenon of the Blue Fugates, students will explore how recessive traits increase in a population using a Punnett square activity, genotype/phenotype ratios and allele frequency calculations, and pedigree analysis. By the end of the lesson they will be able to explain how social, genetic,... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: June 21st, 2022
Recessive Gene Inheritance
This lesson is intended to be either an introduction or a refresher of Darwinian fitness. Students think about what it means to be 'fit' and the impact humans have had on this natural mechanism. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: May 7th, 2025
Darwinian Fitness
Inferencing - reading between the lines - is a challenging, yet important, close reading skill. In this lesson, students practice making inferences in a variety of contexts. Through films, picture books, short stories, and works of literature, students make inferences about character, setting, plot,... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: February 21st, 2024
Inferencing: A Close Reading Strategy
The Great Gatsby and the Sense of Sound
This lesson is to be taught after reading Chapter 6 where Gatsby throws another one of his famous parties, this time with Daisy in attendance. In this lesson, students will explore the essential question "How can music help establish mood and tone?" to create a playlist that explores the sense of sound... Read more »
Created by: Jane Baber
Date Updated: August 7th, 2024
The Great Gatsby and the Sense of Sound
Students will examine evidence for glacial theory and other competing theories of the early 1800s. Students will read field journal excerpts from geologists as well as analyze the data collected from early Alpine expeditions. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: June 13th, 2023
Glacial Theory
Students will model Mendel’s Law of Segregation and Independent Assortment using Popsicle sticks to represent diploid autosomes and sex chromosomes. By the end of this lesson, students will produce unique paper baby dragons. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: November 1st, 2024
Biology: Genetic Traits
This is a quick and simple twist or extension of the lesson "Sweet and Savory Writing" that can be found in the K20 LEARN lesson repository. In this lesson, students will apply knowledge of the five senses to enhance descriptive writing. Students review the five senses, utilize that practice to rewrite... Read more »
Created by: Jane Baber
Date Updated: August 10th, 2023
Descriptive Writing
Students will identify public services provided through taxes. They will read and present information about local, state, and federal revenue sources that become our tax-based funding for services and programs. Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: January 24th, 2023
Standard 2: Taxes
Students will use DNA processes such as replication, transcription, and translation to study the differences between healthy individuals and those with a genetic disorder (in this case, cystic fibrosis). Students will apply this knowledge to the inheritance of traits through the use of Punnett squares. Read more »
Created by: Danny Mattox
Date Updated: December 2nd, 2024
DNA Processes
Students model population growth across continents to discover the difference between linear and exponential models. Students should already be familiar with both linear and exponential functions and equations. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: June 22nd, 2023
Linear vs. Exponential Growth
In this lesson, students will move through a series of primary source documents, maps, and graphs to explore the underlying causes of World War I. After analyzing the documents, students will use a graphic organizer to connect new information to historical concepts: militarism, alliances, imperialism,... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: June 22nd, 2023
World War I
In this lesson about the growth and development of organisms, students will gather evidence from research about specific plant phenomena, then use research and in-class investigations to explain the relationship between environmental conditions and plant growth. Activities throughout the lesson will... Read more »
Created by: Heather Shaffery
Date Updated: September 12th, 2024
Growth and Development of Organisms
In this lesson, students will examine the three East Asian religions of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism using the traditional painting "The Vinegar Tasters" as a visual guide. Students will work in groups to read about these religions and teach the class what they learned. After completing a Venn... Read more »
Created by: Chelsee Wilson
Date Updated: July 15th, 2022
East Asian Religions
Students will analyze the United States Supreme Court case of "Worcester v. Georgia," and summarize and categorize actions that protected or undermined the sovereignty of the Cherokee Nation. Students will extend their learning by watching a video of a judge discussing the powers of the judicial branch.... Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
Date Updated: May 8th, 2025
Cherokee Sovereignty and Actions of the U.S. Government
In this lesson on the importance of clean water as a natural resource, students will begin by observing a polluted water source within a United States community. Next, students will explore the significance of the Ganges River and the political and religious issues that impact the ongoing struggle to... Read more »
Created by: Kristen Sublett
Date Updated: April 23rd, 2025
Ganges River Pollution
In this lesson about perspectives in the Civil War, students will participate in a role-playing activity to become familiar with the motives and points of view of various key figures in the Civil War; analyze each figure in greater depth; participate in a close reading and annotation activity involving... Read more »
Created by: Chelsee Wilson
Date Updated: October 11th, 2024
Perspectives in The Civil War
In this lesson about the Emancipation Proclamation and expanding the goals of the Civil War, students will analyze the Emancipation Proclamation in comparison to an excerpt from President Lincoln's first inaugural address. Students will work in groups using a Card Sort strategy and Paired Text Analysis... Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
Date Updated: September 12th, 2024
Expanding the Goals of the Civil War
In this lesson, students explore the essential question, "How do mood and tone contribute to the reader's experience of a piece of literature?" through reading and analyzing the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce. Read more »
Created by: Jane Baber
Date Updated: June 21st, 2023
Mood and Tone
This lesson, used in conjunction with Ray Bradbury's short story "A Sound of Thunder," guides students to determine their own definitions for cause, effect, and foreshadowing, find examples of these concepts in the text, and create a brochure based on the story's fictional Time Travel, Inc. This lesson... Read more »
Created by: Chelsee Wilson
Date Updated: August 10th, 2023
Analyzing Short Stories
In this lesson, students reflect on the diversity of the churches in their community before exploring the causes and key figures of the Protestant Reformation and making connections to how the Reformation affected what they see in their community today. Read more »
Created by: Chelsee Wilson
Date Updated: July 15th, 2022
Global Age
In this lesson, students analyze a variety of primary source documents in an effort to determine why the Southern states seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America. Using the evidence they compile, students craft Claim, Evidence, Reasoning statements to explain the Southern states'... Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
Date Updated: April 18th, 2023
The Civil War
While Shakespeare is the king of the British play, Shakespearean language is often difficult for students to understand. In this lesson, students employ music and critical thinking strategies as they learn to better understand the language of the Bard. It would be best to teach this lesson when starting... Read more »
Created by: Chelsee Wilson
Date Updated: August 10th, 2023
Understanding Shakespeare
This lesson focuses on comparing and contrasting fiction and nonfiction, writing a researchable inquiry question, and developing justice-based research questions. Students will familiarize themselves with the Tulsa Race Massacre and then read an excerpt from the novel "Dreamland Burning," followed by... Read more »
Created by: Polly Base
Date Updated: June 10th, 2024
Guided Inquiry Research
Students will evaluate what motivates people, especially as it relates to the main characters in “The Gift of the Magi.” As they read and listen to the story, students will identify thoughts and feelings that relate to the motivations and actions of the main characters. Students will also look for and... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: June 21st, 2023
Motivation in Characters
In this lesson, students explore the patterns of rhyme and syllables in Shakespearean sonnets in order to understand iambic pentameter. Students compose their own original sonnets. Read more »
Created by: Jordin Carmichael
Date Updated: December 8th, 2020
Shakespearean Sonnets and Iambic Pentameter
The main cause of the French Revolution is still debated by historians today. In this lesson, students will begin by activating prior knowledge as they complete a Tell Me Everything activity on revolutions. They will sort conditions in a society that can lead to revolution into categories of political,... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: November 26th, 2024
Exploring Causes of the French Revolution
Students begin this lesson by brainstorming what it means to be a good citizen. Next, students analyze two documents to understand what it means to be a good citizen of a democracy, including responsibilities like participating in the democratic process, protesting injustice, and understanding how the... Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
Date Updated: November 18th, 2022
Responsibilities and Rights of U.S. Citizens
In this lesson, students will be asked to determine what a siren is. Students will read an excerpt from "The Odyssey" and other texts and watch selected videos. They will examine the various texts and videos from different perspectives to draw conclusions about the mythical siren. Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: August 10th, 2023
Is It a Bird or Is It a Fish?
In this lesson, students will connect the theme of sadness and mindfulness in both a short-story fiction text and a nonfiction text, to explore the socio-emotional development of characters. This lesson includes optional modifications for distance learning. Read more »
Created by: Brandy Hackett
Date Updated: October 24th, 2024
Theme and Characterization
In this lesson, students analyze the physiological and psychological factors that promote mental health in teens. They brainstorm potential sources of stress and identify strategies to manage stress. Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: June 13th, 2023
Mental Health of Teens
In this lesson, students will learn about China’s Civil War from 1945-1949. Participating in a discussion about why people rebel against their governments, they will analyze an excerpt from an article about the life of peasants in China prior to the conflict under the Kuomintang rule and an article... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: November 26th, 2024
China's Civil War
In this lesson, students will explore the contributions of Oklahoma's jazz musicians through the analysis of music, images, and text. Students will summarize their understanding by creating Six-Word Memoirs for influential jazz musicians including the Blue Devils, Jimmy Rushing, and Charlie Christian.... Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
Date Updated: March 15th, 2023
The Contributions of Oklahoma's Jazz Musicians
This lesson is intended to help students develop a deeper understanding of the causes of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Students begin by observing historical photos and making inferences about them. They then build on their knowledge by watching a video that includes primary sources and interviews with... Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: June 2nd, 2022
Tulsa Race Massacre
A letter of introduction can serve as a personal statement. It paints a picture of who someone is as a unique individual based on experiences at home, in school, within their culture, and learned within their community. In this lesson, students will compose a formal letter of introduction that allows... Read more »
Created by: Jane Baber
Date Updated: June 5th, 2023
Writing a Letter of Introduction
In this lesson, students will investigate the paintings, history, and artistic talents of a group of Kiowa artists collectively known as the Kiowa Six. Students also will consider whether the systemic policy of assimilation and acculturation helped or hindered the artists' career success. Finally, students... Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: February 27th, 2023
The Legacy and Contributions of Six Kiowa Artists
What motivated and inspired legendary folk musician Woody Guthrie to create and perform music? Students explore this question throughout the lesson by engaging in a Gallery Walk analysis of Guthrie photos and quotes and then using his lyrics to determine the political and social issues that Guthrie... Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
Date Updated: April 18th, 2023
Contributions of Influential Oklahomans
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
Equality, Fairness, and the Amendments
Students will read and analyze the short story, "Harrison Bergeron," by American writer Kurt Vonnegut. Students will consider how the amendments to the constitution promote equality. They will discuss different claims, which support the amendments, and discuss evidence or lack of evidence to explain... Read more »
Created by: Polly Base
Date Updated: November 26th, 2024
Equality, Fairness, and the Amendments
This lesson is intended to support life science standards found in biology. The lesson is not intended to cover the standards completely but to supplement them and raise awareness of ethical issues and racism in science and medicine. Read more »
Created by: Alonna Smith
Date Updated: February 18th, 2025
Ethics in Scientific Research
In this lesson, students will explore the protected rights all students have on school grounds based on the precedent set by 1969 Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines. Students will analyze how this court case helped to clarify and extend students' First Amendment freedoms, then they will reflect... Read more »
Created by: Mariana DeLoera
Date Updated: June 22nd, 2023
What are Your Rights as a Student?
In this fourth lesson of the "Lord of the Flies" unit, students continue examining this question: How does the author use symbolism to develop characterization and theme? Students specifically examine human nature through readings, a Four Corners activity, and a Padlet reflection. Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: September 13th, 2024
Bad to the Bone
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: September 12th, 2024
Parallel Structure
In this lesson, students will explore the problems that industrialization created for workers by examining a collection of photos and texts. Next, students will read about the rise of labor unions in response to the problems previously identified and their overarching goals. To extend their learning,... Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
Date Updated: September 13th, 2022
The Labor Movement
Participating in difficult conversations in a classroom setting gives students a chance to learn how to express ideas and opinions safely. In this lesson, students build trust and respect for each other, building their confidence to speak on difficult topics without fear. Students will engage with complex... Read more »
Created by: Polly Base
Date Updated: July 17th, 2023
Speaking and Listening
In this lesson, students explore factors leading up to the passage of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and reflect on the impact it had on Asian Americans. Students work in pairs to analyze a document packet and complete a H-chart that synthesizes the documents to answer an overall essential question. Read more »
Created by: Mariana DeLoera
Date Updated: June 12th, 2023
The Chinese Exclusion Act
In this lesson, students will review, analyze, and evaluate the history of Native American education, focusing on boarding schools (specifically Carlisle Indian Industrial School), terminology, and their transformation over the past 150 years. Students will analyze primary sources from the past, learn... Read more »
Created by: Patricia McDaniels-Gomez
Date Updated: May 22nd, 2023
Assimilation
In this first lesson of a media production unit, students interact with five types of cameras used for filming and create a 60-second or less short film. Read more »
Created by: James Doyle
Date Updated: March 16th, 2023
Media Production, Lesson 1
In this lesson, students will explore the way in which culture is connected to the foods people eat. Students will examine how their own favorite foods are connected to their cultural identities and read Amy Tan's short story "Fish Cheeks." Read more »
Created by: Lisa Loughlin
Date Updated: August 10th, 2023
Exploring Cultural Identity Through Food
In this lesson, students will examine President Hoover's response to the Great Depression and how that affected the presidential election of 1932. Students will analyze videos, Great Depression slang, and a reading to determine the reasons that Hoover did not win reelection for president. Students will... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: September 7th, 2023
The Great Depression and President Hoover
In this lesson, students will look at the question of neutrality through the lens of the Holocaust. Students will explore articles from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's website, read an excerpt from Elie Wiesel's book, "Night," and read Elie Wiesel's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech while synthesizing... Read more »
Created by: Lisa Loughlin
Date Updated: July 10th, 2024
Exploring the Role of Neutrality in the Holocaust
This lesson revisits Elie Wiesel's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech from "In the Kingdom of Night, Part 1" lesson, but this time with a focus on analyzing what makes it a good speech. Students examine the calls to action in three speeches relating to the Holocaust. Students create a list of what... Read more »
Created by: Lisa Loughlin
Date Updated: July 11th, 2024
A Call to Action
In this lesson, students will recall finding greatest common factors (GCFs) of polynomials and the relationship between the factored and standard forms of a quadratic expression. Then, students will learn how to factor using the TRI method. Students will use this knowledge to factor and solve (factorable)... Read more »
Created by: Michell Eike
Date Updated: January 12th, 2024
Factoring Quadratics
This lesson analyzes the writings of Machiavelli and examines how he shaped political thought. Read more »
Research Project
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
Examining Symbolism in Native American Poetry and Art
In this lesson, students examine symbolism in Native regalia, poems, and art and gain a better understanding of what symbolism looks like in a real-world context. Throughout the lesson, students research and discuss Native authors, tribes, and artists. After reading and annotating a poem, students create... Read more »
Created by: Lisa Loughlin
Date Updated: September 14th, 2023
Examining Symbolism in Native American Poetry and Art
In this lesson, students gather information about traditional native homes before learning about the design of the First Americans Museum (FAM). Students next work in groups to create a design for a community center for a tribe. They write press releases to advertise their community center's design... Read more »
Created by: Patricia McDaniels-Gomez
Date Updated: February 1st, 2024
Traditional Tribal Architecture
Compare & Contrast Nursing Past and Present
In this lesson, students look through the lens of nursing to think about what it means to overcome adversity. Students will read Civil War-era memoirs from Walt Whitman and Louisa May Alcott. They will then compare and contrast the descriptions of nursing in those texts with an account of modern nursing... Read more »
Created by: Polly Base
Date Updated: September 3rd, 2024
Compare & Contrast Nursing Past and Present
The Civil Rights Movement
In this lesson, students learn about the Little Rock Nine, other monumental moments from the Civil Rights Movement, and their impact on music culture. By examining the historical inspiration behind Beyoncé’s rendition of the song "Blackbird," students analyze a speaker’s impact on the meaning of a text,... Read more »
Created by: Lisa Loughlin
Date Updated: July 8th, 2024
The Civil Rights Movement
Humans have many artistic outlets for emotional expression. Songwriters have been known to use their craft to develop a reaction as a response to a specific situation. In this lesson, students will explore an author’s perspective using break-up songs. Students will complete a card sort comparing response/reaction... Read more »
Created by: Jennifer Hudson
Date Updated: May 9th, 2025
How Songwriters Use Inferences
Is that really necessary? Often when telling a story or in their writing, students include details that are irrelevant and off topic. In this lesson, students will analyze Sheldon’s ability to stick to relevant information while being a reference for his friend in an FBI interview. Students will then... Read more »
Created by: Amy Hall
Date Updated: October 3rd, 2024
Audience and Purpose
This lesson on comma usage focuses on equipping students with a solid understanding of comma rules and their practical application in writing. Through interactive activities and examples, students will learn how to use commas to separate items in a list, set off introductory elements, join independent... Read more »
Created by: Polly Base
Date Updated: October 2nd, 2024
Comma Usage
What are the qualities of a good leader? In this lesson, students will analyze the characteristics of leadership in William Shakespeare’s "Macbeth" compared to those of famous historical leaders to determine how they contribute to success, downfall, or maintaining power. Students use excerpts from the... Read more »
Created by: Ashley Comstock
Date Updated: April 2nd, 2025
Macbeth: Qualities of a Good Leader
In this lesson, students will explore dilemmas and how they reveal character traits through two Colombian short stories. Students will read the stories “One of These Days” by Gabriel García Márquez and “Lather and Nothing Else” by Hernando Téllez. Students then learn about characterization and how authors... Read more »
Created by: Michael Grubb
Date Updated: March 17th, 2025
Characterization Through Conflict
In this lesson, students will be introduced to the concept of semiotics and signs. Students will engage with language games and ultimately use semiotics to analyze advertisements to determine how they make meaning. Read more »
Created by: Brad Bellatti
Date Updated: November 26th, 2024
Linguistics, Semiotics
Is Big Brother watching you? Are you being persuaded or confused by double speak? In this lesson, students will analyze propaganda and logical fallacies used in the novel 1984 and reflected in the world around them. Students will participate in a card sort and choosing magnetic statements about logical... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: May 7th, 2025
Logical Fallacies and Propaganda in 1984
In this lesson, students will Jigsaw an article covering four different types of dragons in literature or mythology. Students will evaluate how the cultural and historical meaning of these dragons impact their use in literature. Students will then apply their knowledge of the historical meaning of these... Read more »
Created by: Polly Base
Date Updated: April 2nd, 2025
Historical Analysis
In this lesson, students begin by evaluating statements to decide if they are always, sometimes, or never true, building their critical thinking skills. They then explore Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal, annotating and analyzing the text. Next, students identify an issue from their school, society,... Read more »
Created by: Emma Hutson
Date Updated: April 7th, 2025
Satire
Use this strategy to help students connect to text in a personally meaningful way. Prompt a chatbot—like ChatGPT, MagicSchool AI, Claude, or other LLMs—to generate text that sparks curiosity, caters to the interests or cultures of students, and even includes student choice by asking students to help... Read more »
Created by: Keiana Cross
February 21st, 2024