Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning
Students will work with conflict and theme as they engage with Maupassant's "The Necklace." Students will start by charting a video to look at how the different types of conflict are present. They then participate in a debate that encompasses the central theme of the story. After the debate, they will... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: October 4th, 2024
Engaging with "The Necklace"
Students will activate prior knowledge and make connections to the post-WWII era in America by looking at images from the time period. In addition, students will read poems that depict contrasting points of view from the decade (the point of view of an American versus a Holocaust survivor resettled... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: September 30th, 2024
Characterization
This grammar lesson will engage students in recognizing, identifying, and creating active or passive voice in their writing. The use of active and passive voice is demonstrated through the short story, "The Monkey's Paw," although any piece of literature could be substituted. This lesson includes optional... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: March 15th, 2024
Grammar/Language Usage
This lesson examines key terrorist attacks on U.S. soil and identifies how the Patriot Act was created to prevent terrorism. Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: June 22nd, 2023
The Patriot Act of 2001
Students will use primary sources to explore and help them explain the Boston Massacre. They will compare two images depicting the event and draw conclusions about what happened based on what the artist chose to depict. Students will examine the roles of perspective and propaganda with regard to the... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: September 29th, 2020
Primary sources
This lesson engages students in exploring, assessing, and drawing conclusions about the validity of various media sources through exploration of the 2019 "Alienstock" phenomenon. Students will work independently and in groups to compare and analyze different media sources and evaluate the validity and... Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: October 3rd, 2024
Analyzing Information, Media, and Validity
This is an introduction to karyotypes and what uses they have. Prerequisite knowledge would be basic genetic structures, such as chromatids, genes, and alleles. Using this lesson would lead nicely into having a discussion/next lesson about the ethics of gene therapy and CRISPR in humans. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: August 28th, 2023
Karyotype for Chromosomal Disorders
Students will employ a variety of reading strategies to analyze the poem, "The New Colossus." Their analysis will determine the author's perspective. This lesson also offers technology options for teachers, who may choose to use a Kindle E-reader, Google Doc, or Google Expeditions. While this lesson... Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: April 12th, 2023
Determining Author's perspective
Students will analyze two primary sources, Patrick Henry's speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses and Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" pamphlet to understand the colonial resistance to British rule and how these primary sources influenced the American Revolution. Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
Date Updated: July 23rd, 2024
The Journey to Revolution
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
This lesson uses fiction and nonfiction books to have students think about the author’s purpose for writing the piece. The goal is to help students understand that nonfiction works have common elements with the purpose to inform, while fiction stories have common elements with the purpose to entertain.... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: May 31st, 2023
Author's Purpose: Informing or Entertaining
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?
During this interactive science lesson, students will learn about the patterns of the moon and lunar phases. Over the course of one month, students will observe the moon, look for patterns, and make predictions about the changes in the moon each night. Read more »
Created by: Lindsey Link
Date Updated: May 5th, 2023
Phases of the Moon
In this lesson, students will consider the context and evaluate perspectives while comparing "Story of an Hour" and excerpts from "The Awakening". After reading the stories, students will write a short response from the perspective of the characters. Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: August 10th, 2023
Perspective
In this lesson, students will learn about and explore characteristics of limited and unlimited governments. After accessing their prior knowledge about governments, students will analyze quotes about governmental power, classify characteristics of governments, and explore historical and contemporary... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: May 31st, 2023
Characteristics of Limited and Unlimited Governments
This is the second lesson in a series called, "Survival." In an effort to understand animal characteristics and adaptations, this lesson invites students to make observations about a variety of animals, participate in a modified four corners activity, and create a class Anchor Chart. Learning is extended... Read more »
Created by: Patricia Turner
Date Updated: May 31st, 2023
Animal Adaptations
Natural and Man-made Resources: Local and Global
Students will explore natural and man-made resources by using a Card Sort to make observations about resources. Students will develop and create class definitions for the terms in the Card Sort by creating a class T-Chart. After the Card Sort exercise, students listen and interact with a book about... Read more »
Created by: Makala Foley
Date Updated: April 26th, 2021
Natural and Man-made Resources: Local and Global
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 second lesson of the "Lord of the Flies" unit, students examine leadership qualities, looking especially at characters Jack and Ralph. Students analyze multiple points of view in the text. Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: August 29th, 2024
Leader of the Pack
In this sixth lesson of the "Lord of the Flies" unit, students will analyze the text for symbols of power. Students will categorize evidence from the novel to support the claim that either the seashell or the glasses were the ultimate symbol of power. Read more »
Created by: Margaret Salesky
Date Updated: June 20th, 2023
I've Got the Power
In this lesson, students analyze the political ideas of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke by brainstorming why people create governments, comparing and contrasting monarchies and democracies and debating as a class which philosopher was right about the amount of power a government should have. Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: June 22nd, 2023
The Philosophies of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes
This lesson is meant to be taught after WWI content and introduces your students to WWII. Students will learn how economic and political issues after WWI lit a fuse that exploded into WWII. Using hands-on activities and discussions, students will explore the vocabulary and multiple causes of WWII. Following... Read more »
Created by: Kim Press
Date Updated: June 27th, 2024
Causes of WWII
Natural and Man-made Resources: Local and Global
Students will explore natural and man-made resources by using a Card Sort to make observations about resources. Students will develop and create class definitions for the terms in the Card Sort by creating a class T-Chart. After the Card Sort exercise, students listen and interact with a book about... Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
Date Updated: May 31st, 2023
Natural and Man-made Resources: Local and Global
In this lesson, students will explore the tissues, structures, and functions of the musculoskeletal system, with a specific emphasis on skeletal muscle and bodily motion. They will observe tissues under a microscope and compare tissue structure with the functions of muscle, bone, and connective tissues.... Read more »
Created by: Heather Shaffery
Date Updated: January 3rd, 2023
Movement and the Musculoskeletal System
This lesson examines the significance of the Chinese Exclusion Act and how it affected the lives of Asian-Americans within the United States. Read more »
Research Project
This lesson provides context for events leading up to World War ll by focusing on the leadership of four dictators: Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and Tojo. Students will evaluate how these four leaders contributed to the causes of the war and will later determine what enables leaders to obtain too much... Read more »
Created by: Cody Sivertsen
Date Updated: May 25th, 2023
Rise of World War II Dictators
In this lesson, students will discover the attributes of three systems of government by discussing advantages and disadvantages of each type and then sorting characteristics of each type. Students will reflect on potential issues faced by citizens living under each type of system and will summarize... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: June 6th, 2023
Unitary, Federal, and Confederal Systems of Government
In this lesson, students explore reasons for variance in character portrayal. Students begin by watching different interpretations of the same scene and then read an article and each select a monologue to research. Students use a random generator to change the context of their chosen monologues. Finally,... Read more »
Created by: James Doyle
Date Updated: October 4th, 2024
Character Portrayal on Stage Versus Film
Diamonds, Not Just a Girl's Best Friend
Students will watch an ICAP video of Plains tribe member Crystal Pewo Lightfoot who makes star quilts and start quilt based designs. They will learn the history of the quilts and the Plains tribes, examine quilts using modern principles of design, and make a design of their own. Students will share... Read more »
Created by: James Doyle
Date Updated: May 20th, 2024
Diamonds, Not Just a Girl's Best Friend
This lesson explores a couple of Supreme Court decisions that have specified individual rights of due process under the Constitution. Students will examine the events that led up to the cases of Gideon v. Wainwright and Miranda v. Arizona by analyzing portions of the 5th, 6th, and 14th amendments. They... Read more »
Created by: Daniel Schwarz
Date Updated: September 18th, 2023
Gideon v. Wainwright & Miranda v. Arizona
Students will define “stereotype.” After doing so, they will share stereotypes they have regarding Hispanic food, watch a few videos that will explain or dispel those stereotypes, and come to a consensus on whether stereotypes are useful. When they have finished the discussion, they will construct a... Read more »
Created by: James Doyle
Date Updated: September 22nd, 2023
Examining Stereotypes in Hispanic Cuisine
In this lesson, students reflect on what they already know about how behavior is learned before sharing three things they have learned from observation. Next, students summarize an experiment about observational learning. After learning about other experiments and sorting them according to whether they... Read more »
Created by: Laura Halstied
Date Updated: September 27th, 2023
Observational Learning Theory
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
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
Forging a path of strong community in an online classroom can be a challenge. Teachers and students are separated, and maintaining a sense of community relies on some of the same practices we use in the in-person classroom. However, when coupled with uniquely designed virtual materials, authentic teaching... Read more »
Created by: Lindsey Link
Date Updated: July 2nd, 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
When you have a big task ahead of you, you need a plan. Why? Because when you have setbacks, a solid plan and manageable goals can help. In this activity, students learn about using micro-goals to break apart large tasks into smaller pieces, how to make big projects more manageable, and how to handle... Read more »
Created by: Sherry Franklin
Date Updated: June 25th, 2024