Cluster 2: Craft and StructureArchived

This is a lesson that addresses standards and misconceptions associated with Big Idea 18 about Matter and Energy Transformations as related to photosynthesis and cellular respiration. The lesson also embeds a review of other related standards for which the students possesses prior knowledge. The lesson is vertically aligned to review classification of organisms, taxonomy, and build from related introductory activities into learning about cell types, organelles and their structures, and functions, with an emphasis on the chloroplast and the mitochondrion and their role in photosynthesis and cellular respiration. The lesson scaffolds text coding, note taking, charting, answering media dependent questions and culminates in a summative written essay assessment. An alternative short response exam has been included which could be used as an exam or the questions could be used as formative questions throughout the lesson.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will read and analyze two nonfiction articles about future work at NASA. Students will track the development of central ideas throughout each text. At the end of the lesson, students will synthesize a written response comparing and contrasting how the two authors establish their purpose.

Type: Lesson Plan

This web resource from the Civil War Trust will engage students through an analysis of primary source documents as they work to discuss the meaning and significance of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson is based on Letter XII: Distresses of a Frontier Man by J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur. This "letter" is one of a collection of essays in an epistolary format from the collection, Letters from an American Farmer (1782). In this lesson, students will read and analyze the two central ideas in the text. Students will fill out a graphic organizer on the central ideas and participate in a class debate.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this close reading lesson, students will be asked to use multiple strategies to respond to informational text in way that is aligned to the state standards, requiring that they respond with explicit details drawn from the passage. With this short, free-standing article, teachers can incorporate this mini-lesson into their already set curriculum to reinforce the standards and skills being taught. This lesson would also make an excellent small group resource. Attachments needed for this lesson are all provided and include text-dependent questions, graphic organizers, and an objective summary writing prompt with rubric.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a lesson based on President Obama’s remarks on the 70^th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy. His speech focuses on the anniversary of D-Day and the effect it had on soldiers and civilians who experienced the attack. This lesson provides an opportunity for vocabulary acquisition and an analysis of the meaning of President Obama’s speech.

Type: Lesson Plan

Based on a student-focused scenario encouraging healthier lifestyles, students will perform a close and careful reading of an article encouraging active and healthy lifestyles. During the lesson, students will analyze data from Consumer Reports comparing and contrasting treadmills and elliptical exercisers. Using information gathered, students will compile data and persuade administrators to buy equipment that will align with the provided budget and fit in the given space.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This is a Teaching Tolerance lesson centering on Mary Church Terrell. The text shows the role of Mary Church Terrell and the NACW in working for civil rights in the decades before the modern civil rights movement. This lesson is very strong in vocabulary development (including using both context clues and word parts to determine meaning), summarizing, and author's purpose and perspective. The lesson could be used in either Language Arts or Social Studies classrooms and lends itself well to further research.

Type: Lesson Plan

The goal of this lesson is to give students the opportunity to explore the connotations and denotations of the word "normal" and its various meanings. Through the use of "Us and Them," a personal essay by David Sedaris, students will explore the various beliefs and points of view of "normal" based on the picture painted by Sedaris. Students will need to consider the emotional context of words and how diction reveals an author's tone and message, as well as how the use of irony can impact the tone of a piece. Students will also read and analyze a Time article, "An In-Depth View of America by the Numbers," by Nancy Gibbs. For the summative assessment, students will write an explanatory essay (several prompts are provided) about normality using evidence from the texts studied in the lesson for support.

Type: Lesson Plan

Identify and apply context clues, including synonyms, antonyms, and inferences, to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in passages about the life of Frederick Douglass with this interactive tutorial. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn how authors use allusions and analogies within informational texts. In this interactive tutorial, you'll practice identifying analogies and allusions used in context to better understand their purpose.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn about four common text structures that are often used in informational texts: chronological order, compare and contrast, problem/solution, and cause and effect. In this interactive tutorial, you'll practice identifying each type of text structure while reading several informational texts about dinosaurs. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn how figurative language contributes to the meaning of an informational text. In this interactive tutorial, you'll examine excerpts from President Obama's 50th Anniversary Speech of the March on Selma. You'll specifically analyze his use of imagery and metaphors and how they add to the meaning of his speech.

Type: Original Student Tutorial