As President Reagan’s second term in office drew to a close, he delivered this speech to a group of university students at Moscow State University. What he did not know was that the Cold War was also to end in just a few years. This speech was an attempt to bridge the gap between the two...
Students take on the 1,400 words of the Homestead Act of 1862, figure out its main requirements by reading closely, and test their understanding against Charles Ingalls’ successful homestead claim, using history-oriented websites to fill in needed background. (Yes, the primary documents come...
In this module students will learn the basics of three major world religions - Islam, Judaism, and Christianity - and connect them to geography by seeing how each religion places significance on one particular geographic location.
While this has the potential for being a sensitive subject...
Human exploitation of the ocean's resources and destruction of marine habitats are driving species extinction, destroying fisheries, generating pollution, and creating ecological imbalances throughout the world. The ocean, once thought to be a limitless and resilient reservoir, is showing signs...
Second grade students will learn to compare characters in a story by reading text and examining illustrations to determine how each character responds to events in the story. Students will also suggest reasons for the differences in each character's response based on what they have learned about...
Students will conduct research on the existentialist movement in literature. Students will read Franz Kafka’s "The Metamorphosis" and determine if Kafka’s work reflects existential ideas.
The purpose of this module is to prepare Pre-AP English students for AP Language and Composition by teaching them the basics of analyzing the elements of rhetoric that authors use to make their writing more effective.
Students will become familiar with basic rhetorical devices. They will...
According to Edgar Allan Poe, stories should be read in one sitting and be packed with details. However, his stories are also full of literary devices used to enhance the story by creating meaning and tone.
After reading a self-selected story written by Poe, the students will write an...
During this module, students will determine the theme of a poem using details in the text, including how characters respond to challenges and how the narrator reflects upon a topic. It should be noted that prior to this module, students will have had several instructional opportunities to learn...
Authors of both nonfiction and fiction have defined the American Dream and offered varying viewpoints on the extent to which America fulfills the ideas implicit in this dream.
In this module, students will examine multiple texts and then frame an analysis as to whether or not, or to what...
This module draws from a National Endowment for the Humanities unit plan for Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" and blends this focus with additional study of three of Chopin's short stories: "The Story of an Hour," "Desiree's Child,"and "The Storm."
The purpose of the module is to examine the role of Ophelia in Hamlet based upon the social perceptions found in the readings. The unit is taught during the second quarter following work on multiple perspectives.
This unit begins with a reading of Hamlet through the...
In this module, students will learn how to retell key events of a story in chronological order. This module could be implemented in the middle of the fall semester following instruction on identifying characters, setting, and events in a story.
In this module middle school students analyze Daniel Keyes' short story, "Flowers for Algernon".
This module acts as a springboard into literary analysis by having students study how an author reveals a character's persona over the course of the text. Further, it provides an opportunity...
In this module, students will focus their reading and research on contemporary international child labor practices that benefit the American consumer. They will prepare an article for publication in a children’s magazine that defines child labor and focuses on the facts about this continuing...
This language arts module addresses the effects of language structures in non-fiction and poetry. This module involves critical analysis of genre structure, grammar, and literary devices.
