This course is designed to improve the student's ability to communicate technical information. It covers the basics of working with sources, including summarizing and paraphrasing, synthesizing source materials, citing, quoting, and avoiding plagiarism. It also covers how to write an abstract and a literature review. In addition, we will cover communication concepts, tools, and strategies that can help you understand how engineering texts work, and how you can make your texts work more effectively.
This course is limited to MIT graduate engineering students based on results of the Graduate Writing Exam.

This collection uses primary sources to explore John Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Students apply knowledge of genres to identify different genres from "reading-alouds of excerpts" from selected books representing different genres.

In this unit, students will read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian while meeting the learning targets of theme, character development, conflict, and use of literary devices. They will apply their knowledge by creating several artifacts to represent their learning.

Students will be presented with foundation knowledge of the Harlem Renaissance, experience some sights and sounds of this movement, then gain deeper knowledge by creating a virtual “museum exhibit” of a famous artist or author to share with others. At the end of the lesson, students will evaluate the impact and significance of the Harlem Renaissance, and consider how the arts can serve as vehicles for social change.

Know thyself. These two, small words hold tremendous power. The path to understanding who we are and how we relate to others is long and ever changing. This unit has been designed for high school special education students enrolled in English I. The novel Flight by Sherman Alexie and other supplemental readings will be used to explore the development of self-identity and the importance of empathy. Through classroom support in the general education classroom and specialized instruction in the resource room, students will engage in learning experiences that explore how we as individuals define ourselves and relate to others who come from different backgrounds; it is through our differences that we can find common connections.

This course examines major works by Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Faulkner, exploring their interconnections on three analytic scales: the macro history of the United States and the world; the formal and stylistic innovations of modernism; and the small details of sensory input and psychic life. WARNING: Some of the lectures in this course contain graphic content and/or adult language that some users may find disturbing.

This is a high school unit designed to teach students about the enduring qualities of heroism and how that influences today’s heroes, both in fiction and in reality. Once students understand the concepts, the unit provides teachers with a variety of activities to further strengthen student learning as well as make contemporary connections to the heroic ideal. This unit should take approximately 3-4 weeks.

This class explores the political and aesthetic foundations of hip hop. Students trace the musical, corporeal, visual, spoken word, and literary manifestations of hip hop over its 30 year presence in the American cultural imagery. Students also investigate specific black cultural practices that have given rise to its various idioms. Students create material culture related to each thematic section of the course. Scheduled work in performance studio helps students understand how hip hop is created and assessed.

This course explores artistic achievement in a culture that over the past century has engaged in constant and intense imaginative self-renewal. The class studies film, narrative (e.g., Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude), and poetry. Conducted in Spanish.

Students compare and contrast genres with a civil rights theme. Full details are in the Google Doc.

This resource provides references, writing aids and guides for students writing essays in a literature-based composition course. These materials were culled from several different sites; the individual pages link back to the original resource and indicate the Creative Commons license under which the page is adapted and/or reused. Except where otherwise noted, this resource is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.

The first wave of the Women’s Liberation Movement (also known as “feminism”) occurred during the mid to late-1800s. The main objective was votes for women. In the mid-1960’s, the second wave of feminism appeared with a goal for women to obtain a stronger role in American society.  This lesson will examine the second wave of the Women’s Liberation Movement by exploring the changes in the traditional role of women and discovering the role that The Feminine Mystique played in those societal changes. You will discover how the Women’s Movement is still pushing for equality today.StandardsCC.8.5.9-10.D Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.CC.8.6.9-10.G Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

The first wave of the Women’s Liberation Movement (also known as “feminism”) occurred during the mid to late-1800s. The main objective was votes for women. In the mid-1960’s, the second wave of feminism appeared with a goal for women to obtain a stronger role in American society.  This lesson will examine the second wave of the Women’s Liberation Movement by exploring the changes in the traditional role of women and discovering the role that The Feminine Mystique played in those societal changes. You will discover how the Women’s Movement is still pushing for equality today.StandardsCC.8.5.9-10.D Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.CC.8.6.9-10.G Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

The first wave of the Women’s Liberation Movement (also known as “feminism”) occurred during the mid to late-1800s. The main objective was votes for women. In the mid-1960’s, the second wave of feminism appeared with a goal for women to obtain a stronger role in American society.  This lesson will examine the second wave of the Women’s Liberation Movement by exploring the changes in the traditional role of women and discovering the role that The Feminine Mystique played in those societal changes. You will discover how the Women’s Movement is still pushing for equality today.StandardsCC.8.5.9-10.D Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.CC.8.6.9-10.G Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

Students will learn and utilize list poems, understand and appreciate multiple perspectives while analyzing figures, memories and events in their educational community.  They will also apply what they have learned to create a new product. 

"I Hear America" is a Creative Commons Licensed Children's Book that was created by Pikes Peak Community College's LIT 255 (Children's Literature) Spring 2019 class. The book was hand-lettered, while the illustrations are ink, colored pencil, and watercolor.

The book is modeled after Walt Whitman's famous "I Hear America Singing", and involves children imagining what it would be like when they grow up, and the symphony created by the sounds of their dreams.

This title follows a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

It is part of Pikes Peak Community College's efforts to create OER content and courses, as part of an initiative to reduce student costs, promote student success, and increase retention.

If you have any questions concerning this title or other projects in the works at PPCC, please contact Marc Nash (OER Coordinator) at marc.nash@ppcc.edu

This lesson introduces Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings for Storm Lake High School's Diverse Literature course. It gives background on the author, setting, and the book itself as well as introducing students to the window-mirror concept in making connections with literature.

Bias is a universal human condition. It is not a personal defect, but it is important to recognize your biases and manage them. We cannot cure unconscious bias, but we can address it. This lesson will provide you the opportunity to identify your personal biases. You have them, even if you think you don’t! You are encouraged to try this lesson so you can be more aware of your personal biases and take the necessary steps to reduce their impact on your life.StandardsCC.8.5.11-12.G Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.