Images can be a useful component in any subject.  This lesson will guide students through an analysis of an image.  Students will use critical thinksing skills to interpret an image. Students will then generate a hypothesis about the source and construct questions for further investigation. 

Artists are often particularly keen observers and precise recorders of the physical conditions of the natural world. As a result, paintings can be good resources for learning about ecology. Teachers can use this lesson to examine with students the interrelationship of geography, natural resources, and climate and their effects on daily life. It also addresses the roles students can take in caring for the environment. Students will look at paintings that represent cool temperate, warm temperate, and tropical climates.
In this lesson students will: Identify natural resources found in particular geographic areas; Discuss ways in which climate, natural resources, and geography affect daily life; Apply critical-thinking skills to consider the various choices artists have made in their representations of the natural world; Make personal connections to the theme by discussing ways they can be environmental stewards; Identify natural resources found in particular geographic areas; Discuss ways in which climate, natural resources, and geography affect daily life; Apply critical-thinking skills to consider the various choices artists have made in their representations of the natural world; Make personal connections to the theme by discussing ways they can be environmental stewards.

The words we choose to communicate with can be quite tricky. In fact, great writers are considered artists because of their language skills. In this seminar, you will learn how to enhance an argument by choosing your words carefully and “playing” with the language. Rhetorical devices (a fancy term for “persuasive words”) will be a significant aspect of your artful language.StandardsCC.1.2.9-10.H: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing the validity of reasoning and relevance of evidence.CC.1.4.9-10.C: Develop and analyze the topic with relevant, well-chosen, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic; include graphics and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.CC.1.4.9-10.G: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics.

Students will practice looking at a topic from multiple points of view, and will discuss whose voices are amplified and whose voices are silenced.   This lesson is part of a media unit curated at our Digital Citizenship website called "Who Am I Online?".  

What does it take to be successful in the workplace? This unit provides students with the opportunity to examine this question, evaluate what others say and form their own voice, and finally to express and share what they find. The materials are for the instructor and provide options to adapt to specfic students. learning needs,  and time frame.

This activity is designed to help students understand the debates at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 that shaped America’s legislative branch of government. The primary goal of this activity is for students to discover how a compromise balanced the needs of large states and small states and how this led to the creation of the current House of Representatives and Senate.

The Cultivating Washington curriculum is intended to be a go-to resource for Washington state middle school educators seeking student-centered instructional materials that make learning about the history of the Pacific Northwest more relevant and meaningful for students.In addition, it is a resource for agricultural education teachers, parents, and community members interested in helping students discover the history and development of agriculture in the state of Washington.

Students examine what deepfakes are and consider the deeper civic and ethical implications of deepfake technology. In an age of easy image manipulation, this lesson fosters critical thinking skills that empower students to question how we can mitigate the impact of doctored media content. This lesson plan includes a slide deck and brainstorm sheet for classroom use.

Definitions are a part of daily life, academics, and careers. How do they work? What makes an effetive definition. Students examine examples of definitions and revise them to learn about options for writing clearly for varied audiences. Finally, students create their own expanded definition.

Students explore the concept of a growth mindset through readings and videos. They write annotate texts, discuss, write reflections, create graphics as they explore and examine the topic. Finally they form and express their own voice in an essay.

This is a lesson using Digital Age Skills in Language Arts. The lesson refers to a documentary about Rosa Parks. This lesson could be taught using any documentary as an anchor text. The outcome of the lesson is for students to produce a documentary of their own based on a hero in their lives.

Docs Teach is the online tool for teaching with documents, from the National Archives.
* Choose from thousands of primary sources for use in classroom activities.
* Find and use activities crafted by educators using documents from the National Archives.
* Create your own interactive learning activities.

Students will learn the potential costs and benefits of social media, digital consumption, and our relationship with technology as a society in the three-week lesson. This inquiry based unit of study will answer the following questions:

Essential Question: How can we use science fiction’s ability to predict the future to help humanity?

Supportive Questions 1: What predictions of future development has science fiction accurately made in the past? This can include technology, privacy, medicine, social justice, political, environmental, education, and economic.

Supportive Question 2: What predictions for future development in contemporary science fiction are positive for the future of humanity? What factors need to begin in your lifetime to make these predictions reality?

Supportive Question 3: What predictions for future development in contemporary science fiction are negative for the future of humanity? What factors need to begin in your lifetime to stop these negative outcomes?

This unit plan was designed in order to instruct students in the Kittitas Valley about the contributions and perspectives of the Kittitas Band of the Yakama Nation. This unit plan has students use primary and secondary sources, inquiry, videos and lecture to plan and conduct an oral history interview with a Kittitas Band member. If tribal members of the Kittitas are not avaiable for interview, there is a sample video of an interview with Kittitas member Allen Aronica. Students can use this video instead of conducting an oral history interview for the final lesson. 

Ekphrastic poetry is inpired by art. This lesson includes a teacher plan and slides to engage students in exploring and writing this type of poetry. With a link to the Washington Superintendent's High School Art Show, students can view the creativity of other teenagers to write their poems.

These are full-course openly licensed resources for districts interested in exploring OER options when considering core instructional materials for district adoption. Course materials are available for online viewing or download.

FOCUS QUESTIONIs compassion the basis for morality?STUDENT OUTCOMESStudents will:examine and interpret the definitions of morality and compassion as presented in a variety of textsread, analyze, and discuss quotations and/or multimedia sourceswrite an original definition of a moral person (This definition will be used later in an argument paper which cites Atticus Finch's acts of compassion as evidence of his morality.) Image source: "Mockingbird" by skeeze on Pixabay.com.

During days 3-6 of the unit, students will complete a short, focused research assignment to learn about the characteristics of Sourthern Gothic Literature and to begin to view To Kill a Mockingbird through that lens.  As is true with the rest of the unit, the three day time frame is a suggestion only and can be adjusted based on your schedule and the needs of the students.Image source: "Mockingbird" by skeeze on Pixabay.com.

Students will read and analyze a short story from the Southern Gothic genre entitled "The Life you Save May be Your Own" by Flannery O'Conner.  They will continue to explore the ideas of human compassion and morality by examining the apparent  lack of compassion in the characters of Mr. Shiftlet and the old woman, Lucynell Crater.  Students will use close reading strategies to identify examples of indirect characterization that contribute to their analysis of these two central characters in the text. Image source: "Mockingbird" by skeeze on Pixabay.com.