7th Grade Historical Literacy consists of two 43 minute class periods. Writing is one 43 minute block and reading is another. The teacher has picked themes based on social studies standards, and a read-aloud novel based on social studies serves as the mentor text for writing and reading skills. More social studies content is addressed in reading through teaching nonfiction reading skills and discussion.
Standards reflect CCSS ELA, Reading, and Social Studies Standards.

8th Grade Historical Literacy consists of two 43 minute class periods. Writing is one 43 minute block and reading is another. The teacher has picked themes based on social studies standards, and a read-aloud novel based on social studies serves as the mentor text for writing and reading skills. More social studies content is addressed in reading through teaching nonfiction reading skills and discussion.
Standards reflect CCSS ELA, Reading, and Social Studies Standards.

Students will analyze photos for specific details that reveal the owner of a specific room.Then the analysis will include literature but will focus on literary devices and connotations.Also, students will have the opportunity to summarize text and then use evidence to support specific connotations.

Students will examine how patriotism comes in many forms through an analysis of the short film "Patriotism and Protest." In the film, experts and Minidoka survivors highlight how the infamous "loyalty questionnaire" during WWII divided the Japanese American community.   

Students will examine how news outlets and government propaganda shaped war hysteria and racism against Japanese Americans during WWII. In the short film, "Power of the Press," students will learn about the pre-war racism against Asian Americans and how community allyship can have a profound effect in combating propaganda.  

Students will examine how language shapes public perception through an analysis of the short film "Power of Words." In the film, experts highlight the various euphemisms used by the US government to describe the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans and how the language used to describe this event did not match the reality.  

Students will examine the responsibility of citizens through an analysis of the short film "Standing Up for Others." In the film, Japanese Americans draw parallels between their experience during World War II and the experiences of Muslim Americans and asylum-seeking migrant children.  

This lesson provides students with tools to analyze primary source newspaper articles about the Great War (1914"“1917) in order to understand public opinion regarding the U.S. entry into the war from multiple perspectives.

Global Citizens in Action is a civic engagement curriculum that focuses on cultural exchange, media literacy, and global citizenship. Through exploring the driving question, “How do we, as youth, engage our communities to create positive social change?”

How does the media influence peoples’ opinion of the government during a national crisis? Students will read several articles on a current (or historical) national crisis and write an argumentative essay analyzing how the media influences the opinion of the people toward the government during a national crisis using relevant evidence from both current and historical resources.

Every media source has a story to tell--a driving purpose. The media that people consume largely shapes their world views. The US public is becoming more divided partially due to the consumption of increasingly biased news. As a critical consumer of media, It is important to be able to separate fact from opinion. In this unit, adapted from the high school version, students will become critical consumers of news, by identifying media bias in order to become better informed citizens.  NOTE: This unit has been adapted for use at the middle school level from the resource Identifying Media Bias in News Sources by Sandra Stroup, Sally Drendel, Greg Saum, and Heidi Morris.

This is the Output of the Etwinning Project Mission: Creating Gender-Responsive Learning Environment.
When developing gender-responsive learning environment through the project, we will try to provide a complete and holistic picture of each unique situation as it relates to women, girls, men and boys.
While there are many gender-based barriers to education—socio-economic, cultural, and institutional—the project will focus on practical tools that individual teachers, directors, educators can put to immediate use in their classrooms, organization or even workplace. It addition, it contains key definitions related to gender and education, references to international commitments to gender equality in education, and a list of supplementary online resources and suggested reading materials.
We hope that this project will help to raise awareness, spark discussions, and encourage sensitive and productive learning environments for students of all genders and stages.

In this seminar, you’ll learn about dialogue, including how writers use it to “move” their stories along. As a narrator, you will practice using dialogue, which will help you understand how people involved in conflict interact genuinely. Some lines of dialogue will be longer than others; there’s a reason for that. Some narratives have very little dialogue; there’s a reason for that. Ultimately, you will continue to analyze the perspectives of characters (people) in a narrative setting to better understand the human condition and how their voices contribute to it. This seminar will require innovation on your part, as you will not only learn terminology associated with dialogue, but also put those devices into action as you create your own (mini) narrative with characters who interact.StandardsCC.1.4.9-10.MWrite narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events.CC.1.4.9-10.NEngage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple points of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters.CC.1.4.9-10.PCreate a smooth progression of experiences or events using a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole; provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on what is experienced, observed, or resolved over the course of the narrative. 

Students will learn about the attack on Pearl Harbor and the US response of the Pearl Harbor Day observance.

The Preamble is the introduction to the United States Constitution, and it serves two central purposes. First, it states the source from which the Constitution derives its authority: the sovereign people of the United States. Second, it sets forth the ends that the Constitution and the government that it establishes are meant to serve.

Students learn about the efforts of Ida B. Wells and other Black female journalists who used investigative reporting to challenge ideas and people that perpetuated social and political injustices. Students look to Black female journalists today by learning about Natasha S. Alford’s feature stories on race in Puerto Rico, and draw on past and present examples of journalism to help them respond to the unit driving question: How can journalism challenge inequality and injustice? Students use the tenets of investigative reporting to explore the achievements and challenges of the era, then work to shine a light on the possibilities of racial equity by writing and publishing a feature story about an issue of injustice today.

Students learn how young people in Washington exercised their rights and responsibilities through “fish-in” protests to fight for tribal fishing rights in the 1960s. Students use this example of civic engagement to reflect on their rights and responsibilities today, then begin to consider the unit-driving question: How can we use social media to engage community members on issues of injustice? Working in teams, students examine a case study on one of three critical issues: natural resources, the environment, or hazard preparedness. The case studies help students understand how social media can be used to raise awareness and promote action. Finally, teams create a social media campaign that engages their local elected officials and community on an issue of social and environmental justice.

 Verifying social media posts is quickly becoming a necessary endeavor in everyday life, let alone in the world of education. Social media has moved beyond a digital world which connects with friends and family and has become a quick and easy way to access news, information, and human interest stories from around the world. As this state of media has become the "new normal," especially for our younger generations, we, educators, find ourselves charged with a new task of teaching our students how to interact with and safely consume digital information.The following three modules are designed to be used as stand-alone activities or combined as one unit, in which the lessons can be taught in any order. "Who Said What?!" is a module focusing on author verification. "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words'' is a module devoted to image verification. "Getting the Facts Straight" is a module designed to dive into information verification. Lastly, there are assessment suggestions to be utilized after completing all three modules.