Women in Fiction / Women in Fact: Power and Worth Exposed by Pandemics

This unit will be geared toward my Advanced Placement Literature and Composition class, but could certainly be taught in any survey course of English literature, or a course that examines women’s literature. One objective, part of the AP Literature curriculum, is to teach historical context. This is always important so that students realize that art is a response to real life, and characters’ lives represent real lives shaped by real events. I also want my students to see connections to their own lives, and that the struggles for equity are not futile, but ongoing and necessary. I would like students also to see that a society that suppresses a group of people, is weaker, not stronger, and oppression is something for all of us to fight. And, I would like to open up some dusty-shelf texts to high school teachers who might not consider teaching them. This unit will ask students to examine the historical boundaries in law, society, and economics for women in medieval literature, and consider how females depicted in stories from these eras might reveal power and agency that is not revealed in laws or politics. The unit will include the ancient Greek play Lysistrata, poetry from Anglo-Saxon England, Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and stories from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

Introduction to Poetry

This mini-unit is an introduction to poetry and can be used in middle school or early high school. Each lesson should take about an hour and covers basic such as: Prose vs. Poetry, Traditional vs. Organic Poetry, poetry structure, figurative language and sound devices, context clues, tone, and meaning. Several examples of poems are provided along with notes, guided practice, and indepent assessments. 

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Homework/Assignment, Lecture Notes, Lesson Plan, Reading

Author: alla shelest

Exploring Anne Frank’s Diary

Students will examine Anne Frank’s diary as both a historical and a deliberately created literary text and will understand how the Holocaust affected the lives of the Frank family.

Murals of the Holocaust Unit

For over 20 years, a summer program for gifted adolescents at Western Kentucky University has offered an arts-integrated history course on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. The course concludes with students working as a group to create a large mural on the Holocaust. In this way, students use the power of art to deal with their own emotions as well as to educate others. The murals from the past 20 years went on a traveling display in Kentucky to engage a broader audience in thought-provoking conversation on the topic. In this video collection, hear the stories of a Holocaust survivor and the son of a Holocaust survivor who are involved with the program, learn how students in the program decided on a theme for their mural, and learn how one teacher incorporates the arts into Holocaust history lessons.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan, Module, Primary Source

Authors: Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence, KET Education

Anne Frank

Jewish Anne Frank hid in 1942 from the Nazis during the occupation of the Netherlands. Two years later she was discovered. In 1945 she died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. These lessons explain more about Anne Frank's life and the historical context around Anne Frank's diary.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan, Primary Source

Author: Anne Frank House

Civic Online Reasoning

From June 2018 to May 2019, we administered an assessment to 3,446 students, a national sample that matches the demographic profile of high school students in the United States. The six exercises in our assessment gauged students’ ability to evaluate digital sources on the open internet. The results—if they can be summarized in a word—are troubling: •Fifty-two percent of students believed a grainy video claiming to show ballot stuffing in the 2016 Democratic primaries (the video was actually shot in Russia) constituted “strong evidence” of voter fraud in the U.S. Among more than 3,000 responses, only three students tracked down the source of the video, even though a quick search turns up a variety of articles exposing the ruse. Two-thirds of students couldn’t tell the difference between news stories and ads (set off by the words “Sponsored Content”) on Slate’s homepage.Ninety-six percent of students did not consider why ties between a climate change website and the fossil fuel industry might lessen that website’s credibility. Instead of investigating who was behind the site, students focused on superficial markers of credibility: the site’s aesthetics, its top-level domain, or how it portrayed itself on the About page.

Material Type: Reading

Author: Amit

You've Gotta See It to Believe It: Making Claims About an Image

This lesson guides students through making claims about an image that is found online, and using evidence to back up whether the image is real or "faked."  Students will use speaking and listening skills and partner work to discuss their views about an image.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Authors: Amanda Graham, Oregon Open Learning

Deepfakes: Exploring Media Manipulation

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.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson, Lesson Plan

Author: Shana Ferguson

Introduction to Media Literacy (Ages 14-19)

As an introduction to Media Literacy, this lesson covers topics ranging from rhetorical theory, philosophy, and history to illuminate the interconnected complications of media in the modern world. Supplemental resources are woven into the lesson in the form of hyperlink text, images, and embedded videos. The ultimate goal of this lesson resource is to inform grade-aged learners about the subject complexity of media literacy and equip them with the most basic tools to properly understand and engage with social media and media in general. Crash Course, a free supplemental learning company is a commonly referenced external tool within the lesson as their expanding topic verity offers well-researched additive content for digital learning environments.

Material Type: Lesson

Author: Eren Rapp

Student Writing Models

When you need an example written by a student, check out our vast collection of student models for grades 1-12. Search by grade level or mode of writing such as “explanatory,” “persuasive,” or "narrative."

Material Type: Reading, Student Guide, Teaching/Learning Strategy

English Language Arts, Grade 11, Project: Growing Up Digital, The Effect of Digital Connectivity, Information Writing

The purpose of this third Benchmark Assessment (Cold Write) is to assess what students know about informational writing. Students will respond to a writing prompt, and you will score results as a measure of their progress. Students will also research independently to find information and perspectives for their argument essay.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

t’iləqʷ /Strawberry Native American Storytelling Unit

Integrated ELA and Social Studies Unit incorporating Washington State's Since Time Immemorial content. Students learn native values in plant care, the oral tradition of storytelling and share and celebrate their learning.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Authors: Lori Harrison, Washington OSPI OER Project, Federal Way Public Schools

SB 13 Tribal History Shared History Professional Development Courses

This web page is dedicated to SB 13 Tribal History/Shared History Professional Development Courses. These courses are designed to support educators in building a foundation for teaching, training, and serving as a source of support, knowledge, and advocacy within their school, district, or organization for the Senate Bill 13 Tribal History/Shared History curriculum.

Material Type: Full Course

English Language Arts: Oral Traditions

This lesson introduces students to two of the most important aspects of Native American culture, both past and present: oral storytelling and the role of elders within tribal communities.Tribal nations and Indigenous communities in Oregon are varied and have multiple unique languages, world views, ways of life, and traditions. Like most cultures, they have many ways they communicate, preserve, and pass on their cultural and ceremonial traditions to future generations.One of these ways is through oral tradition, in which information is passed down through the generations by word of mouth. There are many forms of oral tradition, including poems, songs, speeches, choreography, and spoken word. One of the most well-known forms of Native oral tradition is storytelling. Western oral tradition is often divided into categories of folktale, myth, and legend. Tribal nations do not make this distinction and simply say “stories” or “teachings.”

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell, Oregon Open Learning

English Language Arts: Lewis & Clark: A Native American View

The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806 was of great consequence for the United States, the future state of Oregon, and the vast numbers of Indigenous people who had been living in the American West for thousands of years. The passage of time, mythmaking, and selective interpretation have obscured or distorted both minor and major realities about the purposes of the expedition, the people involved, and its impact. In this lesson, students will explore how historical events can be viewed and interpreted differently by different people, and why some stories about historical events can dominate or exclude others. These occurrences in the historical record were often intentionally organized and supported to present a narrative that was favorable to one side over another. Students will also learn details about the Lewis and Clark Expedition that provide a fuller picture of Native American contributions to the journey and its long-term impact on Indigenous people, specifically in Oregon. This lesson can be incorporated into elementary Oregon history units and/or provided as an extension. It assumes that students are already familiar with the general outline and key people of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell, Oregon Open Learning

English Language Arts: Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an Act of Sovereignty Part 1

Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries tribal nations and Indigenous communities have continued to assert their right to self-governance and sovereignty despite numerous efforts to force them to assimilate. By extension, the purposeful erasure of Indigenous peoples as a living and thriving presence in the current, modern-day world also remains a reality.  Tribal sovereignty predates the existence of the U.S. government and the state of Oregon. Tribalgovernments are separate and unique sovereign nations with the power to execute their self-governance to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens and to govern their lands, air, and waters. One of the ways Indigenous communities have been embodying their right to sovereignty is through the establishment of an Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Indigenous Peoples’ Day serves as a reminder of the contributions, both past and present, of Indigenous communities and tribal nations. In this lesson, students will explore the concepts of tribal sovereignty and self-determination and learn about efforts by tribes and other entities to promote and support the celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This lesson is meant to be used with its companion lesson: Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an Act of Sovereignty Part II.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell

English Language Arts: Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an Act of Sovereignty Part 2

Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries tribal nations and Indigenous communities havecontinued to assert their right to self-governance and sovereignty despite numerous efforts to forcethem to assimilate. By extension, the purposeful erasure of Indigenous peoples as a living and thriving presence in the contemporary world also remains a reality. Tribal sovereignty predates the existence of the U.S. government and the state of Oregon. Tribal governments are separate and unique sovereign nations with the power to execute their self governance to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens and to govern their lands, air, and waters. One of the ways Indigenous communities have been embodying their right to sovereignty is through the establishment of an Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Indigenous Peoples’ Day serves as reminder of the contributions, both past and present, of Indigenous communities and tribal nations. This lesson extends the knowledge gained from Part I by asking students to make meaning of Indigenous Peoples’ Day and to explore how advocacy leads to a local proclamation and change.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell

English Language Arts: Oregon Poet Laureate

Elizabeth Woody is a poet and educator of Navajo, Wasco, and Yakama descent and is an enrolled tribal member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Woody’s writing focuses on the histories of her ancestors, the rich Pacific Northwest landscape, and the experience of being a tribal member, an American, and a woman in contemporary society. Woody is the winner of the American Book Award. In 2016, she was named the eighth poet laureate of Oregon—the first person of American Indian heritage to hold that honor. Oregon poets laureate are appointed by the governor and serve a two-year term as cultural ambassadors, traveling around the state to share the power of reading and writing poetry. In this lesson, students will explore and analyze Woody’s poetry. Students will have the opportunity to listen to Woody speak about her work and her relationship with language and the landscape. They will reflect on and discuss her perspective and the process by which she writes. Students will also learn a structured strategy for analyzing poetic text and recognizing key themes. Finally, students will demonstrate what they have learned by creating a group analysis and presentation of one of Woody’s poems.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell

English Language Arts: chinuk wawa

This lesson introduces students to the history and importance of the Indigenous language known as chinuk wawa. Students will have the opportunity to learn how tribes from diverse regions and language families used chinuk wawa as a method of communication among groups essential for trade, political, social and other reasons. They will also reflect on the power of language and the relationship between language and cultural identity.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell, Oregon Open Learning

English Language Arts: News in Indian Country

This lesson explores the concept of survivance in contemporary Native American culture, particularly as it relates to the nine federally recognized tribes of Oregon. The term survivance is unfamiliar to many people, but in recent decades it has become an important way of talking about how Indigenous people express and carry forward their cultural identities and traditions in contemporary life. Acts of survivance are those that demonstrate the ongoing and dynamic presence of Indigenous people in contemporary times. These acts of sovereignty and self-determination can take many forms, including tribal efforts to revitalize a language or open a new business; a Native student winning a scholarship or achieving public recognition; or a cross-tribal group advocating for land, treaty, or fishing rights. News media outlets, in a variety of forms, are one of the ways the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon attempt to both inform and communicate with tribal members and the general public about current events and tribal participation in local, state, and national events. Each of the nine tribal nations in Oregon produces its own unique news outlet that is available to all tribal members. Many of these are also available to the general public. The purpose of this lesson is to provide students with the opportunity to identify examples of survivance in action—through the reading analysis of tribal news outlets.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell