All resources in Oregon Language Arts and Literacy

Teaching “The Outsiders” from a Critical Race Perspective

(View Complete Item Description)

In this unit I lead my Language Arts class through a reading of the classic American novel The Outsiders from a Critical Race Perspective (CRP). Starting with the introduction of the terminology associated with CRP, combined with discussions of some examples of institutionalized inequality in our country, I challenge students to look at the novel from a more critical, and fair minded point of view. In order to help students see the relevance of the novel in today’s world, I will lead them through an examination of some of the unfair and often brutal histories of “outsiders” in our country beginning with the dissemination of hundreds of Native American tribes, the sterilization of thousands during the eugenics craze, and the crisis on our southern border in which thousands have been labeled “outsiders” as others have for centuries. Through discussions, journal writing and projects meant to prompt empathy and understanding in my students, this unit will attempt to bring a new interpretation of The Outsiders to light.

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

An Approach to Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

(View Complete Item Description)

This unit introduces instructional moves for how teachers can use their classroom libraries for deep critical thinking on issues of race, racism, and inequality. This unit uses a middle school level novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Taylor, 1976), but the content objectives, teaching strategies, and activities are applicable to any novel study. Building upon how classroom libraries function as resources for thought provoking literature and discussions from the 2019 Yale Teachers Institute Seminar Teaching about Race and Racism Across the Disciplines, this unit primarily explores the historical context of the novel primarily using the language of music to analyze characters. Students will develop interpretations about how these conditions influenced characters’ traits, roles, or conflicts and construct a central thesis on a character of their choice. It incorporates pedagogical tools and resources expanding curricular strategies and provides a framework for student discussion beyond the text on issues about race, racism, and forms of inequality.

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

The Navajo Treaty of 1868: Why Was the Navajo Journey Home So Remarkable?

(View Complete Item Description)

This online lesson provides Native perspectives, images, documents, and other sources to help students and teachers understand the remarkable nature of the Navajo Treaty of 1868 and why the Navajo maintained an unflinching resolve to return home. Examine the Navajo Treaty of 1868 and the nation's journey home to understand how a people's agency and strength reaffirms and rebuilds Navajo (Diné) nationhood, culture, and sovereignty.

Material Type: Lesson

Author: Native Knowledge 360

The Holocaust and The Diary of Anne Frank (by playwrights Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett)

(View Complete Item Description)

This lesson focuses on the twelve-year period from 1933-1945 in which Jews faced restrictions, were imprisoned, worked as slaves, and were starved, tortured, and murdered.  Six million Jews died during the Holocaust.  They will also read the play The Diary of Anne Frank which protrays a thirteen year old gilr's view of her daily life when she and her family went into hiding before being deported to a Nazi concentration camp.  Anne Frank was born to a Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1929.  Her family immigrated to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, when she was four.  Anne had a happy childhood until 1940 when German forces invaded and occupied the Netherlands.  Anne and her family went into hiding in the attic above her father's business, where they lived for two years.  Students will review the elements of drama incuding dramatic structure such as characters, conflict, climax, and resoultion. They will also learn about dialogue and stage directions.  

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Dr. Diane Schnoebelen-Kramer

Anne Frank in the World, 1929 - 1945, Teacher Workbook

(View Complete Item Description)

This Anne Frank unit is designed with several lessons of various lengths. These lessons are usable in many different disciplines. Using one, several, or all of the lessons will address the unit's objectives to some degree. Students will accomplish some or all of the objectives depending on the number and nature of the lessons in which they participate.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

Anne Frank

(View Complete Item Description)

Anne Frank’s writing in her diary became one of the most recognized accounts of life for a Jewish family in Europe during World War II. This resource is from a collection of biographies of famous women. It is provided by the National Women's History Museum, and may include links to supplemental materials including lesson plans about the subject and related topics, links to related biographies, and "works cited" pages. The biographies are sponsored by Susan D. Whiting.

Material Type: Reading

Author: National Women's History Museum

Anne Frank: Writer

(View Complete Item Description)

This lesson concentrates on Anne Frank as a writer. After a look at Anne Frank the adolescent, and a consideration of how the experiences of growing up shaped her composition of the Diary, students explore some of the writing techniques Anne invented for herself and practice those techniques with material drawn from their own lives.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Remix

Auschwitz-Birkenau and Anne Frank's Father

(View Complete Item Description)

The German Nazis were responsible for the systematic killing of millions of Jews.  Hitler called it “The Final Solution to the Jewish Problem.”  There were concentration camps set up throughout German controlled territories.  This project will focus on the largest and most notorious camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, located in German-controlled Poland. Anne Frank and her family were discovered and arrested in August 1944. In September 1944 they were sent from the Westerbork Camp in the Netherlands to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Anne’s father, Otto Frank, survived and was liberated from Auschwitz-Birkenau in January 1945. 

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Joan Upell

Murals of the Holocaust Unit

(View Complete Item Description)

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

Remix

Analyzin

(View Complete Item Description)

This lesson guides students through analysis of non-print media as a vehicle for argument. Added to this are Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographs for them to pick from. It is important to note that the photos contain graphic images.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Tina Roberts

The Art of Language

(View Complete Item Description)

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.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Authors: Bonnie Waltz, Deanna Mayers, Tracy Rains

Deepfakes: Exploring Media Manipulation

(View Complete Item Description)

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

Remix

Digital Age Skill: Language Arts - What Makes a Hero

(View Complete Item Description)

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.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Homework/Assignment, Interactive, Lesson, Lesson Plan, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: Tina Roberts