Do you like eggs?  Learn how to identify and write the 4 Types of Sentences while exploring the topic of chickens & eggs from a local farm in Eastern Oregon. Visuals include a powerpoint presentation (excellent online resource to use with Google Classroom) Flowchart and Thinking Map. Two types of assessments are included ( one using a sentence frame ) and challenge those who need a little more by having them write a short story.Grades 6-8

PLEASE NOTE: Some K-12 sites block access to Google Docs where this file resides. If you are unable to access it, it is also available at https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Literature_and_Literacy/Book%3A_88_Open_Essays_-_A_Reader_for_Students_of_Composition_and_Rhetoric_(Wangler_and_Ulrich)

This book is a free and open resource for composition instructors and students, full of essays that could supplement OER rhetoric and writing texts that lack readings. All of the essays in this reader are versatile rhetorically and thematically. It is arranged alphabetically by author name. Each essay has a series of hashtags that apply to the essay in some way. You can search for essays thematically for topics like education, the environment, politics, or health. You can also search for essays based on composition concepts like analysis, synthesis, and research. You can search for essays that are based on shared values, essays that rely heavily on ethos, logos, or pathos, essays that are very kairos-dependent, and essays that are scholarly.

This collection was created in Google Docs so that it is easily adapted and edited.

This lesson focuses on the vocabulary and skills students need to define, identify, discuss and apply a variety of informative writing techniques. The texts in this lesson are infographics related to marginalized people. Students are asked to apply the techniques they learn to an informative text of their own. 

This lesson is designed to support English language learners when argumentative writing.  It is prepared using the topic selected by my students, “Are Social Networking Sites Good For Our Society?”  This lesson could easily be adapted to meet other topics of interest.  The lesson begins by reinforcing that when one is argumentative writing, the writer must choose a side and have a reason for choosing it. Then, the lesson evaluates others’ argumentative writing to see what it might look like. Afterward, the students have an opportunity to get comfortable with the argumentative writing topic they will be writing about with support of their peers and the teacher. Ultimately, with other support in place, students will write an argumentative piece to the best of their ability with a goal in mind. 

Students will investigate musical genres in Spanish Speaking countries in order to better understand the history and influences that created the music, as well as the cultural connections/impact of the music today. Begin studying Bomba as a class and work through the investigation process together; then students can select a different genre of music to research and explore before creating a visual essay about their topic.The complete lesson plan included is the 4th class period of a 8-10 period unit of study; the complete unit slides are included in the resource folder with all readings, videos, etc. Lessons are in Spanish, but could be adapted for an English class with Spanish translanguaging as many of the videos are included with closed captions. 

Comparing and contrasting our experiences with friends and family help us better understand our own identity.  Students will learn comparison/contrast language and practice using it through an activity, two different graphic organizers, classroom discussion and conversations with their parents to better understand each other, their parents and themselves.

 This lesson will introduce and teach students about compound words and how to form meaning from compound words. Students will first identify and learn what compound words are and how they are formed. They will then engage in a hands-on activity to form their own compound words and predict their meanings based on what they’ve learned about compound words. Students will then demonstrate their ability to identify and give meaning to compound words found from a previously read text in their exit ticket.

Middle school is a conflict-ridden stage, particularly for our emerging bilingual students, who are normally known as ELLs. Not only do they have to overcome numerous problems of linguistic and cultural adaptation, but they also have to face challenges such as family or economic instability and moves, often cross-border. Indeed, it is not uncommon to meet Hispanic students: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Salvadorans, etc. who travel to their countries of origin, or to the countries of origin of their parents for seasons, sometimes even to stay and live there, despite having been born in the United States and having lived here all their schooling until that moment. It is also quite common to see students who migrate with their families to the United States when they are already 11 or 12 years old and who, as we mentioned, not only have to learn the language, but adapt to a new life, culture and traditions.In this lesson plan we propose to use these personal experiences to introduce basic conversational vocabulary. It is designed for both dual immersion programs and English development classes.

This lesson is designed for students to learn basic social justice vocabulary, such as systemic racism and analyze if equity matters. Through vocabulary development of terms around race relations and equity, along with the analysis of two articles, students will gain an understanding of equity in social organizations. Finally, using the articles, the content-specific vocabulary and their own schema, students will discuss if equity matters in a Socratic seminar.

Emotions are important. Students will work in groups to come up with an example of how an emotion can help us in our daily lives and oppositely how an emotion could hinder us. Students will use chart paper to make a one-pager poster of their example. After, students can gallery walk and present their ideas.

 This lesson will teach students how to use common ending punctuation marks for simple sentences through discussion, activities, and creative writing within the context of the agricultural community. 

This lesson is an adaptation of a history lesson designed by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The focus of the lesson is on comparing and contrasting primary sources describing the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 in order to teach students methods for evaluating historical sources.  The historical content has been paired with English proficiency standards to help support students comprehension of challenging historical documents.  It is designed for high school, but with some adaptation could be used in an 8th grade classroom.  The lessons are designed to support Intermediate to Advanced (ELP 3-5) language learners, although students with Beginning proficiency (ELP 1-2) would find some success with this as well.  Students compare two newspaper reports on the fire and two memoirs of the fire written many decades later, with an eye on how these accounts complement and compete with one another, and how these sources can be used to draw historical meaning from them.

Apply handwriting analysis techniques to a ransom note using suspect handwriting samples to use as testimony evidence in a court case.  The findings will be used to convince a jury in a trial of a person’s guilt.

 Students extend their knowledge of the skeletal system to biomedical engineering design, specifically the concept of artificial limbs and joints. Students relate the skeleton as a structural system, focusing on the hand as structural necessity. They learn about the design considerations involved in the creation of artificial limbs, including materials. This lesson plan was developed for emergent bilingual students who are intermediate or advanced in their English language development skills. This lesson is adapted from the following resources, "Engineering Bones" and "Prosthetic Party," on the TeachEngineering Digital Library: https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/cub_biomed_lesson01, https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_biomed_lesson01_activity1

Portland Public Schools has developed this unit. Their hope is that ALL K-5 students will be able to access rigorous, standards-aligned science instruction that engages them in hands-on experiences and sense-making through student discourse. They want to encourage all students to be critical thinkers and lifelong learners. To that end, the science and ESL departments at Portland Public Schools, in consultation with NGSS writer Rita Januszyk, have developed units that are aligned with both Next Generation Science Standards and Oregon’s English Language Proficiency standards.

In this unit, students observe patterns of the sun, moon, and stars in the sky and learn that patterns in data can be used to make predictions. Students also relate the amount of sunlight to seasons, and lengths of day and night.

Portland Public Schools has developed this unit. Their hope is that ALL K-5 students will be able to access rigorous, standards-aligned science instruction that engages them in hands-on experiences and sense-making through student discourse. They want to encourage all students to be critical thinkers and lifelong learners. To that end, the science and ESL departments at Portland Public Schools, in consultation with NGSS writer Rita Januszyk, have developed units that are aligned with both Next Generation Science Standards and Oregon’s English Language Proficiency standards.

In this unit, students observe glass objects, identify properties of glass and other materials, and investigate changes of materials when they are heated or cooled. They test materials to choose one to best solve an engineering problem with water bottles.

Portland Public Schools has developed this unit. Their hope is that ALL K-5 students will be able to access rigorous, standards-aligned science instruction that engages them in hands-on experiences and sense-making through student discourse. They want to encourage all students to be critical thinkers and lifelong learners. To that end, the science and ESL departments at Portland Public Schools, in consultation with NGSS writer Rita Januszyk, have developed units that are aligned with both Next Generation Science Standards and Oregon’s English Language Proficiency standards.

In this unit, students investigate connections between plants and animals after observing a photo of a mysterious object (scat) and create a model that is continuously revised throughout the unit. Students observe plants growing and learn about pollination and seed dispersal, then engineer a hand pollinator. Language focus is on cause and effect, patterns, and making claims.

Portland Public Schools has developed this unit. Their hope is that ALL K-5 students will be able to access rigorous, standards-aligned science instruction that engages them in hands-on experiences and sense-making through student discourse. They want to encourage all students to be critical thinkers and lifelong learners. To that end, the science and ESL departments at Portland Public Schools, in consultation with NGSS writer Rita Januszyk, have developed units that are aligned with both Next Generation Science Standards and Oregon’s English Language Proficiency standards.

In this unit, students investigate how to protect a passenger in a mock car crash. Students learn about forces, including magnetic forces, and how they interact with objects. Students engineer a solution to protect a play-dough model based on what they have learned. Language focus is on describing movement, patterns, and supporting claims with evidence.