Through a series of picture book read-alouds, students engage in critical discussion of complex issues of race, class, and gender.

This activity is a field investigation where students gather leaves from various trees on school property, interpret findings, name tree and leaves, journal activity and develop a new "aha" for nature!

In this field investigation, students compare various soil samples taken from specific locations. Students compare samples, record data, create a chart or graph, and journal.

In this unit, students make regular journal entries about a plant/animal/insect community in the natural area around our school and use this to create a Non-fiction Class Book. They also interview family/resources to discover, record and present stories about human relationships with nature from their culture(s).

Students keep a doodle journal while reading short stories by a common author. In small groups, students then combine their doodles into a graphic representation of the text.

Explains nine methods for developing ideas for writing, including freewriting, brainstorming, clustering/mapping, maintaining a personal journal, responding to a text, maintaining a response journal, responding to a specific assignment, asking questions about a subject, and making a list. Goes on to show how to move from prewriting to organizing ideas.

The 11th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 11th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Students move from learning the class rituals and routines and genre features of argument writing in Unit 11.1 to learning about narrative and informational genres in Unit 11.2: The American Short Story. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

In this unit, students will explore great works of American literature and consider how writers reflect the time period in which they write. They will write two literary analysis papers and also work in groups to research and develop anthologies of excellent American stories.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and analyze stories from several 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century American authors. After researching a time period, they select stories from that period to create an anthology. The readings enhance their understanding of the short story, increase their exposure to well-known American authors, and allow them to examine the influence of social, cultural, and political context.
Students examine elements of short stories and have an opportunity for close reading of several American short stories. During these close readings, they examine the ways that short story writers attempt to explore the greater truths of the American experience through their literature.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

If you were to write a short story about this decade, what issues might you focus on?
What defines a short story? Just length?
To what extent do these stories reflect the era or decade in which they were written?
To what extent are the themes they address universal?

CLASSROOM FILMS

History.com has short videos on the Vietnam War (“Vietnam” and “A Soldier's Story”).

In this lesson, students will discuss the rest of “The Things They Carried.” They will also complete a Dialectical Journal entry and share it with the class.

This activity is a step by step lesson to introduce a nature journal to students. We will establish the routine we will use.

This activity is a field investigation where students will learn the importance of detail when nature journaling.

Students will act out open and closed circuits and is followed by individual journal writing and a class discussion.

Smithsonian in the Classroom presents "Introduction to the Nature Journal." Teachers can download this comprehensive teaching package in which students will practice and develop their skills of writing observations and making hypotheses. This amazing teaching guide comes complete with background information, opening discussion questions, and vibrant pictures and examples of nature journals. Also included along with the detailed lesson plans are student handouts and a listing of the curriculum standards addressed.

This is a two part journaling activity prior to an existing week long biology field lab. The journaling activities described here have been added to the beginning of the Pond Study Lab to enhance student learning of observation and quality journaling skills.

Students analyze the elements of a novel in many different genres and then hyperlink these pieces together on student-constructed Websites.

This activity is a daily lab where two students read a thermometer and identify the cloud type for a week. They record it on the board first and we all record it in our journals. A graph of the entire year is also completed and we can analyze the data as we go. We get two new "scientists" each week and we do it all year. I start the first week of school.

This lesson encourages young students to see themselves as writers with a message to convey. Three types of reports are provided to show what kindergartners and emergent writers can do.