Fourteen year-old Greg Ridley gets into an argument with his father over his bad grades and his father forbids him to play basketball. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

This is a story of an American-born Chinese daughter, her immigrant mother and their very different beliefs and hopes. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

For this lesson, students write a draft of a persuasive essay to the principal addressing the issue of whether or not their school should adopt a uniform policy.

Students will learn about the different types of figurative language in this unit. Then, they will read "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes and one of three teacher-selected songs ("Titanium" by David Guetta and Sia, "Firework" by Katy Perry, and "Caged Bird" by Alicia Keys). They will use their understanding of figurative language to interpret the texts and evaluate the theme of each. They will write an essay explaining the theme of each text and evaluating which author uses figurative language to more effectively communicate the theme.

This lesson helps students "hear" some of the diverse colonial voices that, in the course of time and under the pressure of novel ideas and events, contributed to the American Revolution. Students analyze a variety of primary documents illustrating the diversity of religious, political, social, and economic motives behind competing perspectives on questions of independence and rebellion.

This inquiry examines the emergence of the women's suffrage movement in the 19th century as an effort to expand women's political and economic rights, and it extends that investigation into the present.

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of water access in the Middle East using various sources that consider geographical, political and economic issues. By investigating the compelling question, students examine the geography of the region, including environmental and demographic relationships, the ecological impact of accessing water, and the subsequent political conflicts over control of natural resources.

In this lesson, students identify and analyze folktales. They learn the characteristics of folktales and use them to evaluate existing tales and to create original tales of their own. Students apply the writing process to strengthen writing skills and to develop creativity.