These English Language Arts/Literacy Units empower students with critical reading and writing skills at the heart of the Common Core: analyzing and writing evidence-based arguments.

This unit develops students’ abilities to analyze arguments from a range of perspectives on immigration policy in the United States. Students also learn to develop, write and revise their own evidence-based arguments.

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.

In this lesson, students explore the First Industrial Revolution in early nineteenth-century America. Through simulation activities and the examination of primary historical materials, students learn how changes in the workplace and less expensive goods led to the transformation of American life.

In this lesson, students will recognize water as a frequent subject in the news. Students will uitilize different sources to find information on current water issues. Then students will use writing skills to publish a paper on water issues.

This resource is a collection of discussion questions to supplement the non-fiction war verterans' account, We Were There by Yvonne Latty.

This lesson serves as an extension of a unit on waves that links the science of sound to the way that we hear. This lesson also investigates the role of hearing loss prevention as a way to improve public health. Students will wear earplugs while taking notes on vocabulary words, and then take a short vocabulary quiz as an exercise designed to show what it might be like to have hearing loss. Next, each student will generate a model of the process of hearing, and then complete a short group presentation on one of several hearing-related topics.

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.

In this activity students model the cycles of matter by creating an ecosystem in a jar and observing how it changes over time. Students will also research the nitrogen, water, and carbon cycles and prepare presentations to share information with their peers.

Students will collect information about a cloud forest species: the white-faced capuchin monkey, mantled howler monkey, bromeliad, or orchid. Students will collect information about the niches of these species then analyze the similarities and differences between them. They will then consider how two similar species can co-exist in a localized area.

This unit will serve as an exploration of the creation myth across cultures, an introduction to the major Greek gods and goddesses, and an opportunity to link mythology to today's world. Students will research and create a newsletter on a creation myth and the culture from which it came. They will also plan and present a slideshow presentation about a major god or goddess of ancient Greece, including allusions to him/her in today's world.

In this lesson, students will identify and illustrate the four main stages of forest succession: grass and forbs, shrubs and saplings, pole timber, and mature timber. After conducting research, students will list the natural habitat and preferred food of a given wildlife species.

In this lesson, students gather information about a specific career and wrote a paper about it.

This resource is a guideline to writing a thesis statement for a research paper.

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.

Students will complete independent research on a topic (preferably one they have chosen). Then, they will represent their findings in an infographic. Students will need to cite their sources and justify the design (structure) of their infographic. This remix removes content-specific information so it can be used with a variety of grades and content areas. It also includes tech and literacy integration. Collaboration with the School Library Media Coordinator (SLMC) is highly encouraged.

In this lesson, students will explore how myths provide explanations for nature and science. They will read and analyze the Native American myth "Giants and Mosquitoes." They will relate the myth to other creation myths and their own experiences. Afterwards, they will write their own original myth using the writing process.

This resource is a guideline to writing a statement of purpose for a research paper.

This resource is a guideline to writing a conclusion for a research paper.

This resource is a guideline to writing an introduction for a research paper.

In this lesson, students will use the steps of the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, revising, proofreading, and publishing) to write original and, in small groups, perform their fables as skits. Students will also review the elements of a fable, such as theme, in order to create original written fables of their own.