This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 8th Grade ELA. 

The speaker reflects on the risks and responsibilities of making choices and deciding which road to take. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this poem through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students gather and record information with adults discovering their first, best, and worst school memories. Students transfer this information to a memory page containing the interview information, and present one part of their memory page.

“The Secret” tells the story of Henry Cooper, a reporter, returning for the second time to report on the colonies now existing on the Moon. Based on a hunch, he becomes suspicious of a “secret” that may be looming on the Moon. Cooper sets out on a mission to confirm his suspicions, which leads him to discover that life on the moon can be as long as 200 years. Cooper must then decide if this “secret” should be kept or shared with those back on Earth. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students will examine ways to learn to use words and images to express a message.

This website allows students to listen to a brief phone conversation. It contains pre-listening exercises, listening exercises, vocabulary, post-listening exercises and online investigations. The audio file, which lasts fifty-six seconds, is accompanied by a script and a self-scoring quiz. Post-listening exercises and online investigations provide opportunity for students to extend their learning beyond the initial exercise and practice having a phone conversation with a partner as well as compare voice mail services from at least two different companies. This resource supports English language development for English language learners.

In this lesson, students work in small groups to investigate a science-related mystery using resource materials, then write and deliver a persuasive speech that supports the theory of the mystery.

This infographic analyzes common fears and suggests ways to overcome fear of speaking in public.

In this lesson, students create multimedia speeches to introduce important women or Hispanic people.

Students will explore how various black entrepreneurs thrived in Durham's downtown, so much so that Durham's Parrish Street was soon known as Black Wall Street. Students will gain a sense of the challenges overcome and successes experienced by the various black entrepreneurs and businesses on Black Wall Street.

In this lesson, students take a summative assessment, then begin researching and organizing information for an oral presentation on significant leaders in history.

A teaching guide for Harper Lee's classic To Kill A Mockingbird. Includes discussion questions, vocabulary, writing and discussion prompts and activities.

Students discover benefits to ocean exploration. Students will work collaboratively to research the topic and prepare an oral report. Students will also construct Learning Shapes to summarize modern reasons for ocean exploration and will use their creations to play a competitive "Ocean Exploration Bowl" game.

In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through these stories with text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students determine what they need to know in order to become good public speakers.

In this lesson, students respond to a diagnostic assessment to determine what they need to know in order to become good speakers.

“The Wreck of the Hesperus” is a narrative poem about an arrogant ship captain (skipper) who takes his daughter on an ill-fated voyage across a wintry sea. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this poem through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.