Students are introduced to the idea of "The Simpsons" as satire by comparing what they did on a typical day to the things the Simpsons do in the opening sequence of the show. Students use the character profiles on the Simpsons website to analyze six characters, identifying satirical details that reveal the comment/criticism being made about society through the characters. Finally, students use a graphic organizer to record and analyze specific examples of satire as they watch a full episode.

This resource includes a lesson plan designed to assist learners with the concepts of freedom, justice, discrimination and the American Dream. Students will examine the "I Have a Dream Speech" and select powerful words and themes from the text and arrange them into original diamante poems.

In this unit based on Walter Dean Myer's Fallen Angels, students will learn vocabulary, complete chapter based and book based writing assignments and activities, conduct a Vietnam web search, and choose a final project.

This resource includes a lesson that requires students to read a short memoir prior to writing a memoir for a family member. Students are tasked with interviewing the family member prior to formulating their memoir, which may take the forms of photographic collages, image panels, a painting, a video, musical composition, sculpture or any other creative method. This lesson was designed to accompany the PBS documentary, The Mystery of Love. Links are provided to the PBS website for the documentary.

Students will reflect on their reading experiences in and out of school and discuss the roles that both fiction and non-fiction played. Next, they will become familiar with what the Commmon Core Standards say about reading, and what critics and supporters have written in reaction. Ultimately, students will write about the question, "What should students read?"

In this lesson, students will edit, revise, and finalize their argument essays using the feedback from teacher and peers.

In this lesson, students will expand the concept of love poems to move beyond romantic love to explore other kinds of love, particularly the love within a family. Students work in small groups to read and analyze poems that expand the definition of love poetry. They write or select a personal memoir about love, particularly focusing on love within a family. Finally, they compose and peer review found poems based on the memoir.

Suggestions on how to guide students through the writing process when writing editorials "” from brainstorming a topic to publishing their work "” and all the steps in between.

In this lesson, students explore the free exercise clause in the first amendment by reading about various court cases throughout history. Discussion questions are provided. In an associated close-reading activity, students will review the two tests used by the Supreme Court in the Sherbert and Smith cases and apply the tests to the 1972 case of Wisconsin v. Yoder.

Students will go "inside" the NY Times Best Sellers List to explore recent best sellers across categories, then use those lists as models to create their own in categories of their choosing. They will write one-sentence summaries for each book on their lists, then analyze and explain their choices by writing "Inside the List" articles. Ultimately, students will answer the question, "What do best-seller lists tell us about our culture?"

This Random House for High School Teachers teacher's guide includes an introduction and overview; discussion questions; suggested activities; vocabulary; author biography; and suggestions for further reading designed to enhance student discussion of Alan Drew's novel, Gardens of Water, a novel that calls into question how religious faith, sacrifice, and family loyalty come into play in the aftermath of a catastrophe.

In this lesson, students will discuss and write messages about how it feels to be grouped or identified by gender. Then, students will work in groups to record and discuss messages shared with others in the class.

George Orwell's experiences as a policemen for the British Empire in India formed the basis for his early writings, including this essay. After receiving some background information on British rule in Burma as well as on Orwell, students will read the essay in order to analyze its use of metaphors, symbolism and irony.

A teachers guide for A Girl Called Fearless by Catherine Linka, including discussion questions and writing prompts.

Students read about what it"™s like to be a Muslim teenager growing up in America at this moment, then consider ideas for countering stereotypes and Islamophobia. Lessons include guided informational readings, research and writing suggestions, videos, and resources to continue the discussion.

This Random House for High School Teachers teacher's guide includes questions, discussion topics, comparison to other texts, and an author biography designed to aid students in exploring The Guernsey
Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a novel written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. The novel is
composed of letters that tell the stories of Juliet Ashton, a young English author, and an eccentric group of readers on Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands occupied by German forces during the war.

This lesson encourages students to pick a turning point in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and show how the action of the play would have been significantly altered had a different decision been made or a different action taken. Students will use a graphic organizer to analyze the plot of the play, create a plot outline of an altered play, and present their new stories to the class.

In this multi-day unit students conduct research, work with an interactive Venn diagram tool, and create a museum exhibit that highlights the work of selected artists, musicians, and poets. Critical thinking, creativity, and interdisciplinary connections are emphasized.

Students examine the events behind the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the continued struggles to truly unify the former East Germany and West Germany. In small groups, students research the possible views of different types of people living in East Germany and West Germany while the Berlin Wall still stood, exploring perspectives on numerous aspects of life in Germany as well as views towards other countries. Students then create characters who then meet people from the other side of the Wall upon its falling. Finally, pairs document the meeting of these people in a written piece.