This activity engages students in an analysis of the 2008 speech by Barack Obama on race. Students will then create an annotated version of the speech that has them analyze and comment upon Obama's use of history, rhetoric, and language in his message. Students can also create a hypertext of this assignment in order to publish works in different media.

This lesson-plan focuses on students analyzing, critiquing, and examining the language and meanings of historical and cultural documents such as The Pledge of Allegiance and the First Amendment. Through this activity they will also examine the impact and meaning of language, as well as the relevance of the meaning behind the words of each document. All handouts are downloadable and printable from this site.

Students will read scientific text about top predators in Arctic marine ecosystems and how they may be affected by global climate change. Students will work individually or collaboratively to write a report based on the scientific text they have read and participate in a large-group discussion session based on their analysis.

Students will be able to explain the sources of German nationalism -- including cultural, intellectual, religious, political, and social -- and describe the tensions between nationalism as cultural or linguistic "sameness," e.g. , "German," as well as nationalism as defined by loyalty to a national political institution, e.g. , "Germany." Students will also analyze the creation of the German Empire as constructed "from above" by Prussian leadership through political institutions, economic interest, diplomacy, and war and the consequences of this for political, religious, and nationalistic opponents of German unification. Lastly, students will examine the co-option of traditional political factions such as liberals and conservatives by German unifiers and the emergence of new political groups as various national minority parties, including the Catholic Center Party and the Social Democrats, as a result of unification.

In this fourth unit of eight total, Think Alouds (pages 27-33 of the pdf), students will apply skills to investigate and understand text.

This cross-curricular resource contains a primary source and a secondary source document on wealth and trade unions. Accompanying the readings are text-dependent questions, an academic vocabulary list, a writing prompt and sample student responses.

Students will complete close textual reading questions aligned with Common Core shifts for literacy. Scroll to "ELA 11-12 Declaration of Independence" to access download.

In this lesson, students will examine the opening paragraph of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and then craft their own introductory paragraph for their narratives.

This lesson and resource uses headline articles to help students read effectively by distilling main ideas from an informational text.

In this lesson, students will identify how Common's rap song "A Dream" and Walter Dean Myers's short story "Monkeyman" reinterpret Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of nonviolence. Students will delve into a text-based discussion on characterization and conflict, as well as compose an essay on the Six Principles of Nonviolence (rubric available).

This lesson alerts students to the fallacies that surround them every day. In this lesson, students deconstruct fallacious images and messages in advertisements and demonstrate their understanding of the fallacies through multimedia presentations.

This lesson explores the essay Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson, focusing on an analysis of individualism. It includes background information on Emerson, sectional analysis of the text, accompanying reading questions and activities, vocabulary terms, and a suggested follow-up assignment.

This literacy assessment includes an excerpt from an 1873 speech, seven text-dependent questions, one constructed response writing prompt, and explanatory information for teachers regarding alignment to the CCSS.

This lesson on the Japanese tanka encourages students to explore the structure and content of the form and to arrive at a definition of the structure in English.

This one day unit includes an analysis of the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", a sermon writing project, biographical information on Jonathan Edwards and discussion questions.

In this lesson and resource, students evaluate debate claims and examine their own reasoning.

This resource includes a handout and activities that will help students understand the advances of Norbert Rillieux, an African American inventor who harnessed thermodynamics principles to invent the multiple-effect evaporator. It asks students to read articles followed by reading comprehension questions, answer questions about thermodynamics and latent heat, and explore engineering practices.

Reading Emily Dickinson's letters alongside her poems helps students to better appreciate a remarkable voice in American literature, grasp how Dickinson perceived herself and her poetry, and perhaps most relevant to their own endeavors consider the ways in which a writer constructs a "supposed person."

This lesson allow students to explore the forces that prompted the literary modernism movement, specifically focusing on modernist poetry. By allowing students to explore the movement independently, they will also be able to develop research and inquiry skills.

In this lesson, students examine the First and Second National Banks and whether or not such a bank's powers are constitutional or unconstitutional.