As a way to support teachers with English Language Arts (ELA) instruction during the pandemic, the NCDPI ELA team created choice boards featuring standards-aligned ELA activities.The intended purpose of these choice boards is to provide a way for students to continue standards-based learning while schools are closed. Each activity can be adapted and modified to be completed with or without the use of digital tools. Many activities can also be repeated with different texts. These standards-based activities are meant to be a low-stress approach to reinforcing and enriching the skills learned during the 2019-2020 school year. The choice boards are to be used flexibly by teachers, parents, and students in order to meet the unique needs of each learner.Exploration activities are provided for a more self-directed or guided approach to independent learning for students. These activities and sites should be used as a way to explore concepts, topics, skills, and social and emotional competencies that interest the learner. 

In this lesson, students will explore Eleanor Roosevelt’s many national and international contributions by watching a short video and engaging in a class discussion. Afterward, they will read a letter written during her time as First Lady expressing her opinion on racial issues and examine a 1957 photograph of Roosevelt during her tenure at the United Nations. The lesson culminates with students designing a mural to summarize the life of this forward-thinking woman who was born into privilege yet spent decades doing public service.

Students will learn about women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton by focusing on her strengths and challenges as an activist and founder of the National Woman Suffrage Association. After watching a short video, examining a photo of Stanton with Susan B. Anthony, and reading excerpts of the Declaration of Sentiments, students will assess the lessons they have learned about organizing people to make change.

Students explore what it means to speak out for your beliefs, or to right a wrong. After watching a short video, they will reflect on Douglass’s courage and the importance of literacy in his activism. They will read excerpts from Douglass’s autobiographies and examine an 1850 etching of Douglass being pulled away from a stage prior to giving a speech. Finally, they will reflect on Douglass’s importance as both a historical figure and as a role model for their own lives.

During this component students are engaged in a variety of expository texts to fortify their understanding and deepen their knowledge of global poverty. Students will read and classify information from news articles related to poverty on a character map using the five subtopics (causes, effects, challenges, emotions and hopes). After guidance and modeling of an article about homeless children in Colorado, students will operate in learning teams to become experts on a different news article. Teams will read and collaborate to create a poster showcasing their new learning about a person or group of people living in poverty. Working in diverse teams provides students with the opportunity to take charge of their learning while promoting higher-level thinking, oral communication and leadership skills ("Collaborative Group Work" 2012). This lesson was developed by Karie Gregory as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.            

Students will learn about the remarkable career of George Washington Carver, who was born into slavery and went on to become a leading botanist. In addition to watching a short biographical video, students will examine and analyze a photograph of Carver at Tuskegee Institute and read excerpts from his Congressional testimony on behalf of the United Peanut Association of America. The lesson will culminate with students making advertisements about some of Carver’s many peanut-based innovations.

This is a scientific report with supporting links and audio files. The discussed sections are: Big Bang, the creation of the universe, creation of the solar system and the planet earth. Two audio files describe different creation stories in different traditions and the search for a second planet Earth. The two supporting files deal with the hypothetical questions of what is beyond the universe and what exactly the Big Bang was. The text is written and spoken in child friendly language for children 8 years and up.

This scientific article gives an introduction into mountain facts. It starts with the formation of mountains based on plate tectonics. It also provides information about the decreasing temperature in higher altitudes and how the height of mountains can be measured. Audio reports and links to pages with supportive knowledge make this a multi-media page. The language in the reading and audio section is child-friendly for children of 8 years and up.

This article provides a historic background to the fairytales of the fairytales collected by the Brothers Grimm. The original title "Children and Home Fairytales" was first published in 1812. It also focuses on the aspect of cruelty due to the fact they were originally not written for children but to educate common people. An audio link provides an extension of the information and a reflection on modern children stories. The text is written for native speakers age 8 and up. The audio text is spoken in natural language.

After this lesson students will be able to combine word choice and procedural writing; thus enhancing their overall writing skills.

Students will learn about Harriet Beecher Stowe’s activist writing, particularly her best-known work, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. After watching a video synopsis of her life, they will examine the cover page of sheet music for a play based on Uncle Tom’s Cabin and will read excerpts from the book that illustrate the power of her writing. To conclude the lesson, students will design a new book jacket for Uncle Tom’s Cabin that will highlight the importance of both the author and the novel.

Through viewing a video about Helen Keller’s life, examining a 1904 photograph of Keller, and reading excerpts of her autobiography, students will learn about Helen Keller’s commitment to advocating for equal treatment for people with disabilities. The lesson concludes with students choosing a quotation that best represents Keller’s challenges and successes.

In this lesson, students will learn about Thoreau’s iconoclastic ideas and about the unusual steps he took to live out his beliefs. In addition to watching a short video, they will examine the original 1854 book cover for Walden and read excerpts from Thoreau’s most famous works. To conclude the lesson, they will connect Thoreau’s unusual perspective and daring actions to their lives as young 21st-century Americans.

Paraphrasing helps students make connections with prior knowledge, demonstrate comprehension, and remember what they have read. Through careful explanation and thorough modeling by the teacher in this lesson, students learn to use paraphrasing to monitor their comprehension and acquire new information. They also realize that if they cannot paraphrase after reading, they need to go back and reread to clarify information. In pairs, students engage in guided practice so that they can learn to use the strategy independently. Students will need prompting and encouragement to use this strategy after the initial instruction is completed. The lesson can be extended to help students prepare to write reports about particular topics.

Water covers 71% of the earth?s surface?does it get the instructional time it deserves in your busy curriculum? Students wade right in to the study of bodies of water as they read and discuss science trade books and work together to develop Readers Theater scripts based on selected titles.

In this lesson, students will explore the courage that it took for Jackie Robinson to fight segregation and discrimination on and off the baseball field. After viewing a short video about his life, students will analyze a photograph that exemplifies Robinson’s dignity and then read a letter he wrote to President Dwight Eisenhower pleading for speedier action on civil rights. The lesson will conclude with students creating baseball cards that portray Robinson’s remarkable courage both on and off the baseball field.

In this lesson, students combine vocabulary exploration with word play by planning their own vocabulary parade, modeled on the activities in the text after a read-aloud of the picture book, Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster. Students brainstorm a list of vocabulary terms from a recent unit of study and then design concrete ways to illustrate the terms. The presentation of terms can be in the form of a parade, or a video, which might play during parent conferences or open house.

Students will learn about the notable achievements and difficult challenges experienced by Malcolm X. After watching a biographical video, they will analyze a photograph taken during the only face-to-face encounter Malcolm X ever had with Martin Luther King Jr., and they will read and answer questions about a letter written during his momentous pilgrimage to Mecca. To conclude the lesson, students will choose a quotation to analyze as a way to demonstrate their understanding of this charismatic leader.

In this lesson, students will learn about Mark Twain’s career as a journalist, novelist, and humorist. After viewing a video about his life, students will examine a caricature of Twain from the humor magazine Puck and will read a letter he wrote to a close friend and fellow author. The lesson concludes with students writing a Twain-style piece about a contemporary issue.

In this lesson, students will watch a video about Dr. King that emphasizes his commitment to nonviolence. They will then examine and analyze a 1956 flyer and a 1966 photograph that illustrate King’s approach to maintaining nonviolence. The lesson culminates with a comparison to other leaders who have been consistently nonviolent in spite of great personal risk.