Looking for ways to plan project based learning activities? Suzie Boss suggests borrowing ideas from your colleagues and adapt or remix to fit your context.

Suzie borrowed ideas from professional development and learning conferences for teachers who may need a boost to get their project-based learning off the ground.

Students work collaboratively to research and record information about different spinoffs of space exploration. Using the information they find, students then write a script to be produced into a podcast or vodcast.

In this lesson, students are introduced to the vocabulary of film as they go through the process of creating a short original film. This unit provides instruction on key aspects of digital video filmmaking: plotting, script, storyboarding, camera work (shots, angles), and editing (transitions, title, credits, visual effects, sound effects, etc.). Once students are familiar with the techniques and terms introduced in this lesson, they are able to use their new skills to bring other content areas to life through filmmaking.

This resource accompanies our Rethink 6th Grade ELA course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning. 

This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 6th grade English Language Arts content.

Students will research an African American person based on set questions. The students will present their person in an interview format - Guess Who.

In this lesson, students will select and record a poem, article, or short story that incorporates images and sounds within the text to elicit emotions in the listener. They will write an explanation of how sounds and images are used to elicit the emotional response.

Who owns what you compose? Who controls what happens with the words, images, music, sounds, videos that you create? What rights do you have to use other people’s compositions? This unit plan focuses on helping students find answers to these questions. Students explore a range of resources on fair use and copyright then design their own audio public service announcements (PSAs), to be broadcast over the school’s public address system. Students begin by completing a survey about fair use. Students discuss their responses to the survey and then research facts about fair use and copyright. Next, students become familiar with PSAs before writing and producing their own announcements, which are shared with other students. Work can also be published as podcasts on the Internet.

This article describes scientists Ken and Molly Glander’s research on the eating habits of howler monkeys in Costa Rica. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

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 present their research-based claim during class using visual aid to answer the overarching research question: “Do the benefits of DDT outweigh its harmful consequences?”

Students will be able to recognize characteristics of a personal narrative Students will recognize the traits of good writing and will write, revise, and publish a personal narrative.

In this lesson the students will be using a variety of skills to analyze fiction and expository texts. This combines the reading of detective fiction with written expository analysis in the form of a Detective’s Handbook. Each student reads a detective mystery, and the class watches and analyzes Murder She Purred to establish a collective example.

Two female cousins spend their life doing everything together. One night they realize they are both in love with the Moon and wish to marry him. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students will illustrate a scene from Flush that shows evidence of Carl Hiaasen’s perspective of Florida. The word “illustrate” means students can choose to either sketch and label or write about the scene and how it shows evidence of Carl Hiaasen’s perspective, depending on their preferred way of expressing their ideas.

This lesson is the End of Unit 2 Assessment. Assess student responses on the end of unit assessment using the Grade 6 2-Point Rubric—Short Response, and the Illustrating Perspective Rubric.

In this lesson, students work in groups using presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint to create a slide presentation highlighting the elements of literature contained in Holocaust novels.

This lesson examines the characteristics of Greek heroes and leads students to recognize references to Greek mythological heroes found in literature and culture today. Students will present analyses of heroes by defending their favorites in a slideshow presentation nominatting them for selection to a Heroes' Hall of Fame.

Jackie Robinson: Justice at Last is the story of two brave men who changed the course of history in sports. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments; writing samples included.

In Jackie Joyner-Kersee's autobiography, she writes of the challenges she faced early on while becoming a track and field athlete. In this CCSS lesson students will explore Jackie Joyner-Kersee's life through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.