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 participate in a Socratic seminar discussing a person's right to refuse to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Students will begin to take what they have learned about human rights, the UN and apply it to an issue that is important to them. Students will work together to write a simple UN resolution to address that issue and present it to the class through a model UN activity. The lesson meets NCDPI global education goals such as investigating the world, recognizing perspectives, communicating ideas and taking action. Note: This lesson was created in accordance with the 7th Grade Social Studies Essential Standards and the VIF/Participate Global Competence Indicators for Grade 7. For more information about VIF/Participate and these indicators, please visit https://www.participate.com/. This lesson was developed by Lindsey Gallagher 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 continue their research using nonfiction text, videos, and infographics to identifying the contributing factors to the global food crisis. Students will document their findings and effectively communicate to share their information with others. This lesson was developed by Emily Waddington 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.

In this lesson, students observe the characteristics of effective small-group discussions through video examples of a "fishbowl" technique. In subsequent discussions, they are encouraged to interact with one another in a productive and respectful manner, with a focus on the value of exchanging meaningful compliments. Through targeted self-reflection, students set goals for improving their participation in productive discussions and take responsibility for monitoring their progress. Although this lesson is recommended for middle school students, it could also be used effectively with both younger and older students.

In this lesson students present their two-voice poems to culminate their performance task for the module.

This lesson provides an opportunity for each student to share his or her learning aloud with the class, as well as to learn from classmates’ research before committing to a position. The students are put into like-minded groups intentionally to encourage them to work together to deepen their arguments.

The entry task for this lesson is a recap of the communication skills assessed in the end of unit assessment. Encourage students to think critically about which skills they should highlight and demonstrate from the Fishbowl and which they should practice further before presenting the visual display they create in this lesson.

In this lesson, students engage in the End of Unit 2 Assessment, Part 2. They previewed this during Lesson 18. Because students are being assessed on their speaking skills, a checklist rather than a rubric is used. The purpose of a checklist is to facilitate teacher recording of skills during the presentation itself.

This lesson plan transforms students from radio listeners to radio writers. The students will create and produce their own radio shows to perform for the class.

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.

In this lesson, students select and research a real-life hero. They then prepare short lectures for their classmates based upon the research they gain from a variety of primary and secondary sources.

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.

In this lesson, students will think critically about which skills they should highlight and demonstrate from the Fishbowl, and identify which they should practice further before presenting the visual display they will create in this lesson.

In 1899 and 1900, Secretary of State John Hay issued what became known as the Open Door Notes to foreign powers involved in China. Secretary Hay called on those powers to respect the rights of each other, to agree to an open market and equal trading opportunities for merchants of all nationalities, and to respect the territorial and administrative integrity of China.

In this lesson students will decorate the outside of a small box, using words and pictures to depict how they see themselves and decorate the inside to show how others see them. Students then present an oral presentation explaining the box's decorations.

Students will have an opportunity to develop such "live interviews" with ancient athletes; working in small groups, they will produce a script based on the results of their research and they will perform the interview for other students in the class.

In this lesson, students examine effective speeches to determine good speaking habits and then use that information to aid in improving their own presentations.