When Albums Rule the World

The Lost Art of Letter Writing

The Act of Giving Thanks

The Art of Letter Writing

Telling Stories: George Lucas and Steven Spielberg Talk about how Norman Rockwell Influenced their Work

Toulmin Method of Argumentation

RESOURCE TO ENHANCE NON-FICTION WRITING

Link to activity

Finding Meaning in Simple Objects

One of the ways that I try to make my students' writing more interesting is by having them focus on normal objects, the things that surround us and that many times we do not pay attention to. It can be more challenging for them, but the end result is more satisfying. 

Objective: To improve students' writing by having them focus on normal objects in order to enhance their descriptive writing.

We begin the activity by reading a  New York Times article that deals with a writer who, in her travels, has accumulated many souvenirs that are significant to her.

Article

After we read the article, I divide the class into groups and ask them to annotate all the interesting sentences that they see


I followed this up with Pablo Neruda's  "Ode to my Socks"

Poem


We follow the same procedure that we did with the article

Assessment 

At this point, my students have a  pretty good idea of how good writers incorporate interesting details in their writing. I tell them that their job is to write a poem which deals with the normal experiences of their lives or the objects that they come in contact with on a daily basis. 


Before they write their poem, I model one for them.

Poem 

Video Resources for a Lesson in Resilience

Create your own lesson plan

I always wanted to do this so here it goes. View this "60 Minutes Program" video. After you have watched it, what kind of lesson plan would you create about it? Let's not worry about the specific standards that would apply to it. Let's just have fun!

History or not History?

The New York Times published an article describing  how authors of historical best sellers such as Laura Hillenbrand, John Meachem and many others are rewriting their original works when they write the same version for children in order to leave out things that may be uncomfortable for them to read. History cannot be sanitized. It either happened or it was invented. If  a writer decides to tackle an uncomfortable topic such as the Holocaust, it needs to be described in all its violence and horror. Leaving things out to make it more palatable for children is a disservice and it is not honest. Let the kids read the real thing, so they can evaluate for themselves the information.

Article

Should Teachers Use Social Media in the Classroom?

It all depends where you work. Some districts are more liberal than others. Districts that use social media  swear by it, while others feel that it can be an invasion of privacy for students and teachers. Read what these two articles report about it. What do you think?

Should Social Media be Allowed in Classrooms?

Abuse of Social Media

Teachers Grade the Common Core

Teachers feel more prepared to teach the Common Core State Standards and are already starting to see students improve their critical thinking skills. But the enthusiasm has dipped since last year, and only half say the new standards will be positive for most students.



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Two Excellent Non-fiction Resources Pertaining to Race in America

Article one

Earlier this week a white Ohio woman sued the Midwest Sperm Bank, a Chicago-area company she’d used in trying to conceive. The alleged error? Providing her with the wrong “product”—the sperm of a black man.  The plaintiff, Jennifer Cramblett, didn’t learn of the error until well along in her pregnancy—a pregnancy that resulted in a healthy, biracial daughter, Payton, who is now 2 years old.

Read Article  


Article two

Going to jail for a robbery you did not commit.



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Teaching " The Crucible" Using New York Times Resources

The following via the New York Times, I think, will be a teacher's definitive collection of resources for " The Crucible" Enjoy!

Resources

Two Famous Commencement Speeches as Resources for Studying Rhetorical Devices

 



For this lesson, I use two famous commencement speeches, one by Steve Jobs and the other by Ana Quindlen. Both are definitely interesting in their own way. The one by Jobs is already well-known and has been quoted many times.  He gave  it in 2005 at Stanford University. The other, by Quindlen precedes Steve Job's speech and was not delivered, a speech that was  to be presented at Villanova University in 2000. Her speech is also very popular. Prior to the reading of both speeches, I have the class watch a fun video that explains rhetorical devices.





The next video I show the class is one by Nancy Duarte, who is well-known for creating interesting presentations. In this video, she gives an analysis of Martin Luther King's " I Have a Dream" speech. She explains the rhetorical devices that King used in his speech.

Duarte's Analysis

Next, I have the class read the Job's and Quindlen's speeches, following it up with a handout.

Job's Speech


Quindlen's Speech


Questions


Finally, I have the students select a speech from here and ask them to write an essay identifying the rhetorical devices that the speaker used in his or her speech. The students can also incorporate the questions that they answered for the Job's and Quindlen's speeches for this essay assignment.

Using Edward Hopper's Nighthawks and Archibald Motley's Nightlife as resources for narrative writing

NIGHTHAWKS

NIGHTLIFE

For this lesson, I will use Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" and Archibald John Motley's "Nightlife" as resources for narrative writing.  The lesson comes via the Chicago Institute of Art.

First, I give the students a brief background of both paintings

Nighthawks Background

Nightlife Background


Write a short story following the directions by clicking the link
Chicago Art Institute Handout

What is courage? ( A Lesson Plan Connected to the Play "The Crucible"

 



Description of Lesson Plan 

This lesson plan will discuss the idea of courage.  In the first part, I use a Prezi presentation created by Jamie Ritone in order to put in perspective the concept of courage. Next, students practice this concept with a handout by George Hillocks, author of "Teaching Argument Writing". Then, I include a New York Post article as an extended activity to make sure that students have understood the concept. Finally, I connect this idea to a writing assignment for the play "The Crucible".


Reason for This Lesson Plan

Students do not think critically about the idea of courage or the concept of being a hero. Distinctions are needed because every situation is not courageous or heroic. A police officer or fireman are not always courageous. Their courage must be put in context. 

Step 1
Show the presentation to the students and have them discuss the idea of courage, asking them to develop a criteria for it.
Presentation

Step 2
In groups, students discuss the Hillocks handout, using the criteria they developed in step 1, and decide if the scenarios presented in the handout are courageous.
Hillocks's Handout

Step 3
Students read a New York Post article and evaluate if the character in it, based on the criteria they have developed, is courageous.
Article

Step 4
Using their criteria for courage, students will write an essay in order to assess if John Proctor's actions in the play are courageous or heroic.

Two Different Perspectives On Tenure ( Where do you stand on this issue?)

The following articles report two different perspectives on tenure. The first one is a New York Times article that discusses the well-publicized court case that eliminated tenure in the state of California. The judge presiding over the case said, “Substantial evidence presented makes it clear to this court that the 
challenged statutes disproportionately affect poor and/or 
minority students”.



Article










The second article makes the claim that tenure is not the issue. It 
points out that "modifying teacher tenure rules is not the 
new Brown. The decision in Vergara v. California  won’t do much 
to help poor kids and is a diversion from the real source of 
inequality identified in Brown itself: the segregation of our public 
schools."

Article

Finding Stories in Pictures

View on Flowboard - Presentation Software for iPad and Mac

Using the Issue of Drug Comsuption for an Engaging Argumentative Essay

The idea behind this argumentative essay is to have students evaluate videos that deal with the issue of drug consumption.  All of the videos presented here are very informative, but the one by Rodrigo Canales on how the Mexican Cartel does business is fascinating. Your students do not have to do any extended research for this argumentative essay. All of the resources you need are here. Good Luck !

Lesson Plan

Tutorial for the Toulmin Method of Argumentation via the Writing Center

A Resource for the Bill of Rights from The New York Times Learning Network

The Bill of Rights protects some of our most basic freedoms, such as the right to practice a religion, to assemble peaceably and to speak freely. Sometimes, however, our society seems to prioritize other freedoms not enshrined in the Constitution, such as the right to buy what we want, eat what we want and even binge-watch what we want.  

Read for the lesson plan

A Resource for " The Great Gatsby"

“Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is 

alive and not after he is dead.” 


― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby


We know that the quote above is from the wonderful novel " The Great Gatsby". Here is a resource from The New York Times Learning Network.

Resources

A resource for Informational Text

ISIS has been all over the news. Most people know that it is a terrorist organization, but very little context is given as to who they are and what conditions have led to their creation in the Middle East. The following New York Times articles give an interesting explanation of who they are and how it might affect the United States foreign policy in that area of the world.


Ancestors of ISIS


ISIS Harsh Brand of Islam


Objective: 

• To understand the roots of ISIS and the Middle East conflict
• Students will annotate and give their opinion of both articles
• To find connections between both articles.

Compare and Contrast Two Famous Speeches by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King

Malcolm X
"The Ballot or the Bullet"






Martin Luther King

" I Have a Dream"

Using the Novel "Monster" and the Ideas of George Hillocks to Write an Argumentative Essay

Part 1

The typical argumentative essay consists of assigning a controversial topic and having the students research both points of view, followed by a written thesis statement, culminating in the writing of the essay based on the thesis statement that the students developed. When students write argumentative essays in this manner, they are not really doing any research, since they only need to choose the point of view that best supports their idea, a point of view that is not even based on any data that was collected by them. According to George Hillocks, Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago and author of the book "Teaching Argumentative Writing", "Good argument begins with looking at the data that is likely to become the evidence in an argument and which gives rise to a  thesis statement or major claim. That is, the thesis statement arises from questions, which in turn rises from the examination of information or data of some sort."  Furthermore, he makes clear that"the process of working through an argument is the process of inquiry. At its very beginning is the examination of data, not the invention of a thesis statement in a vacuum."
      One type of argumentative essay that can yield good results and that can be developed along the lines of what Hillocks recommends is an argument of fact.  Arguments of fact, especially of the forensic variety  already contain data, which can engage students to come up with a thesis statement based on the evaluation of the evidence that they collected. Click on the link to get a better idea.


Click on the link for lesson

Part 2

After students have practiced with the activity explained in part 1, You can follow up this same idea reading the novel "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers.

This is a novel about a young high school student who is involved in the murder of a store owner. He goes to trial and
both sides, the defense and prosecution present their points of view. As students read the novel, they collect and evaluate the evidence presented by both sides.

Step 1
Read the novel

Step 3 
Develop a criteria for the main character's innocence or guilt

Step 2 
Collect evidence using graphic organizer based on the critieria

Step 3
Divide class into two sides defense and prosecution. 

Step 4 
During group work discuss the evidence using the graphic organizers

Step 5
Based on the criteria developed, write an argumentative essay supporting the main character's innocence or guilt. 

Making a Presentation Interesting

View on Flowboard - Presentation Software for iPad and Mac

The Importance of the Circle of Safety

Simon Sinek in his book "Leaders Eat Last" uses the concept of the circle of safety to make the point as to why some companies are more effective than others.  

He writes that since Caveman times humans have worked in a circle of safety to fend off danger. Sinek provides examples in his book that show why some leaders will go out of their way to care for their employees, not hesitating to give them support. In organizations where no circle of safety exists, individuals have to constantly work selfishly to protect themselves from dangers. In this type of organization, there is no cooperation and leaders do not look out for the best interests of their employees. As a teacher, right now, depending where you work, we are swimming against the current because there is no circle of safety. Throughout the country we are facing dangers like the Common Core, the abolition of tenure, the accountability of standardized testing, the divide of technology in schools, and the list goes on and on. We need leaders that can create circles of safety for us, the teachers,  who decided to make a difference and who give our service to the nation in such trying times.

Sinek Video

Read Interview
Sinek

Compare and Contrast William Stafford's " Travelling Through the Dark" and David Bottoms's "Shooting Rats"

William Stafford

David Bottoms

Both of these poems are great. Besides the compare and contrast writing assignment, students could write a narrative poem where they discuss a time when they had to make an important choice like the characters in these poems.


William Stafford's Poem

"Travelling Through the Dark"



David Bottoms's Poem
"Shooitng Rats"

Compare and Contrast Walt Whitman and Richard Blanco

These two poems could be used in a cultural unit lesson plan or in a lesson plan for " The American Dream."  

Objective:
Compare and contrast, Walt Whitman's " I Hear America Singing" and Richard Blanco's " One Today". 

Whitman's Poem
"I Hear America Singing"  









Blanco's Poem

" One Today"

Interesting Article on Research Supported by Federal Government

The problem is that the research conducted using federal funds is driven — and distorted — by the academic publishing model. The intense competition for space in top journals creates strong pressures for novel, statistically significant effects. As a result, studies that do not turn out as planned or find no evidence of effects claimed in previous research often go unpublished, even though their findings can be important and informative.

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Resources for the novel " The Giver"

The New York Times Learning Network published an article with a variety of resources for this wonderful novel. 
Enjoy!

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More Schools Encourage Students to Bring Tech Devices

The idea of allowing students to use their own technology in schools to enhance academic instruction is a significant departure from the cellphone bans of old. But it has increased in a number of school systems, including those in Fairfax and Prince William counties, as educators look for ways to embrace the digital world.

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Making Inferences

View on Flowboard - Presentation Software for iPad and Mac

Compare and Contrast Anthem Novel to Apple's 1984 Video

Writing Activity


For this essay assignment students will compare and contrast the novel "Anthem" to the 1984 Apple Commercial. 

Building a Better Teacher

Kindergarten Looks Very Different Today

While days spent cutting out shapes and playing dress up 
may still be a part of Kindergarten in America, many five and six year olds are required to put away toys in favor of learning more sooner. Much of what Kindergarteners learn today was once saved for first grade. 

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