9th Grade Language Arts

 

SB-You may need to download the smart board program to use some of the following links.  This may be done by clicking on the following download version 9.7 .  Once you have done this you will be able to view and use the smart board activity.    Every Smart Board activity has the letters SB  for Smart Board next to it. SB
 

Phonemic Awareness, Word Recognition and Fluency
 Acquisition of Vocabulary

(Based on State of Ohio
Curriculum Standards)
1. Define unknown words through context clues and the author’s use of comparison, contrast and cause and effect.
 
  1. Context Clues from TV411 -This interactive web site uses a slide show, quizzes, and graphic organizers to help students use context to figure out new words, practice using context clues, and define words in sentences.
  2. Word Meaning Games and Activities  
    A Pick -A-Word
    B Word Carnival Level 1
    C Word Carnival Level 2
    D Word Carnival Level 3
    E Word Carnival Level 4
    F Word Carnival Level 5
    G Word Carnival Level 6
    H Word Carnival Level 7
    I Word Carnival Level 8
    J Fake Out
    K Topic Specific Jumbles
    L Vocabulary Crosswords
    M Topic Specific Hangman
    N Topic Specific Vocabulary Quizzes

    O

    		 Multiple Meaning Words
    P Multiple Meaning Jeopardy
    Q Word Relationships

    R

    		 Topic Specific Match Games (with sound)

     
2. Analyze the relationships of pairs of words in analogical statements (e.g., synonyms and antonyms, connotation and denotation) and infer word meanings from these relationships.
  1. Quiz Created by:  Amanda Winfield
  2. Synonyms, Antonyms, and Homonyms at BrainPOP
    Here you can watch a cute but informative animated video about synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms. In addition you can take a quiz, do some activities, and more. Be sure to click "Full Screen Movie" to see the large version.
  3. Ancient Egyptian Burials-Students identify the correct definitions and spellings for words associated with ancient Egypt and review an interactive website that teaches how to pronounce ancient Egyptian words. SB
  4. Ancient Egyptian Vocabulary -Students identify the correct definitions and spellings for words associated with ancient Egypt and review an interactive website that teaches how to pronounce ancient Egyptian words. SB

     
3. Infer the literal and figurative meaning of words and phrases and discuss the function of figurative language, including metaphors, similes, idioms and puns.
  1. Similes and Metaphors from BrainPOP
    Here you can watch a cute but informative animated video about similes and metaphors. In addition you can take a quiz, do some activities, and more. Be sure to click "Full Screen Movie" to see the large version.
  2. Proverbs: Contemporary Proverbs -This lesson challenges students to update traditional proverbs as a way to learn about figurative language and idiomatic phrases. Teachers may also adapt this lesson to include instruction on other aspects of figurative language.
4. Examine and discuss ways historical events have influenced the English language. State of Writing
( Writing Resources)
5. Use knowledge of Greek, Latin and Anglo-Saxon roots, prefixes and suffixes to understand complex words and new subject-area vocabulary (e.g., unknown words in science, mathematics and social studies).
  1. Word Roots from EdHelper
    This web site has over 20 printable worksheets and puzzles that cover word roots, prefixes, and suffixes, including Greek and Latin examples.

  2. The following ON LINE quizzes are a result of the following two people:  Created by:  Miss Stephanie Weston   Inspiration by Miss Harman English Teacher Willoughby-Eastlake Schools 

    1. Prefixes
    2. Suffixes

    3. Latin root words A-G

    4. Latin Root words H-O

    5. Latin Root words P-Z

    6. Number Prefixes

     
6. Determine the meanings and pronunciations of unknown words by using dictionaries, thesauruses, glossaries, technology and textual features, such as definitional footnotes or sidebars.
  1. ABC Bookmaking Builds Vocabulary in the Content Areas -This lesson engages and motivates students in building content area vocabulary through the creation of ABC books. Students select vocabulary words and terms related to a current unit of study in mathematics, science, social studies or other subjects.

Reading Process: Concepts of Print, Comprehension Strategies and Self-Monitoring Strategies
1. Apply reading comprehension strategies, including making predictions, comparing and contrasting, recalling and summarizing and making inferences and drawing conclusions.
  1. Summarizing from TV411
    This interactive web site uses a slide show, quizzes, and graphic organizers to review the basics of summarizing, identify main idea statements and detail statements, and use categories to summarize lists.
  2. To Kill a Mockingbird: A Historical Perspective-Students gain a sense of the living history that surrounds the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
  3. Propaganda Techniques in Literature and Online Political Ads -After reading or viewing a text, students are introduced to propaganda techniques and then practice identifying examples in the text.
  4. Name That Chapter! Discussing Summary and Interpretation Using Chapter Titles -In this lesson, students name chapters in novels that they are reading, creating a cumulative list for the novel as they work through the text. Sample titles are discussed and debated before the class settles on a choice.
2. Analyze the relationships of pairs of words in analogical statements (e.g., synonyms and antonyms, connotation and denotation) and infer word meanings from these relationships.
  1. Synonyms, Antonyms, and Homonyms at BrainPOP
    Here you can watch a cute but informative animated video about synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms. In addition you can take a quiz, do some activities, and more. Be sure to click "Full Screen Movie" to see the large version.
3. Infer the literal and figurative meaning of words and phrases and discuss the function of figurative language, including metaphors, similes, idioms and puns.
  1. Similes and Metaphors from BrainPOP
    Here you can watch a cute but informative animated video about similes and metaphors. In addition you can take a quiz, do some activities, and more. Be sure to click "Full Screen Movie" to see the large version.
4. Use criteria to choose independent reading materials (e.g., personal interest, knowledge of authors and genres or recommendations from others). State of Writing
( Writing Resources)
5. Independently read books for various purposes (e.g., for enjoyment, for literary experience, to gain information or to perform a task).
  1. Authentic Persuasive Writing to Promote Summer Reading -Devote time during your last weeks of school to promote summer reading by inviting students to create brochures and flyers that suggest books and genres for others to explore during the summer months.

Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text
1. Identify and understand organizational patterns (e.g., cause-effect, problem-solution) and techniques, including repetition of ideas, syntax and word choice, that authors use to accomplish their purpose and reach their intended audience.
  1. Exploring the Power of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Words through Diamante Poetry -This lesson encourages students to explore the ways in which powerful and passionate words communicate the concepts of freedom, justice, discrimination, and the American Dream in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
2. Critique the treatment, scope and organization of ideas from multiple sources on the same topic.
  1. Twain's Hannibal -Writers are influenced by their environments including their family, community, lifestyle, or location. In this project, students become familiar with and analyze Mark Twain's life in Hannibal, Missouri, during the latter half of the nineteenth century.
3. Analyze information found in maps, charts, tables, graphs, diagrams, cutaways and overlays.  
4. Assess the adequacy, accuracy and appropriateness of an author’s details, identifying persuasive techniques (e.g., bandwagon, testimonial, transfer, glittering generalities, emotional word repetition, bait and switch) and examples of propaganda, bias and stereotyping.
  1. Listen Up! Speak Up!- In this lesson, students learn oral presentation techniques for informal and formal speech. Students analyze a variety of speeches and identify the the techniques authors use to convey their ideas.
5. Analyze an author’s implicit and explicit argument, perspective or viewpoint in text.
  1. Figuring Somepin 'Bout the Great Depression -After examining primary sources, including songs, newspapers, interviews, and photographs of migrant farm workers in California during the Great Depression, students create a scrapbook from the point of view of a migrant worker, providing evidence of the colloquial speech used by the migrants and the issues affecting their lives.
6. Analyze the author’s development of key points to support argument or point of view.
  1. Censorship in the Classroom: Understanding Controversial Issues -This lesson helps students to understand the ways in which bias and stereotyping are used by the media to influence popular opinion. Students examine propaganda and media bias and explore a variety of banned and challenged books, researching the reasons these books have been censored.
7. Compare and contrast the effectiveness of the features (e.g., format, sequence, headers) used in various consumer documents (e.g., warranties, product information, instructional materials), functional or workplace documents (e.g., job-related materials, memoranda, instructions) and public documents (e.g., speeches or newspaper editorials).
  1. Community of Interests: Evaluating Various Aspects of Community Through Local and National News -In this lesson, students learn about the different sections of a newspaper and how each relates to different aspect of a community. Working in small groups, students examine the difference between local and national newspaper coverage through visual and written evaluations.
8. Identify the features of rhetorical devices used in common types of public documents, including newspaper editorials and speeches.
  1. Movie transcripts   You will find the transcripts from many if not all movies made on this website.  You will notice how they identify and explain various types of characters.  4 Star
 

Reading Applications: Literary Text
1. Identify and explain an author’s use of direct and indirect characterization, and ways in which characters reveal traits about themselves, including dialect, dramatic monologues and soliloquies.
  1. Do You Speak American?
    This is the companion website for a film that takes us cross-country to examine the dynamic state of American English & ask: Why do Maine lobstermen & Texas cowboys speak English so differently? How many varieties of American English are there? Is TV making us all sound the same? Topics include 100 common mispronunciations, how language is changing, local color in American literature, & regional writers.
  2. Critical Reading: Two Stories, Two Authors, Same Plot?-Many students often lack critical thinking skills to be able to analyze what they read. This lesson encourages students to read and respond critically to two different pieces of literature with the same title.
2. Analyze the influence of setting in relation to other literary elements.
  1. Quest for the American Dream in A Raisin in the Sun -People of all backgrounds live in America and come to America dreaming of social, educational, economical opportunities as well as political and religious freedoms. In this extended lesson, students read and analyze the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Discussions and assignments center around literary elements and figurative language.
3. Identify ways in which authors use conflicts, parallel plots and subplots in literary texts.
  1. Ghosts and Fear in Language Arts: Exploring the Ways Writers Scare Readers -What is scary, and why does it fascinate us? How do writers and storytellers scare us? This lesson plan invites students to answer these questions by exploring their own fears and analyzing scary short stories and books. Students complete a timeline, chronicling their childhood fears. Using information gathered on the timeline, students choose one event as the topic for a personal narrative.
4. Evaluate the point of view used in a literary text.
  1. Heroes Are Made of This: Studying the Character of Heroes -Designed to explore the hero and the heroic in literature, this lesson provides a sequence of activities, which range from a class discussion defining heroism to using character maps and Venn diagrams to compare multiple characters from one or more works of literature.
5. Interpret universal themes across different works by the same author and different authors.
  1. Paying Attention to Technology: Exploring a Fictional Technology-This lesson asks students to complete a short survey to establish their beliefs about technology then to compare their opinions to the ideas in a novel that depicts technology.
6. Analyze how an author’s choice of genre affects the expression of a theme or topic.
  1. Making Connections to Myth and Folktale: The Many Ways to Rainy Mountain -In The Way to Rainy Mountain, N. Scott Momaday links the survival of his people to their ability to remember, preserve, and pass on stories. Taking the idea one step further, Momaday models necessary personal involvement in the stories.
  2. Discovering a Passion for Poetry with Langston Hughes -After analyzing examples of contemporary youth poetry as well as the poetry of Langston Hughes, students use the Internet to conduct research on how events in the world shaped Hughes' work.
7. Explain how foreshadowing and flashback are used to shape plot in a literary text
  1. Letters from Emily Dickinson: 'Will you be my preceptor?' -In this curriculum unit, students explore Emily Dickinson's poetry as well as her personal correspondence to her editor and sister-in-law. Working individually and in groups, students reflect on Dickinson's views and the process by which she writes.
8. Define and identify types of irony, including verbal, situational and dramatic, used in literary texts.
  1. Examining Transcendentalism through Popular Culture -Using excerpts from the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, comics, and songs from different musical genres, students examine the characteristics of transcendentalism.
9. Analyze ways in which the author conveys mood and tone through word choice, figurative language and syntax.
  1. Movie transcripts   You will find the transcripts from many if not all movies made on this website.  You will notice how they identify and explain various types of characters.  4 Star
  2. Language Arts: Shakespeare's Sonnets-In this lesson, read Shakespearean sonnets and discuss the rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter. Once familiar with the structure and language of sonnets, students choose a sonnet to rewrite in modern language. Extension ideas and links to additional resources are available at the website.
10. Explain how authors use symbols to create broader meanings.
  1. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "Yellow Wallpaper": Writing Women in Turn-of-the-Century (1890s-1910s) America -This lesson uses "The Yellow Wallpaper" to explore such literary concepts as setting, narrative style, symbolism, and characterization. Students complete a close reading of the text in order to gain an understanding of the rapidly changing roles of American women during the nineteenth and early twentieth century and how the story reflects the social, historical, and economic realities of that time.
11. Identify sound devices, including alliteration, assonance, consonance and onomatopoeia, used in literary texts.
  1. Sound devices    You will find an outstanding smart board assignment covering this state standard indicatory.  This lesson was designed by  Catie Richie   SB

Writing Processes
1. Generate writing ideas through discussions with others and from printed material, and keep a list of writing ideas.
  1. Exploring Literature through Letter Writing Groups -In this lesson, students discuss literature through a series of letter exchanges. Though not a new idea, this lesson provides an alternative to traditional literature discussion groups. The author also encourages the use of electronic media.
2. Determine the usefulness of and apply appropriate pre-writing tasks (e.g., background reading, interviews or surveys).
  1. Communicating    You have the opportunity to create a Poster, Newspaper and or a Cartoon.  This website is very good and will allow students to learn how to transform their ideas to a hard copy that they may printout.   This is great for an LCD projector or a computer lab.  4 Star 
  2. Communicating through Garfield  Your students may create a cartoon and depending on your experience with technology they may create a complete story.  You will only be limited by your technology background and your imagination.  4 Star 
  3. What's the Problem?-The aim of this lesson is to help students develop their persuasive writing and information gathering skills using various forms of information and communication technology. Using the context of issues common to teenagers, this lesson provides an authentic and personally relevant purpose.
3. Establish and develop a clear thesis statement for informational writing or a clear plan or outline for narrative writing.
  1. The Most Common Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation Mistakes

This link will provide for you many ideas concepts and assist you in writing a paper.
 4. Determine a purpose and audience and plan strategies (e.g., adapting focus, content structure and point of view) to address purpose and audience.
  1. Purpose and Audience
     This online study guide from Encyclopedia Britannica is on purpose and audience. It covers an explanation for determining why we write and to whom, in a variety of settings and styles.
  2. Hot Off the Press -Practice using descriptive words and write an article on the discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb.  SB
  3. Audience, Purpose, and Language Use in Electronic Messages -With the increasing popularity of e-mail and online instant messaging among teens, a recognizable change has occurred in the language that students use in their writing.
5. Use organizational strategies (e.g., notes and outlines) to plan writing. State of Writing
( Writing Resources)
 
6. Organize writing to create a coherent whole with an effective and engaging introduction, body and conclusion, and a closing sentence that summarizes, extends or elaborates on points or ideas in the writing.  
7. Use a variety of sentence structures and lengths (e.g., simple, compound and complex sentences; parallel or repetitive sentence structure).
  1. Guide to Grammar   You will find that this is an outstanding site to assist you and your students in learning proper grammar  4 Star
8. Use paragraph form in writing, including topic sentences that arrange paragraphs in a logical sequence, using effective transitions and closing sentences and maintaining coherence across the whole through the use of parallel structures.
  1. Techniques for Writing: Writing Topic Sentences for Paragraphs -This web site has extensive information on writing a topic sentence as well as interactive exercises the students can take online to check their understanding.
  2. Paragraph Organization -This online study guide from Encyclopedia Britannica is on paragraph organization. It includes a discussion of the creation of logical and cohesive paragraphs, including topic sentences, paragraph unity, coherence, and transitions.
9. Use precise language, action verbs, sensory details, colorful modifiers and style as appropriate to audience and purpose and use techniques to convey a personal style and voice.
  1. Techniques for Writing: Using Specific Language
    This web site has extensive information on precise language as well as interactive exercises the students can take online to check their understanding.
  2. Build it Up, Trim it Down -This lesson uses a sports writing context for students to practice key reading and writing process skills. Presented with data and highlights about a sporting event, students synthesize the information and write original sports summaries.
  3. Choosing the Best Verb: An Active and Passive Voice Mini-lesson -This mini-lesson explores verb choice in a variety of online resources, then encourages students to draw conclusions about verb use which they can apply to their own writing.
  4. The Most Common Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation Mistakes

    This link will provide for you many ideas concepts and assist you in writing a paper.

     
10. Use available technology to compose text.
  1. Weaving the Multigenre Web-This lesson combines reading and writing as students work through collaborative, small-group learning experiences. In small groups, students read novels as part of a whole class study, in literature circles, with a partner or individually.
11. Reread and analyze clarity of writing, consistency of point of view and effectiveness of organizational structure.
  1. The Shortest Distance Between Two Points -This lesson integrates technical writing, specifically producing memos, with revising and editing strategies. Students assume the role of mechanical drafters and develop a revised set of instructions for a drafting communiqué.
  2. Movie transcripts   You will find the transcripts from many if not all movies made on this website.  You will notice how they identify and explain various types of characters.  4 Star
12. Add and delete information and details to better elaborate on stated central idea and more effectively accomplish purpose.
  1. Techniques for Writing: Giving Examples and Explanations -This web site has extensive information on elaborating on an idea as well as interactive exercises the students can take online to check their understanding.
13. Rearrange words, sentences and paragraphs, and add transitional words and phrases to clarify meaning and maintain consistent style, tone and voice.
  1. Guide to Grammar   You will find that this is an outstanding site to assist you and your students in learning proper grammar  4 Star
  2. Poem writing   Create your own "I Am" poem by filling in each blank. Be sure to select all the words (and parentheses) that are already in each blank before entering your own words.  4 Star
14. Use resources and reference materials (e.g., dictionaries and thesauruses) to select effective and precise vocabulary that maintains consistent style, tone and voice.
  1. Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary and Thesaurus
    Excellent dictionary and thesaurus. Easy to use with lots of good information on each word. This site will even pronounce the word for you.
15. Proofread writing, edit to improve conventions (e.g., grammar, spelling, punctuation and capitalization), identify and correct fragments and run-ons and eliminate inappropriate slang or informal language.
  1. Activities for ESL/EFL Students
    Don't be fooled by the name of this site. It is an excellent resource for all students of the english language. There are over 1,000 quizzes, exercises and puzzles on every topic of grammar, punctuation, writing, and more. Begin by looking through the Easy, Medium, and Difficult Grammar Quizzes.
  2. Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling
    In this section of the OWL site, they offer you handouts and exercises on grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
  3. Grade 9 Interactive Online Writing Assessment from 2005 TAKS
     This is an interactive online writing test that gives the student several passages to read, and then has several multiple choice questions after each passage related to grammar, spelling, punctuation and capitalization. When done, the student can click the "Score Test" button and get a detailed report on how they did. This is from the 2005 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.
16. Apply tools (e.g., rubric, checklist and feedback) to judge the quality of writing.
  1. Peer Editing Strategies -This site has several articles on peer editing such as "Do's and Don'ts" and a peer editing guide.
  2. Techniques for Writing: Giving and Receiving Peer Responses -This page has good guidelines for giving and receiving peer feedback on writing.
17. Prepare for publication (e.g., for display or for sharing with others) writing that follows a manuscript form appropriate for the purpose, which could include such techniques as electronic resources, principles of design (e.g., margins, tabs, spacing and columns) and graphics (e.g., drawings, charts and graphs) to enhance the final product.
  1. Book Reviews, Annotation, and Web Technology -In this integrated lesson, students' work is balanced between small group cooperative projects and independent reading. Applying individual reading and writing skills, students read and annotate a novel. They write a group book review, based on journal notes contributed by each group member.
  2. Create your own Cartoons   This site will allow the student to design and create their own cartoons and printout a story.  You will discover that there is much detail to this page.  Students may use their imagination and be totally engaged when learning. 4 Star

Writing Applications
1. Write narratives that:
a. sustain reader interest by pacing action and developing an engaging plot (e.g., tension and suspense);
b. use a range of strategies and literary devices including figurative language and specific narration; and,
c. include an organized, well developed structure.
  1. The Year I Was Born: An Autobiographical Research Project -In this autobiography with a twist, students conduct interviews and do research using web and print materials to find details about what was going on internationally, nationally, locally during the year that they were born.
  2. Spend a Day in My Shoes: Exploring the Role of Perspective in Narrative -In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus explains to Scout that "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (36). Using this quotation as a springboard, students explore writers' use of point of view and draft original stories from someone else's perspective.
2. Write responses to literature that organize an insightful interpretation around several clear ideas, premises or images and support judgments with specific references to the original text, to other texts, authors and to prior knowledge.
  1. Reader Response in Hypertext: Making Personal Connections to Literature -In this lesson, students choose four quotations to inspire their personal responses to a novel that they have read. Students write a narrative of place, complete a character sketch, create an extended metaphor poem and write a persuasive essay.
3. Write business letters, letters to the editor and job applications that:
a. address audience needs, stated purpose and context in a clear and efficient manner;
b. follow the conventional style appropriate to the text using proper technical terms;
c. include appropriate facts and details;
d. exclude extraneous details and inconsistencies; and
e. provide a sense of closure to the writing.
  1. Letter Writing
    This online study guide from Encyclopedia Britannica is on writing letters for a variety of purposes. Covers job applications, letters to the editor, letters asking for information, and personal letters.
4. Write informational essays or reports, including research that:
a. pose relevant and tightly drawn questions that engage the reader;
b. provide a clear and accurate perspective on the subject;
c. create an organizing structure appropriate to the purpose, audience and context;
d. support the main ideas with facts, details, examples and explanations from sources; and
e. document sources and include bibliographies.
  1. Local Retreats: Exploring Potential Tourist Attractions in Your Community -In this lesson, students consider how some of their favorite local places might be interesting spots for visitors to their community to see. Students begin the lesson by reading an article from the New York Times about unlikely tourist attractions in the boroughs of New York.
5. Write persuasive compositions that:
a. establish and develop a controlling idea;
b. support arguments with detailed evidence;
c. exclude irrelevant information; and
d. cite sources of information.		  
6. Produce informal writings (e.g., journals, notes and poems) for various purposes.  

Writing Conventions
1. Use correct spelling conventions.
  1. Spelling
    This web site has extensive information on spelling as well as quizzes the students can take online to check their understanding.
  2. The Most Common Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation Mistakes

    This link will provide for you many ideas concepts and assist you in writing a paper.

     
2. Use correct capitalization and punctuation.
  1. Capitalization and Punctuation
    This web site has extensive information on capitalization and punctuation as well as quizzes the students can take online to check their understanding.
  2. Capitalization
    This is an excellent site explaining capitalization. Here you will find explanations, an online quiz, and a fantastic PowerPoint presentation you can download for use in class.
  3. Punctuation Marks
    This is an excellent site explaining punctuation. Here you will find explanations, online quizzes, and great PowerPoint presentations you can download for use in class.
  4. Commas
    This is a great interactive review site all about commas. Included are fact sheets, games, quizzes, and worksheets.
  5. Punctuating sentences, 1 -Practice using periods, exclamation marks and question marks correctly in a sentence. SB
  6. Punctuating sentences, 2 -Learn how to use commas, semicolons and colons correctly in a sentence. SB
  7. The Most Common Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation Mistakes

    This link will provide for you many ideas concepts and assist you in writing a paper.

     
3. Use clauses (e.g., main, subordinate) and phrases (e.g., gerund, infinitive, participial).
  1. Embedded Thoughts
    This web site has extensive information on clauses as well as quizzes the students can take online to check their understanding.
4. Use parallel structure to present items in a series and items juxtaposed for emphasis.
  1. Consistency
    This web site has extensive information on consistency as well as quizzes the students can take online to check their understanding. Section 3 specifically deals with parallel structure.
5. Use proper placement of modifiers.
  1. Completers and Modifiers
    This web site has extensive information on modifiers as well as quizzes the students can take online to check their understanding.
6. Maintain the use of appropriate verb tenses.
  1. Verbs -This web site has extensive information on verbs as well as quizzes the students can take online to check their understanding. Sections 5, 6, and 7 deal specifically with tenses.

Research
1. Compose open-ended questions for research, assigned or personal interest, and modify questions as necessary during inquiry and investigation to narrow the focus or extend the investigation.
  1. Evaluating Eyewitness Reports -This resource provides a detailed lesson focused on using eyewitness accounts, representing a range of different perspectives, to write reliable accounts of historical events.
2. Identify appropriate sources and gather relevant information from multiple sources (e.g., school library catalogs, online databases, electronic resources and Internet-based resources).
  1. Debate: Is Cheerleading a Sport? -Using the topic of cheerleading, students examine how women are perceived in sports and then debate whether or not cheerleading should be considered a sport.
3. Determine the accuracy of sources and the credibility of the author by analyzing the sources’ validity (e.g., authority, accuracy, objectivity, publication date and coverage, etc.).
  1. Hoax? Scholarly Research? Personal Opinion? You Decide!-This lesson is designed to help students determine the validity of information that is presented to them on the Internet. After reviewing a series of evaluation techniques for online resources, students form groups to assess selected websites based on accuracy and authority, advocacy and objectivity, and currency and coverage.
4. Compile and organize important information and select appropriate sources to support central ideas, concepts and themes.  
5. Integrate quotations and citations into written text to maintain a flow of ideas.
  1. KnightCite Citation Machine
    A free bibliography creation tool. The user can choose the citation style from MLA, APA, or Chicago. They are prompted for information regarding the resource used, and then are given the citation in proper format.
    (Submitted by: Paula Cline)
  2. Who Said That?-In this instructional resource, students take on the role of an editor as they review informational texts intended for publication.
6. Use style guides to produce oral and written reports that give proper credit for sources and include an acceptable format for source acknowledgement.  
7. Use a variety of communication techniques, including oral, visual, written or multimedia reports, to present information that supports a clear position about the topic or research question and to maintain an appropriate balance between researched information and original ideas.
  1. Giving a Speech -Practice giving a speech and discuss tips for giving a speech. SB
  2. Tutankhamen's Treasure -Find out about the treasures that were found in King Tutankhamen's tomb. SB
  3. Using Images 1 -Discuss the advantages of using images while speaking about something. SB
  4. Using Images 2 -Practice using images to enrich a presentation. SB

Communications: Oral and Visual
1. Apply active listening strategies (e.g., monitoring message for clarity, selecting and organizing essential information, noting cues such as changes in pace) in a variety of settings.
  1. Hearwaves: Listening to the Radio -This unit uses radio stations (local stations or Internet-based broadcasts) to reinforce students' understanding of audience. After listening to and analyzing a variety of radio stations for content, language, style, advertising and music, students use the collected data to ascertain the audience being targeted.
  2. Video     Students who are responsible for a school activity demonstrate the various potential project roles, responsibilities of group members and various mean...
2. Identify types of arguments used by the speaker, such as authority and appeals to emotion.  
3. Analyze the credibility of the speaker (e.g., hidden agendas, slanted or biased material) and recognize fallacies of reasoning used in presentations and media messages.  
4. Identify the speaker’s choice of language and delivery styles (e.g., repetition, appeal to emotion, eye contact) and explain how they contribute to meaning.
  1. Novel News: Broadcast Coverage of Character, Conflict, Resolution, and Setting -In this lesson, students prepare original news programs based on the events from a novel. After reading a novel, independently or as a class, students explore the literary elements of character, conflict, resolution, and setting.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the English language and select language appropriate to purpose and audience.  
6. Adjust volume, phrasing, enunciation, voice modulation and inflection to stress important ideas and impact audience response.
  1. William Golding/Lord of the Flies Trial Simulation-This resource, created by a group of high school teachers, details a simulation based on Lord of the Flies. Developed as a common project between social studies and English classes, students satisfy curricular requirements for both subjects as they role play a trial involving characters from the novel.
7. Vary language choices as appropriate to the context of the speech.  
8. Deliver informational presentations (e.g., expository, research) that:
a. demonstrate an understanding of the topic and present events or ideas in a logical sequence;
b. support the controlling idea or thesis with well-chosen and relevant facts, details, examples, quotations, statistics, stories and anecdotes;
c. include an effective introduction and conclusion and use a consistent organizational structure (e.g., cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution);
d. use appropriate visual materials (e.g., diagrams, charts, illustrations) and available technology to enhance presentation; and
e. draw from multiple sources, including both primary and secondary sources, and identify sources used.
  1. Using Images 1 -Discuss the advantages of using images while speaking about something. SB
  2. Using Images 2 -Practice using images to enrich a presentation.  SB
9. Deliver formal and informal descriptive presentations that convey relevant information and descriptive details.  
10. Deliver persuasive presentations that:
a. establish and develop a logical and controlled argument;
b. include relevant evidence, differentiating between evidence and opinion, to support a position and to address counter-arguments or listener bias;
c. use persuasive strategies, such as rhetorical devices, anecdotes and appeals to emotion, authority and reason;
d. use common organizational structures as appropriate (e.g., cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution); and
e. use speaking techniques (e.g., reasoning, emotional appeal, case studies or analogies).