ALEX Lesson Plans

Subject: English Language Arts (8), or English Language Arts (8), or Technology Education (6 - 8)
Title: A Dickens of a Time: Discovering the Victorian Period
Description: Before reading Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, students examine different aspects of Victorian Life in London through a variety of research projects requiring hands-on computer activities.

Thinkfinity Lesson Plans

Subject: Language Arts,Mathematics
Title: Numbers and Language Add Bookmark
Description: In this five-lesson unit, from Illuminations, students participate in activities in which they focus on the role of numbers and language in real-world situations. Students discuss, describe, read, and write about numbers they find in familiar real-world situations. An emphasis on using components of language helps students build a broader vocabulary of numbers than the traditional symbolic representation of numbers.
Thinkfinity Partner: Illuminations
Grade Span: K,PreK,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Modeling Reading and Analysis Processes with the Works of Edgar Allan Poe Add Bookmark
Description: Explore reading strategies using Edgar Allan Poes The Raven and other works. Students read Poesworks in both large- and small-group readings then conclude with a variety of projects.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Picture Books as Framing Texts: Research Paper Strategies for Struggling Writers Add Bookmark
Description: Students use picture books as framing texts for research, freeing them from the language of encyclopedia sources and allowing them to focus their attention on the content of their papers.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Battling for Liberty: Tecumseh's and Patrick Henry's Language of Resistance Add Bookmark
Description: Students study Patrick Henry's '' Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death'' speech and the ways Native Americans also resisted oppression through rhetoric and action.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts,Social Studies
Title: The Statue of Liberty: Bringing the ''New Colossus'' to America Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson, from EDSITEment, students learn about the effort to convince a skeptical American public to contribute to the effort to erect a pedestal and to bring the Statue of Liberty to New York. The activities in this lesson guide students through an investigation of primary historical documents and an analysis of the poem The New Colossus, written by the nineteenth-century poet Emma Lazarus.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Exploring Free Speech and Persuasion with Nothing But the Truth Add Bookmark
Description: Students read Avi's Nothing But the Truth and examine the First Amendment and student rights, and then decide whether the rights of the novel's protagonist, Philip, are violated.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Today is World Hello Day! Add Bookmark
Description: Students study a letter written by a famous author to determine purpose, and words and phrases that make the letter meaningful. They can use the Letter Generator to write their own letter promoting peace.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Timelines and Texts: Motivating Students to Read Nonfiction Add Bookmark
Description: In an effort to help motivate students to read nonfiction, students are challenged to use a timeline to help them name the year when certain products were invented.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in 1863. Add Bookmark
Description: Students practice the Pre-AP strategy called SOAPSTone, identifying important parts of the Gettysburg Address and comparing it with John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 7,8,9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: An Exploration of Text Sets: Supporting All Readers Add Bookmark
Description: Students create text sets on a high interest topic and use the texts to practice three strategies for reading for information.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts,Social Studies
Title: Women's Suffrage: Why the West First? Add Bookmark
Description: In this EDSITEment lesson, students compile information to examine hypotheses explaining why the first nine states to grant full voting rights for women were located in the West. The take a stand, supported by historical evidence, as to whether or not a single theory can explain why the Western states were the first to grant full voting rights to women.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967. Add Bookmark
Description: After discussing a statement made by Thurgood Marshall, students consider each piece of the comment and create a K-W-L chart to begin an investigation with other resources.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 7,8,9,10,11,12

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Jack London's ''The Call of the Wild'': ''Nature Faker''? Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson, from EDSITEment, students analyze Jack London's The Call of the Wild. They take a stand on whether London can be called a nature faker and on what he is attempting to communicate through his portrayal of Buck. They support their stands with historical evidence or evidence from the text. Finally, students write an essay, complete with hypothesis and textual support, on London's approach to the animal story in The Call of the Wild.
Thinkfinity Partner: EDSITEment
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Dynamic Duo Text Talks: Examining the Content of Internet Sites Add Bookmark
Description: An Observation and Inquiry Sheet guides students as they analyze and compare their reactions to the value, engagement, and credibility of three websites related to Anne Frank and the Holocaust.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts,Mathematics
Title: Airport Numbers Add Bookmark
Description: In this lesson, one of a multi-part unit from Illuminations, students participate in activities in which they focus on the role of numbers and language in real-world situations. These activities use an airport theme to investigate numbers. Students are encouraged to relate the numbers to familiar situations. For example, they use the dimensions of the classroom to describe an airplane.
Thinkfinity Partner: Illuminations
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Myth and Truth: The First Thanksgiving Add Bookmark
Description: By exploring myths surrounding the Wampanoag, the pilgrims, and the '' First Thanksgiving,'' this lesson asks students to think critically about commonly believed myths regarding the Wampanoag Indians in colonial America.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 6,7,8

Subject: Language Arts
Title: Inquiry on the Internet: Evaluating Web Pages for a Class Collection Add Bookmark
Description: Students use Internet search engines and Web analysis checklists to evaluate online resources then write annotations that explain how and why the resources will be valuable to the class.
Thinkfinity Partner: ReadWriteThink
Grade Span: 6,7,8