High School Resources

[Robert Rozema]

Use this forum item to share your best resources--unit plans, lesson plans, writing invitations, or other ideas that have worked for you in a high school setting.

Just reply to this discussion item with a brief description of your resource (e.g., American Literature--Great Gatsby Unit Plan) and then attach any files that go along with it. Ideally, we'll have a rich archive for new and veteran teachers alike. Be sure to include your name, and be sure to credit any resources you use from this site.

[Greg Heisenfeldt]

Hello,
This is Greg Heisenfeldt uploading my pedagogy project entitled, Stardust, the Same Old Story: Providing Tools for Sophomores to Examine the Structure of Hero Mythology.

My unit plan demonstrates how utilizing modern works can be an excellent method for creating student interest in classical literature. Drawing upon modern examples of hero mythology such as Star Wars and Scooby Doo, students will recognize how pervasive the hero myth storytelling format is in Western Literature.

[Kimberly Straub]

Hello!
My name is Kimberly Straub and in my uploaded file you will find my pedagogy project titled: "Who is the mouse and who is the Man? Analyzing Characters in "Of Mice and Men." This lesson plan is designed for students in the 11th grade.

My unit plan will focus mainly on analyzing the characters in "Of Mice and Men." The lesson plan asks the students to focus on physical traits as well as psychological traits. This lesson plan also helps students tackle the characters who are multi-dimensional (which seem to be Steinback's favorite type of character to create). Including a court trial at the end of the lesson plan will help students become characters and analyze them from differenct perspectives.

[Kelly Boston]

Hello!

My name is Kelly Boston. I am uploading my English 311 Pedagogy Project, entitled Romeo and Juliet: How to read Shakespeare - An Introductory Unit for Ninth Grade English.

Although Shakespeare is considered one of the most critical members of the high school canon and is taught almost every semester, students generally do not enjoy it. They seem to struggle with deciphering the language, or to find it relatable to their own lives. My lesson plan takes a Reader Response Theory approach to Romeo and Juliet by focusing on the student’s experience of reading. I tried to create a curriculum in which students explore the language and history of Shakespeare in a way that they can connect to their own lives. It will help students discover that they can understand the language, and to show them ways that the issues in Shakespeare’s works are in fact a part of their lives today.

[Ela Komnenovic]

The House on Mango Street 9th Grade 10 Day Lesson Plan

Hello my name is Ela Komnenovic and I am including a 10 day lesson plan for 9th graders that will teach the students about the text: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Through this lesson plan I plan an teaching my students about a (probably new to them) writing style, which is the vignette writing style. I also believe that this text will influence the students in a positive way and it will be a great experience to them because most of them are going to be able to relate to the main character in the book - Esperanza. I believe that through this character relation, this text will manage to stay will the students for a very long time and perhaps for ever.

[Deanna]

This is Deanna DiCesare uploading my pedagogy project for early high school students on The Giver by Lois Lowry.

The title of my 10-day unit plan is: The Giver: Exploring Freedom of Choice, Rule Following and Seeing

Throughout this unit, students will read The Giver and examine some important themse in the book and compare them to our own society. Such themes include: choice/decision making, importance of rules, and color. They will also examine and evaluate important gender and age distinctions. The students will work on and complete a webquest throughout the lesson and be introduced to new vocabulary words as well. To end the unit, they will be given a list of choices in which they will pick one to write a final essay about. This unit not only includes the reading of a novel, but also many writing exercises in which students will need to think creatively and develop meaningful answers and solutions to problems.

[Kyra Harris]

This is a 10 day lesson plan geared toward the play "Othello" for Professor Rozema, English 311.

Title:Exploring Othello

Brief Summary: One of the biggest challenges for students is relating Shakespeare’s works to themselves and present day. I do fun and engaging activities to tackle this problem so the students may develop a love for Shakespeare.

Kyra Harris

[Lindsey Vaillancourt]

Hi,
My name is Lindsey Vaillancourt and I have created a fourteen-day pedagogy for William Golding's, Lord of the Flies entitled "Lord of the Flies: Persuading Kids With Asthma Not to Go to the Beach."

This unit is designed for upper-level English students, with and emphasis in theme identification, comprehension, and analysis. My pedagogy enables students to identify the prevalence, and applicability of Golding's concepts in other mediums, historical events, scientific findings, and their day to day lives.

Although this may sound really boring, I assure you, it isn't. I have included groups projects on some really fascinating topics, creative mask making following discussions about comic book heros and villains, and I even managed to work in George A. Romero's, Night of the Living Dead! By the end of the unit students will be able to identify, comprehend, analyze, and critique the themes within a novel, as well as compare them to other themes/issues/theories.

[Lindsey Vaillancourt]

Hi,
My name is Lindsey Vaillancourt and I have created a fourteen-day pedagogy for William Golding's, Lord of the Flies entitled "Lord of the Flies: Persuading Kids With Asthma Not to Go to the Beach."

This unit is designed for upper-level English students, with and emphasis in theme identification, comprehension, and analysis. My pedagogy enables students to identify the prevalence, and applicability of Golding's concepts in other mediums, historical events, scientific findings, and their day to day lives.

Although this may sound really boring, I assure you, it isn't. I have included groups projects on some really fascinating topics, creative mask making following discussions about comic book heros and villains, and I even managed to work in George A. Romero's, Night of the Living Dead! By the end of the unit students will be able to identify, comprehend, analyze, and critique the themes within a novel, as well as compare them to other themes/issues/theories.

[Rebecca Thebo]

Hello!

My name is Rebecca Thebo and my uploaded pedagogy project is titled "Celebrating Diversity: An Awakening Reading Opportunity for Eighth Grade Students".

My lesson plan is designed around a ten day (2 week unit) for teaching The House on Mango Street. This unit incorporates social justice issues as well as reading strategies, and critical thinking. Through classroom activities and group work students develop as readers and find purpose for reading. House on Mango Street is an engaging as well as truthful story that provides students with the opportunity to learn about other cultures. The goal of my lesson is to teach students strategies for reading, pick out important scenes and themes, and help students make the story their own.

[A.C. Smith]

Hello,

This is Andrea Smith with my lesson plan New Perspectives:Seeing the World through the Eyes of Tree Girl.

This unit explores the Guatemalan Civil War through literature. It is based on Literature Circles and Class Discussion, but it also features TrackStar and Google Earth. It is designed for 11th grade students in a technologically equipped High School. The students will explore their new perspectives and culture, as well as making some personal discoveries along the way.

Enjoy!

[Saralynn Bush]

Hi!
My name is Saralynn Bush and this is my pedagogy project for college-bound twelfth grade English students on the novel, Drowning Anna by Sue Mayfield.

Title: A Bully by Any Other Name: Connecting Drowning Anna to High School Bullying

This is a 10-day unit on bullying that allows students to explore several different areas of focus through reading the novel Drowning Anna. The unit is based on bullying and some activities the students will participate in include looking at criminal laws against bullying, how teachers can influence the problem, and how to help students dealing with a bullying problem. My unit will help students learn to think critically through using the Socratic method of asking a series of questions to help students come to a conclusion about their thoughts on school violence and bullying.

[Casey Heath]

I have created a ten day pedagogy for the YA novel Feed by M.T. Anderson. The project is called:
Teaching Feed, or Eleventh Grade Students in a State of Calamity.

My main goal for the project was to encourage students to draw connections between the story world and reality. This is done using various technologies and drama techniques. For example, I will have students take the role of various characters in the novel and create skits. I have also created a 3-D environment based on a crucial scene in the book. Students will be able to explore this environment and discuss their findings on an online discussion board.

-Casey Heath