Submitted by: Karen Thomas
School: Brookland Middle School

Summary

Our world is an oasis filled with plants and animals of every species imaginable. Exotic plants, tropical fish, predatory birds, omnivorous mammals, and singing insects, all for us to discover and enjoy or are they? Is all this splendor friend or foe? In this lesson students will conduct research to learn about invasive species. They will collaborate as a class and in small groups using google and one search to locate information and create an America’s Most Wanted profile video detailing their research and making the public aware of this information by posting their products to the google site.

Submitted by: Jonathan Gouldthorpe
Collaborators: Lisa Hand
School: Freeman High School

Summary

Submitted by: JaNee Jones & Sarah Billups
Collaborators:School Librarians
School: Varina High School

Summary

The objective of the “Can you hear me now?” unit is to provide students with the tools to effectively and powerfully express themselves. This creative and informational unit will develop student centered learning as the students discover and explore a variety of nonfiction texts and produce unique works within the nonfiction genre. Through the unit, students will continue practicing the fundamentals of English, reinforcing SOL and SAT test taking strategies, and collaborating for a common goal. From 6 word memoirs, impromptu debates and persuasive letters, this lesson does it all with the student as the creator after understanding the concepts. As a goal of nonfiction is to entertain while informing, there is nothing more powerful than providing students with tools to share their voice at such a pivotal age.
This specific part of the unit focuses on independent, collaborative, and creative research and critical thinking. Students are challenged with developing a “How to Video” to teach their peers a skill that is pertinent to their generation. It extends beyond the simplicity of “How to walk,” as students create age-appropriate, high-interest, and audience focused videos, which requires advanced research skills, creative questioning, communication, and complete interest in a topic.

Submitted by: Caroline Wheeler
School: Varina High School

Summary

Urban legends fascinate, disturb, and ultimately entertain all of us—students and teachers alike. The Urban Legends lesson bridges the study of legends, one of the major tenets of world literature, and modern folklore. For many students, the stuff of literature and the stuff of real life seem worlds apart.  An extension from traditional legends and mythology units of study, this online research based lesson plan provides students with an opportunity to connect literature to everyday life and enables students to use technological skills and approaches to explore, understand, and evaluate the different types and purposes of modern, urban legends. Students will gain deeper insight into the similarities of literature of different cultures and eras and will develop more relevant understandings of the cultural and social functions of oral literature. The Urban Legends lesson is designed to foster and promote students’ approaching and ideal information fluency skills. In addition, this 21st Century lesson also promotes group communication and collaboration. Using understandings gained during from their research, students will create an innovative 21st Century product to showcase understandings and criticisms to less informed, more gullible peers.

The Urban Legends lesson, inspired creative thinking, by allowing them to discover that it is OK not to believe everything they hear and encourage creative risk taking. Students had to go outside of their comfort zones to create a 21st Century product to showcase their findings.

Submitted by: Paul Cassimus
Collaborators:Renee Balch, Mike Dunavant, Sam Peterson, Lisa Hand, Anne Dillon.
School: Varina High School

Summary

(INTRO VIDEO) Using their laptops, students will create instructional videos in which they teach the basics of Spanish to others. They must have at least two characters, a student character and a teacher character. A major part of the grade will come from the dialogue and interaction between the characters. The teacher character will teach all the grammar we have learned so far. The student character must act appropriately like a student; asking questions, wanting explanations for difficult concepts, etc. The teacher character will explain each concept and share with the student helpful tips, advice, study strategies, mnemonic devices and others that will help the student learn. Students will act as researchers and teachers to discover the best methods and strategies in learning the basics of Spanish. Google docs will provide a platform for collaborating with upper-level Spanish students to get strategies and methods in learning the basics of Spanish. They will reflect on this information, their notes, and from their own experiences as a Spanish student to create the video, the dialogue and the content. The videos will be forwarded to middle school Spanish teachers to show and make available to their students. Then, my classes and the middle school classes will have a discussion board set up to discuss any tips or advice to learning Spanish. Essentially, my students will take on the role of the upper-level students to pass on their knowledge to the middle school students to bring the scenario of the project full circle.

Submitted by: Beth Lewis and Allison Maltby-Neely
School: Holman Middle School

Summary

The lessons contained in this unit plan are designed to teach students about the theme of heroes. Students will explore topics and terminology associated with the difference between idols and heroes. Students will be exposed to a variety of arts experiences, including, music and song, film, theatre and script writing, interpretive movement and individual reflection. Although the unit is designed to be used for any middle school student, it can be adapted for any level learner. The culminating project, the students will create a digital story about a hero that demonstrates the knowledge that they have attained throughout the course of the unit.

Submitted by: Margaret Sharpe
Collaborators: Garry Marshall
School: Fairfield Middle School

Summary

This one block lesson is designed as the application stage for figurative language. Students create a short movie using Windows Movie Maker that defines and finds examples of five types of figurative language in popular music.

Submitted by: Katie Quarforth
Collaborators: Mara LaFratta and Bonnie Spencer
School: Lakeside Elementary School

Summary

The students will use their knowledge of VS.6a and slavery to further their understanding of the Underground Railroad. They will participate in a simulated journey along this secret route to freedom by pretending they are slaves escaping in the 1850s with the help from abolitionists, like Harriet Tubman. The journey begins in the classroom in the “South.” They must decide as a group what time of day will be best for escape, what to bring on their mission, and how to proceed. When the aboitionist “rescues them” and leads them through the school on the path to the “North,” they must look out for safe houses through clues, avoid bounty hunters, determine where and when to hide, and make decisions about who to trust. When they reach the “North,” some will find that their decisions caused them to be captured, while others will reach freedom successfully. In the end, they will reflect as a group about their journey and judge their choices using Voice Thread. They will also upload videos that were recorded along this secret route to freedom.

Submitted by: Jamie Wolfe
Collaborators: Garry Marshall, Tamara Henley
School: Fairfield Middle School

Summary

During this two to three block lesson, students learn about the different persuasive techniques and gain experience in identifying techniques used in current advertising. Students apply knowledge of persuasive techniques to develop a 1-minute commercial based on a product that they choose.