This lesson focuses on the vocabulary and skills students need to define, identify, discuss and apply a variety of informative writing techniques. The texts in this lesson are infographics related to marginalized people. Students are asked to apply the techniques they learn to an informative text of their own. 

This lesson is designed to support English language learners when argumentative writing.  It is prepared using the topic selected by my students, “Are Social Networking Sites Good For Our Society?”  This lesson could easily be adapted to meet other topics of interest.  The lesson begins by reinforcing that when one is argumentative writing, the writer must choose a side and have a reason for choosing it. Then, the lesson evaluates others’ argumentative writing to see what it might look like. Afterward, the students have an opportunity to get comfortable with the argumentative writing topic they will be writing about with support of their peers and the teacher. Ultimately, with other support in place, students will write an argumentative piece to the best of their ability with a goal in mind. 

Students will investigate musical genres in Spanish Speaking countries in order to better understand the history and influences that created the music, as well as the cultural connections/impact of the music today. Begin studying Bomba as a class and work through the investigation process together; then students can select a different genre of music to research and explore before creating a visual essay about their topic.The complete lesson plan included is the 4th class period of a 8-10 period unit of study; the complete unit slides are included in the resource folder with all readings, videos, etc. Lessons are in Spanish, but could be adapted for an English class with Spanish translanguaging as many of the videos are included with closed captions. 

Comparing and contrasting our experiences with friends and family help us better understand our own identity.  Students will learn comparison/contrast language and practice using it through an activity, two different graphic organizers, classroom discussion and conversations with their parents to better understand each other, their parents and themselves.

Middle school is a conflict-ridden stage, particularly for our emerging bilingual students, who are normally known as ELLs. Not only do they have to overcome numerous problems of linguistic and cultural adaptation, but they also have to face challenges such as family or economic instability and moves, often cross-border. Indeed, it is not uncommon to meet Hispanic students: Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Salvadorans, etc. who travel to their countries of origin, or to the countries of origin of their parents for seasons, sometimes even to stay and live there, despite having been born in the United States and having lived here all their schooling until that moment. It is also quite common to see students who migrate with their families to the United States when they are already 11 or 12 years old and who, as we mentioned, not only have to learn the language, but adapt to a new life, culture and traditions.In this lesson plan we propose to use these personal experiences to introduce basic conversational vocabulary. It is designed for both dual immersion programs and English development classes.

This lesson is designed for students to learn basic social justice vocabulary, such as systemic racism and analyze if equity matters. Through vocabulary development of terms around race relations and equity, along with the analysis of two articles, students will gain an understanding of equity in social organizations. Finally, using the articles, the content-specific vocabulary and their own schema, students will discuss if equity matters in a Socratic seminar.

 Students extend their knowledge of the skeletal system to biomedical engineering design, specifically the concept of artificial limbs and joints. Students relate the skeleton as a structural system, focusing on the hand as structural necessity. They learn about the design considerations involved in the creation of artificial limbs, including materials. This lesson plan was developed for emergent bilingual students who are intermediate or advanced in their English language development skills. This lesson is adapted from the following resources, "Engineering Bones" and "Prosthetic Party," on the TeachEngineering Digital Library: https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/cub_biomed_lesson01, https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_biomed_lesson01_activity1

Students will receive exposure to new vocabulary, then read and annotate an article, discuss, and engage in a writing exercise, focused on the Iroquois Confederacy.  

This is a lesson familiarizing students with right triangle trigonometry with applied problem solving.

In this lesson, students will learn what the word “Hispanic” means and what some elements of culture are.  Pairs/groups of students will read about a Hispanic country and create a one-pager showing cultural elements of that country.

This lesson is an introductory lesson to screenprinting and how screen printing is used for social activism. Further study of the historical background that shaped these screenprints (in the extensions section at the end of the lesson) includes topics relevant to Mexican American communities and raises awareness about important historical events in Mexican-American history in the United States. The main focus of this unit is to learn about the background and history of Mexican Americans through studying these and other Chicanx artist screen prints.

This is a two part mini lesson.  It uses individual and group photographs to help students develop a sense of individuality and community within the classroom.  This lesson provides a physical and visual representation of students within their class community.  Students will see themselves as individuals who are part of a whole.  For students who do not feel as though their individuality is valued, they have a tactile representation of their inclusion as individuals who are part of the group.

This is a one part mini lesson but requires a day ahead to prep.  It is fun and involves a delicious snack.  Students pick their favorite snack.  Then we mix it together.  Each student gets a portion to enjoy.  The snack is a metaphor for individuals coming together to be part of a whole.  They can still be separated but it is better together.

In this Spanish 3 lesson students will use prior knowledge from a variety of previous units to access information in articles from Spanish Speaking countries and government agencies to learn about how climate change affects respiratory health and what some countries are doing to mitigate the harm.

This lesson can work with any content standards.  It is a lesson for students to learn a text marking procedure.  Teachers and students can apply it to any non-fiction text on any non-fiction topic.  Extensions include academic speaking and writing prompts.  

In this lesson students will learn about Louise Erdrich and then read her poem “Advice to Myself #2: Resistance.” As students read they will analyze how the writer uses words, phrases, and details to communicate a theme. Students will discuss the message of the poem in both small and large groups and discuss how the author’s literary choices help communicate this message. Students will then write about a message in the poem and explain what lines most strongly communicate that message as evidence to support their thinking.

This lesson guides students through making claims about an image that is found online, and using evidence to back up whether the image is real or "faked."  Students will use speaking and listening skills and partner work to discuss their views about an image.