U.S. Westward Expansion: Middle School History Unit

This unit helps students investigate key events and ideas in westward expansion during the antebellum period. Students will use primary and secondary sources, maps, images, and an Literary Design Collaborative debate-focused module to build evidentiary claims, identify multiple perspectives, and consider causal relationships. For easy use and customization, files are available in PDF and Word. The unit can also be downloaded in pieces or in full.
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Article

Building Reading Skills With Digital Literacy Tools

Teachers know that meeting students’ individual needs in a bustling classroom is a Sisyphean task. But the job may be getting easier, thanks to a variety of new digital literacy tools. Last year Debra Rook began using Newsela, a program that uses news articles about current events to build reading comprehension, and customizes each article for five different reading levels.
Jul 08, 2015
Toolkit

Forming Quadratics

This Professional Learning Module provides guidelines for implementing the Shell Center’s Formative Assessment Lesson, Forming Quadratics. Educators can use this information to better understand how to apply the lesson, which is compatible with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), to their own instruction.
Toolkit

Evaluating Statements About Enlargements (2D and 3D)

This Professional Learning Module provides guidelines for implementing the Shell Center’s Formative Assessment Lesson, Evaluating Statements About Enlargements. Educators can use this information to better understand how to apply the lesson, which is compatible with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), to their own instruction.