After reading To Kill a Mockingbird, students will continue to study the theme of taking a stand as they finish the novel. They will develop their argument writing skills through scaffolded writing lessons, culminating in a literary analysis essay in which they argue whether or not it made sense, based on Atticus’s character, for him to have taken a stand and defend Tom Robinson.

The Claim Evidence Graphic Organizer Writing Template was created for the CESA #1 EL OER Project. This writing template was created for EL students to use to aid in the writing process. It contains a detailed and easy to follow outline for students to input their knowledge. The organizer is color coded so that students will be able to navigate and organize their thoughts and textual evidence. There are also videos that are linked that ELs can watch to help them create each part in their argumentative essay. Teachers are able to apply this template to various argumentative essay assignments within different content areas.

Students are introduced to the idea of improving efficiency by examining a setting that is familiar to many teenagers fast food restaurants. More specifically, they learn about the concepts of trade-offs, constraints, increasing efficiency and systems thinking. They consider how to improve efficiency in a struggling restaurant through delegating tasks, restructuring employee responsibilities and revising a floor plan, all while working within limitations and requirements. Finally, students summarize and defend their suggested changes in argumentative essays.

This is an interdisciplinary research project module with a 6-8 scope including NGSS (MS-LS4-5) and Common Core ELA standards (RST.6-8.1 and WHST.6-8.8) where learners explore Genetic Engineering and Gene Therapy uses and establish an evidence-based position to argue the question "Should humans harness genetic science and engineering for our benefit?"Expected sequence and timeframe for this module is approximately fifteen 60-minute periods in both science and ELA classrooms, which includes research time (with technology), composition of argumentative essays and Google Slides presentations.  Modifications for learners with exceptionalities are not included, but are readily accommodated through modifications to quantity of supports, DOK in delivery, and interpretation of the grading rubric(s). Resources include a Google Drive link that is able to be viewed by anyone with the link.  Please download the files or make a copy to your own Google Drive.