English Language Arts Grades 11-12 (2023)
Lesson Plans

Speaking and Listening (11-12.SL)

Students will learn to collaborate, express and listen to ideas, integrate and evaluate information from various sources, use media and visual displays as well as language and grammar strategically to help achieve communicative purposes, and adapt to context and task.

Standard 11-12.SL.2:

Interpret, evaluate, and integrate multiple sources of information presented in various formats and media to verify the credibility and accuracy of each source, and note any discrepancies among the data in order to make informed decisions.

• Lesson 1: NAACP's Anti-Lynching Campaign in the 1920s
  This lesson focuses on the constitutional arguments for and against the enactment of federal anti-lynching legislation in the early 1920s. Students will participate in a simulation game that enacts a fictitious Senate debate of the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill. As a result of completing this activity, students will gain a better understanding of the federal system, the legislative process, and the difficulties social justice advocates encountered.
• Lesson 2: The Question of Representation at the 1787 Convention
  When the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention convened in May of 1787 to recommend amendments to the Articles of Confederation, one of the first issues they addressed was the plan for representation in Congress. This lesson will focus on the various plans for representation debated during the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
• Lesson 2: The Social Security Act
  This lesson engages students in the debate over the Social Security Act that engrossed the nation during the 1930s.
• Lesson 3: Creating the Office of the Presidency
  As the delegates at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 continued to develop a plan of government that would remedy the defects of the Articles of Confederation, one of the most difficult challenges was creating the office of the presidency. This lesson will focus on the arguments over the various characteristics and powers of the office of president as debated during the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
• News Goggles: Candace Buckner, The Washington Post
  This week, we talk to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post about her role as a sports columnist. Buckner sheds light on the differences between straight news beat reporting and opinion writing ? and underscores how certain journalism practices and standards remain the same. Using her recent piece on Kyrie Irving as an example, Buckner explains her approach to column writing. We also discuss how sports intersect with culture and society and what sports reporting can teach us about the wider world. Grab your news goggles!
• News Goggles: Emilie Munson, Times Union
  This week, we talk to data reporter Emilie Munson of the Times Union, a local news organization based in Albany, New York, with a coverage area that includes the state?s Capital Region and Hudson Valley. Munson sheds light on the Times Union?s decision to publish a guide explaining how the news organization covers elections and politics ? and the role of journalism standards in its news decisions. We also discuss the Times Union?s strict policies on the use of anonymous or unnamed sources. Grab your news goggles!
• One Tin Soldier Rides Away
  This episode of This American Life that discusses mob mentality and how easily we can all fall victim to it. English Language Arts teachers can use It with many different texts to explore the concept of mob mentaility. For example, it can be used when teaching Lord of the Flies.
• Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!: Simulating the Supreme Court
  This lesson helps students learn about the judicial system through simulating a real court case involving student free speech rights. In addition to learning about how the Supreme Court operates, students will explore how the Supreme Court protects their rights, interprets the Constitution, and works with the other two branches of government.
• Soundtracks: Songs That Defined History, Lesson 7. Debating the Apollo 11 Moon Landing
  Students will watch clips from CNN's Soundtracks to identify historic details of NASA's Apollo program. Students will then identify poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron's critical view of the Apollo program through his song, "Whitey On The Moon" and participate in a structured academic controversy activity to debate the controversy of the program.
• Storm Lake Documentary Discussion Guide on the Importance of Local Journalism
  This viewing guide serves as a companion for the PBS documentary Storm Lake, a film about the struggles of sustaining local journalism that shows what these newsrooms mean to communities and American democracy overall. The guide has three main components: pre-viewing, during viewing, and post-viewing activities. It includes a variety of questions and activities, and can be completed whole class, individually, or with small groups. The documentary Storm Lake is rated PG and can be accessed at https://www.pbs.org/video/storm-lake-g2qhfw/
• The First Amendment: What's Fair in a Free Country?
  After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to summarize the contents of the First Amendment and give examples of speech that is protected by the Constitution and speech that is not protected by the Constitution.
• The Letters and Poems of Emily Dickinson
  Long perceived as a recluse who wrote purely in isolation, Emily Dickinson in reality maintained many dynamic correspondences throughout her lifetime and specifically sought out dialogues on her poetry. These correspondences"?both professional and private"?reveal a poet keenly aware of the interdependent relationship between poet and reader.
• The Music That Shaped America, Lesson 2: The Banjo, Slavery, and the Abolition Debate
  In this lesson, created in partnership with the Association for Cultural Equity, students discover how the banjo and music making more generally among slaves contributed to debates on the ethics of slavery. They listen to slave narratives, examine statistics, and read primary sources to better understand how slavery was conceptualized and lived through in the 18th and 19th centuries. Throughout the lesson, students return to videos created by Alan Lomax of pre-blues banjo player Dink Roberts as a way to imagine what music among slaves in the United States may have sounded like.

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http://www.uen.org - in partnership with Utah State Board of Education (USBE) and Utah System of Higher Education (USHE).  Send questions or comments to USBE Specialist - Naomi  Watkins and see the Language Arts - Secondary website. For general questions about Utah's Core Standards contact the Director - Todd  Call.

These materials have been produced by and for the teachers of the State of Utah. Copies of these materials may be freely reproduced for teacher and classroom use. When distributing these materials, credit should be given to Utah State Board of Education. These materials may not be published, in whole or part, or in any other format, without the written permission of the Utah State Board of Education, 250 East 500 South, PO Box 144200, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4200.