LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Goal 4

The learner will critically interpret and evaluate experiences, literature, language, and ideas.

Objective 4.04

Evaluate the information, explanations, or ideas of others by:

  • identifying clear, reasonable criteria for evaluation.
  • applying those criteria using reasoning and substantiation.

Resources aligned to this objective

Making a video critique of an information source
After finishing their social issues research paper for their English class (or any other type of research paper), students will write and present orally a critique of one information source used in their research papers. Students will work in pairs to videotape each other, and they must also design appropriate backdrops for their oral presentations. Students will watch and evaluate all critiques.

This interdisciplinary assignment combines information skills and language arts skills, and requires collaboration between the media specialist and the English teacher.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Information Skills)
By Bonnie Snyder.
Examining effective openers and closures in writings
Students will listen to a reading of Dr. Seuss' and Jack Prelutsky's Hooray for Difendoofer Day! Students will then work cooperatively to edit one another's rough drafts of analytical essay, focusing on openers and closures.
Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)
By Heather Bower and Michele Hicks.
Colors and symbols of stigmatization
This lesson is an introduction to the reading of Night by Elie Wiesel, which students will read independently. The students will do research to discover the different colors and symbols used to symbolize the Nazi party's list of undesirable people. The students will gain an understanding of how other people can arbitrarily judge other people as inferior.
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and English Language Development)
By Sandra Hurd and Wilma Gale.

Resources on the web

Weaving the multigenre web
In this lesson, students read novels, analyze the literary elements, and create a multigenre project to present information to their peers. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
Using technology to analyze and illustrate symbolism in Night.
This step-by-step lesson introduces students to Elie Wiesel's use of symbolism in his autobiographical novel, Night. After learning about symbolism and discussing its use in the book, students create photomontages using online... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
Using student-centered comprehension strategies with Elie Wiesel's "Night"
Working in small groups, students use reciprocal teaching strategies as they read and discuss Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
So what do you think? Writing a review
After examining samples of movie, music, restaurant, and book reviews, students devise guidelines for writing interesting and informative reviews. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
Propaganda techniques in literature and online political ads
This lesson suggests using Aldous Huxley's Brave New World to introduce students to propaganda techniques used in literature and popular culture. This short unit would be appropriate to use with various novels and when discussing advertising campaigns... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 10–12 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
Identifying and understanding the fallacies used in advertising
Students examine the fallacies that they encounter daily through exposure to advertising. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
Holocaust and resistance
Students reflect on the Holocaust from the point of view of those who actively resisted Nazi persecution. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
Provided by: National Endowment for the Humanities
Happily ever after? Exploring character, conflict, and plot in dramatic tragedy
Students pick a turning point of a tragedy and show how the action of the play would have been significantly altered had a different decision been made or a different action taken. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
Gods, heroes, and other celebrated Greeks
This lesson, one of a multi-part unit from ARTSEDGE, is designed to help students shape a frame of reference for examining specific areas of ancient Greek influence on Western thought and culture. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 10 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, and Social Studies)
Provided by: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Ghosts and fear in language arts: Exploring the ways writers scare readers
Students investigate what it is that is so fascinating about scary stories. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
Focus on first lines: Increasing comprehension through prediction strategies
In this lesson, students examine opening sentences in literary works and make predictions about the content of the texts they will read later. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
Dramatizing History in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"
Students examine some of Arthur Miller's historical sources and read a summary of the historical events in Salem. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
Provided by: National Endowment for the Humanities
Critical reading: Two stories, two authors, same plot?
This lesson encourages students to read and respond critically to two different pieces of literature with the same title. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–10 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
Censorship in the classroom: Understanding controversial issues
In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students examine propaganda and media bias and explore a variety of banned and challenged books, researching the reasons these books have been censored. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
Building Vietnam War scavenger hunts through web-based inquiry
This lesson uses fiction or nonfiction books on the Vietnam War as a catalyst for research on how the war affected different groups of people. Once small groups are formed based on student interest, the teacher models how to write effective questions and... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 Computer/Technology Skills, English Language Arts, and Social Studies)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
A Biography Study: Using Role-Play to Explore Authors' Lives
In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students select American authors to research. They create timelines and biopoems about their authors and then collaborate in teams to design and present a panel presentation where they role-play their authors. The final project... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 9–12 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE
Analyzing symbolism, plot, and theme in Death and the Miser
In this lesson, students apply analytical skills to an exploration of the early Renaissance painting Death and the Miser by Hieronymous Bosch. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 10 English Language Arts)
Provided by: IRA/NCTE