The Declaration of Independence was a product of the Second Continental Congress. Two earlier intercolonial conferences had occurred, each building important keystones of colonial unity. The Stamp Act Congress and the First Continental Congress brought the delegates from differing colonies to agreement on a message to send to the king. Each successive Congress brought greater participation. Each time the representatives met, they were more accustomed to compromise. As times grew more desperate, the people at home became more and more willing to trust their national leaders.

How do we know about the past? Did a giant flood actually occur? Or were the stories of Gilgamesh and Noah folk tales intended to provide moral guidance?

In this Wonder of the DayR, we learn about why flamingos are pink.

Students have the opportunity to explore the Wonder either as a class or individually.

With suggestions for different age groups, Wonder #1 has an activity to engage students with drawing, writing description, or both.

Those who defended slavery rose to the challenge set forth by the Abolitionists. The defenders of slavery included economics, history, religion, legality, social good, and even humanitarianism, to further their arguments.

Because there was no written language 50,000 years ago, we do not have much information on how a "modern stone age family" lived, what they ate, where they lived, what they wore, or even what they looked like. Like Fred Flintstone, did they have leopardskin suits, go barefoot, and use a boulder for a bowling ball?

Google Docs is a great word processor, but is much more than just that. Although we can certainly use it to type up a report, take notes, or write a story, we can also get creative with the features and functions built into the program to make some fun learning activities.

Recently I did a video training webinar where I took a look at four creative ways to use regular Google Docs features in new fun ways to practice and develop literacy skills. These include:

The highlighting tool for the activity "Improve Reading Comprehension with Google Docs Black Out"

The special characters tool for the activity "Emoji Learning Activities with Google Docs"

The word count tool for the activity "Have Students Write Better by Writing Less with Google Docs"

The header tool and hyperlink tool for the activity "Choose Your Own Adventure Stories with Google Docs"

See below for the full 1-hour training video, as well as resources, ideas, and templates for each of the four activities.

Session Resources

Session Agenda - Google Docs link

Training Video (1 hour)

1) Improve Reading Comprehension with Docs Black Out

Description: In this activity students use the highlighter tool to black out any text that is not critical, leaving behind just the main ideas.

Resources: For full details and resources for doing this activity, see my original blog post "Improve Reading Comprehension with Google Docs Black Out"

Below is the portion of the training video that covers this specific activity:

2) Emoji Learning Activities

Description: In this activity students use special characters to insert emojis to summarize stories, write creatively, and explore character emotions.

Resources: For full details and resources for doing this activity, see my original blog post "5 Emoji Learning Activities with Google Docs"

Below is the portion of the training video that covers this specific activity:

3) Have Students Write Better by Writing Less

Description: In this activity students use the word count tool to write within a character limit or word limit.

Resources: For full details and resources for doing this activity, see my original blog post "Have Students Write Better by Writing Less with Google Docs"

Below is the portion of the training video that covers this specific activity:

4) Choose Your Own Adventure Stories

Description: In this activity students use headings and hyperlinks to create interactive stories in Google Docs.

Resources: For full details and resources for doing this activity, see my original blog post "Choose Your Own Adventure Stories with Google Docs"

Below is the portion of the training video that covers this specific activity:

Post by Eric Curts. Bring me to your school, organization, or conference with over 50 PD sessions to choose from. Connect with me on Twitter at twitter.com/ericcurts and on Google+ at plus.google.com/+EricCurts1

7th Grade Historical Literacy consists of two 43 minute class periods. Writing is one 43 minute block and reading is another. The teacher has picked themes based on social studies standards, and a read-aloud novel based on social studies serves as the mentor text for writing and reading skills. More social studies content is addressed in reading through teaching nonfiction reading skills and discussion. Standards reflect CCSS ELA, Reading, and Social Studies Standards.

The month of May is an opportunity for reflection on and commemoration of all that AAPI individuals and organizations have accomplished and contributed to U.S. history and culture. This piece highlights NEH projects and classroom resources for teaching about these experiences in America.

To prepare for literature circles featuring historical novels, students research the decades of the 1930s to the 1990s and share their information using Prezi, a web application for creating multimedia presentations.

In this lesson, before reading, students establish a purpose for reading informational text by turning the title and subtitles into questions.

Using their new skills in deconstructing advertisements, students will look at advertisements through the lens of gender.  Students will be encouraged to critically analyze the cultural stereotypes for men and women. Students will deconstruct advertisements based on gender representation.Rationale: Students will begin to see how believing in stereotypes can lead towards a negative self image for men and women.  This is Part 4 of a 5 part Unit: Media Manipulation: What Are They Really Saying?

This activity emphasizes the importance of teaching reading and writing strategies for students to use with informational text.

visits 65 historic places along 75 miles of Route 15 in Virginia's Piedmont. Stops include homes of Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe; sites of some of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War; and other places that evoke the soldiers, statesmen, farmers, and slaves who fought, toiled, and governed there.

explores Kingston's over 300 years of history using 24 historic places that recall past eras when settlers and Native Americans warily shared its plains, proud Revolutionaries and angry British armies walked its narrow streets and when coal, limestone and even patent medicines flowed along its canals. The Dutch established Kingston 1652 and it became an active participant in the American Revolution and a major river-port during New York's 19th-century canal and steamboat era.

highlights 29 places that illustrate the transformation of the city from a small frontier post during the Revolutionary War into a center of economic, intellectual, and political activity. Photos, maps, and essays are included.

This plan was created by Jean Harper as part of the 2020 ESU-NDE Learning Plan Project. Educators worked with coaches to create plans.

The attached plan is designed for Grade 6 English Language Arts students. Students will read and comprehend texts that are complex.. This plan addresses the following NDE Standard: NE LA 6.1, LA 6.1.6.f, LA 6.1.6.o

It is expected that this plan will take students 60 minutes to complete.

This unit is focused on the examination of a single topic, in this case, the Native Americans of the inland Northwest and conflict that arose when other non-native people started to settle in the northwest, and to specifically address the native populations that lived in the inland northwest. The materials were created to be one coherent arc of instruction focused on one topic. The module was designed to include teaching notes that signal the kind of planning and thinking such instruction requires: close reading with complex text, and specific instructional strategies or protocols are described that support students’ reading and writing with evidence are described in enough detail to make it very clear what is required of students and how to support students in doing this rigorous work. Materials include summative assessment of content and process, central texts, key resources, and protocols that support and facilitate student learning.

features an area in the southwest corner of Minnesota that reflects a rich history of American Indian quarrying, prosperity brought by the railroad and mining enterprises, and a distinctive natural landscape. This National Register of Historic Places Travel itinerary highlights 30 historic places, including buildings constructed with beautiful local red stone and land still sacred to American Indians.

Allows visitors to journey through time and see the development of public archeology in the U.S. Along this timeline, which extends from 1784 to the current decade, visitors can see how public archeology has changed and discover the key events that shaped public archeology in this country.

explores the city's history and shows how it continues to shape the city's life today. It uses residential, commercial, industrial, and religious locations to create a tour of 37 properties that documents how past and present come together.