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Challenge the kids to read the treaties and come up with what they gave up

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Primary Grades

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The Round is a Mooncake is about an Asian girl seeing shapes around her but her only point of reference is her beloved Mooncake treat. Super CUTE!

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About a mixed race boy.

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For the book Their Eyes Were Watching God I used internet photos of the Everglades to build background knowledge of setting.

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This is the non-fiction companion to Notice & Note. Very user-friendly for teachers - chapters set up with showing how to gradually release responsibility.

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Queer storyline in a small island town.

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Provides accessible entry strategies for students - our district uses the "signposts" with the students but the book with teachers.

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Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading

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Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading

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Students discuss if water should be cheaper or more expensive

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First Grade
Grandfather Tang's Story
Tangram

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Teen boy heading for the Gold fields in the Yukon looking for his brothers offers the struggle of what it took to get there.

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The Association of Chinese Teachers [TACT SF]

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Meet Three Third Graders Who Fought for Equality in Education

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Content Group #1 Middle/Elem. School ELA/ELD

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Content Group #1 Middle/Elem. School ELA/ELD

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I have never done a dp challenge but I'm going to give it a go. This is a story told from two pints of view.

First point-of-view
Time
Time is odd, always present. The ticking of my wristwatch tells me it is passing but looking at time would be looking at nothing. I've seen time-lapse videos that show the stars moving in the heavens and the sun arriving and leaving, but I have never seen a minute.

I'm sitting in the café we used to frequent, the one next to the gas station, the one you would complain was too quiet. Even now it is quiet, just the waitress standing next to the coffee machine looking into her phone. It's the old-fashioned feel I love about this gas station. I always imagine a guy in 1950's slacks, white shirt and waistcoat reaching for the pump.

"What's he look like?" you'd ask.

"Dashing and handsome," I replied.

"Really, so nothing like you then..." And you would giggle behind a long-fingered hand, nails in sharp red to match your jacket.

I'd look peeved, and in truth I was. This banter was just between us but sometime it hurt. And instantly my imaginary man would become six inches shorter with an aggressively receding hairline, in other words my father.

"Don't take on so," you'd say and I'd smile, but I knew it never reached my eyes. They say that if you tell someone something over and over again eventually it becomes a truth. It did with me. Although I don't wear the waistcoat I am a far cry from the young twenty-something you knew. And I do look like my father, but that is just appearance.

This café is also like a step back in time, with fifties style table top and stools. The pumps outside are still shiny and red with white round tops. Only the waitress and I have lost our shine. She looks tired and bored. She reminds me of you the last time I saw you. It was here, at this table. You sat opposite me and told me of your fears.

"It's not you, it's me." But as you said it you didn't meet my eyes. You looked everywhere but at me. I knew then that it was my fault.

"But..."

"No, Sam, I have to leave."

I sat there and waited for you to explain. But you didn't. I still don't know why you left, I always put the seat down and I never hit you. Maybe I was a little distant, but I'm just not good with emotion.

Well, happy anniversary. Every year I come back and every year you surprise me by not walking through the door and sitting opposite me, turning your deep brown eyes to mine and smiling. "I made a mistake," you say in my mind and I smile and take hold of your hands.

"Will you take me back?" you ask tentatively and I squeeze your hands in reassurance.

"No," I say. "I have a wife and three children."

Then I get up and walk out. They say that revenge is best served cold and I have mine on ice so that the day you walk through that door I can leave you, my first love, my 1950's bride.

* * * * *

2nd point-of-view
Time
The waitress looked up as an older man came into the cafe. Behind her the cook glanced up and gave a sad smile.

"What?" Melissa asked.

"See to the customer," he snapped.

Melissa loved working in the cafe, although after the night she just had she could have done with a late start. She had tried to swap with Claire but she was having none of it. No one wanted the early morning shift. It was early, and it also got deadly dull after the breakfast rush. Melissa had another hour before the end of her shift and it couldn't come sooner. At least her head had stopped throbbing, but she could do with some shut-eye before she went out again.

Melissa smiled at the man sitting at one of the tables, his eyes glued to the door.

"What can I get you?"

The man switched his gaze to her. "Mug of coffee and apple pie." He didn't look at the menu which Melissa found odd. She was sure she had not seen him before, yet he was ordering like a regular. She was about to open her mouth to ask about ice cream when the man shook his head. "Neither."

Melissa gave a small puzzled grin and went back to the counter. "He wants apple pie," she told Doyle. He nodded and got to work while she made the coffee.

Taking the coffee and pie she set it in front of the man. "Waiting for someone?"

The man didn't look away from the door. "Yes."

For a moment Melissa waited but the man said nothing more and sipped his coffee. From the hatch behind the counter Doyle waved her over.

"So what's his story?" she whispered.

"How long you been here?"

"6 months."

"Then this is the first time you've seen heart-break," Doyle whispered.

"Heart-break?"

"Every year he comes and sits. He will be here an hour and then leave."

"Okay," Melissa said. "Why?"

"Eight years ago that is what I asked the cook. I was in training. And he said that ten years before he," Doyle gestured to the man, "had a fight with his girl. She got up and walked out. Turns out she finished it with him."

"So every year he comes here?"

"Yes, the odd thing is that he sometimes comes with his wife and kids," Doyle said.

"He still comes despite being married?"

"Yep, every year, on this day, for an hour."

Melissa turned back to the man and watched as he continued to sit. The hour ticked by, the time tracked by shadows and the minute hand. When the hour was up he stood. As he came up to pay and Melissa gave him a sympathetic smile. "They didn't turn up?"

The man glanced at her, taking in her tired face and messy hair. "No." he didn't smile.

Behind her Melissa heard Claire arrive. She turned and watched as Claire walked up. Then she turned back to the man. He was gone as if he had never been there. The money was in a neat pile on the counter. There was no tip.

"Who was that?" Claire asked.

"No one," Melissa said.

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Time (short story told from two perspectives)

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I have never done a dp challenge but I'm going to give it a go. This is a story told from two pints of view. First point-of-view Time Time is odd, always present. The ticking of my wristwatch tells me it is passing but looking at time would be looking at nothing.

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Building background knowledge for Refugee to understand the conditions and reality these people face.

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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Print and listen to the music

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A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you."

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion."

A kindness is never wasted.

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A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

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Learning about water pollution in Kentucky

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Aleigha Sloan can't remember ever drinking a glass of water from the tap at her home.

That is "absolutely dangerous," the 17-year-old says, wrinkling her nose and making a face at the thought.

"You just don't touch that tap water unless absolutely necessary. I mean, like showers and things - you have to do what you have to do. But other than that, no," she says. "I don't know anybody that does."

Sloan sits on the couch in her family's cozy two-story house, tucked back along winding rural roads in Huntleyville, Ky., near the West Virginia border. Her mother, BarbiAnn Maynard, 41, is in the kitchen, emptying out a plastic 5-gallon jug that she uses to fetch cooking water from a local spring.

"You take it for granted until you don't have it," Maynard says about a clean water supply. "I think that's the attitude of a lot people right now, but I don't think they understand how close they are to it happening to them."

Americans across the country, from Maynard's home in rural Appalachia to urban areas like Flint, Mich., or Compton, Calif., are facing a lack of clean, reliable drinking water. At the heart of the problem is a water system in crisis: aging, crumbling infrastructure and a lack of funds to pay for upgrading it.

On top of that, about 50 percent of water utilities - serving about 12 percent of the population - are privately owned. This complicated mix of public and private ownership often confounds efforts to mandate improvements or levy penalties, even if customers complain of poor water quality or mismanagement.

Drinking water is delivered nationally via 1 million miles of pipes, many of which were laid in the early to mid-20th century, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. Those pipes are now nearing the end of their life spans.

A 2017 report by the group gave America's water systems a near-failing grade, citing an estimated 240,000 water line breaks a year nationwide.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates it will cost the country nearly $400 billion to fix the problem - a burden that would fall largely on average ratepayers who often don't have the extra money. It's a particularly heavy burden in places like Martin County, one of the poorest counties in the country.

The nearly 12,000 residents in Martin County have to deal with tap water that sometimes comes out brown or milky or smells bad. Other times the water is shut off and nothing comes out of the taps at all. At the Martin County Water Warriors Facebook page, people post videos of their water, share boil water advisory notices or try to figure out how widespread an outage is.

All of this is why Maynard's family doesn't drink the tap water. She says they spend about $30 a week on bottles of drinking water. That's on top of their monthly water bill - about $65 - for water used only for cleaning and flushing the toilets.

Some county residents say they bathe their babies in bottled water to avoid exposing them to the tap water; others store jugs of water near the bathroom in case the tap runs dry in the middle of a shower.

"It's anything other than normal," Maynard sighs. "But it's our normal."

The decades-long problems in Martin County illustrate just how complex the issues are. Leaks in the pipes that carry water throughout the county result in substantial losses of treated water - nearly 65 percent in 2016. And those leaks create a vacuum, sucking in untreated water from the ground that's subsequently delivered to people's homes.

That's especially worrisome given the region's history of mining and industrial activities. In October 2000, a giant coal sludge spill dumped more than 300 million gallons of toxic waste - including heavy metals like arsenic and mercury - into Martin County's river system, which is also its main source for drinking water. Thick black sludge ran downstream for dozens of miles, spilling over onto lawns and roads.

And even after officials announced that the water was safe, the trauma from that spill created mistrust that runs deep to this day.

That concern is warranted, says Gail Brion, a University of Kentucky professor of civil engineering specializing in water infrastructure.

"The treatment plant operators can't control the quality of the water in the pipes if they cannot keep the pipes intact," Brion says. "This is really not on the water quality coming out of the plant. It is on what happens to the water as it goes through this leaky straw."

The Martin County Water District, the private utility that manages the county's water, reported 29 line breaks in 2017 and advised residents to boil their water in case of contamination. There have been a slew of other infrastructure-related issues - like failing intake pumps struggling to fill the reservoir.

The utility spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in September to rent a pump in hopes of fixing the problem, but it wasn't enough. The water level has gotten so low that the utility board recently declared a state of emergency, warning that the system was near collapse. There's a real chance the county could run out of water.

Reporting by the local paper, the Mountain Citizen, prompted the first state investigation into the Martin County Water District, in 2002. Since then, there have been several audits and investigations by the Public Service Commission, the agency that regulates utilities in the state.

Its recommendations have ranged from basic maintenance improvements to better money management to improved water testing - and were mostly not implemented. Since the Martin County Water District is privately owned, it falls largely outside state jurisdiction: Aside from investigations, recommendations and fines, there's little that state governing bodies can do.

In 2016, the Public Service Commission opened another investigation, which is ongoing. Galvanized by the 2000 coal sludge spill, retired public school teacher Nina McCoy, 61, is one of the most vocal water activists in Martin County. She goes to nearly every meeting related to water issues in the county, sometimes spending all day driving to and from Frankfort, the state capital, to attend hearings.

This time around, Mary Cromer, a lawyer from the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, has stepped in to represent the citizens of Martin County pro bono. She travels regularly to the county seat, Inez, where McCoy lives, to help organize local residents.

The region's century-long reliance on the coal industry is one issue, Cromer says, but not the only one.

"This isn't just confined to Martin County. This isn't just confined to Appalachia. We have dilapidated infrastructure all over this country," she says. "And so if you're going to have rural areas that are going to survive, much less thrive, you've got to pay attention to these critical infrastructure needs."

Change is happening in Martin County, albeit slowly. The state attorney general announced in June that his office would be opening an independent investigation into the water utility, specifically focused on alleged money mismanagement. Most of the Martin County Water District board resigned at the beginning of the year, and new leadership was brought in to help right the system.

But the fixes all require money, and the utility is more than $1 million in debt - and it will need millions of dollars to upgrade the system. That's money Martin County simply doesn't have.

Jimmy Kerr, the board's new treasurer, took on the position because he wants to make the county better for his two daughters, but he says it is a daunting task.

"If we don't get our finances in order, we will never be able to give the people of Martin County the water that they want," Kerr says.

The Martin County Water District recently received nearly $5 million in federal grant money, but it's not enough. Now it's looking to raise rates dramatically, something that - aside from some temporary rate hikes to cope with emergency situations - hasn't happened in years. The utility has asked for a nearly 50 percent permanent rate increase, which has left a lot of residents angry.

"I know who I'm hurting. But there's no one coming in on a white horse to save us," Kerr says. "The people of this county did not create this mess, but we're the ones who are going to have to fix it."

That's one thing that many in Martin County seem to agree on - that the residents are going to have to dig in and keep working to fix the water problems here.

Maynard is doing just that, by, among other things, running for local government. She says she is committed to staying in Martin County, where her roots go back six generations.

At the family cemetery, tucked behind a coal mine, there are dozens of graves, adorned with brightly colored flowers and ribbons. She walks carefully between the headstones, pointing out her grandparents and her cousins.

She stops at a tall headstone, piled high with flowers.

"Back here is my mommy, and hers is the prettiest, most fancy one here," she says.

Maynard points down the sloping hill to a corner under a tree. "And I wanna be down there by that rock. Daddy will be right there. My kids will be right there."

She looks around.

"There's no price tag you can put on that," she says.
Maureen Pao edited the Web story. Jolie Myers edited the audio story.

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'You Just Don't Touch That Tap Water Unless Absolutely Necessary'

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Aleigha Sloan can't remember ever drinking a glass of water from the tap at her home. That is "absolutely dangerous," the 17-year-old says, wrinkling her nose and making a face at the thought. "You just don't touch that tap water unless absolutely necessary.

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All Grade Levels

Word problems that have student names and interests in them!

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Japanese Internment Camps Primary Source Reading

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The Ten Black Dots... teaches students how to count to 10 and practices subitizing skills.

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Propaganda posters and political cartoons

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Content Group #1-Middle/Elem. School ELA/ELD

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Content Group #1-Middle/Elem. School ELA/ELD

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Showing many propaganda posters from different times as well as adds to discussion .

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The Book of Mistakes Hardcover - Corinna Luyken

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The Book of Mistakes Hardcover - Corinna Luyken

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https://www.oerproject.com/

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Four Unique Courses for Teaching World History

All three World History Project (WHP) courses are ideal for high-school world history in preparation for AP ®, college, and career. Our WHP AP course is designed to meet the needs of those teaching AP ® World History: Modern.

When you join OER Project, you gain access to a community of engaged teachers like you.
If you are not affiliated with a school, you can register with your own postal/zip code.

Already a member? Login

Enter the classroom code provided by your teacher below. If you have not received a classroom code, please contact your teacher or course administrator.

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OER - A free, online course that meets high school World History standards, OER uses diverse narratives to engage high school students in problem solving and connection making, preparing them to tackle advanced studies and big questions in the future.

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Building background on mangrove forests so students can analyze data

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After dark in a Mexican border town, a father holds open a hole in a wire fence as his wife and two small boys crawl through.

So begins life in the United States for many people every day. And so begins this collection of twelve autobiographical stories by Santa Clara University professor Francisco Jiménez, who at the age of four illegally crossed the border with his family in 1947.

The Circuit, the story of young Panchito and his trumpet, is one of the most widely anthologized stories in Chicano literature. At long last, Jiménez offers more about the wise, sensitive little boy who has grown into a role model for subsequent generations of immigrants.

These independent but intertwined stories follow the family through their circuit, from picking cotton and strawberries to topping carrots--and back agai--over a number of years. As it moves from one labor camp to the next, the little family of four grows into ten. Impermanence and poverty define their lives. But with faith, hope, and back-breaking work, the family endures.

A jewel of a book--Rolando Hinojosa-Smith

These stories are so realistic they choke the heart.--Rudolfo Anaya

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After dark in a Mexican border town, a father holds open a hole in a wire fence as his wife and two small boys crawl through.So begins life in the United States for many people every day.

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Five Little Ducks for intro to counting 0-5

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Content Group#1- Middle/Elem. School ELA/ELD

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Content Group#1- Middle/Elem. School ELA/ELD

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After dark in a Mexican border town, a father holds open a hole in a wire fence as his wife and two small boys crawl through.

So begins life in the United States for many people every day. And so begins this collection of twelve autobiographical stories by Santa Clara University professor Francisco Jiménez, who at the age of four illegally crossed the border with his family in 1947.

The Circuit, the story of young Panchito and his trumpet, is one of the most widely anthologized stories in Chicano literature. At long last, Jiménez offers more about the wise, sensitive little boy who has grown into a role model for subsequent generations of immigrants.

These independent but intertwined stories follow the family through their circuit, from picking cotton and strawberries to topping carrots--and back agai--over a number of years. As it moves from one labor camp to the next, the little family of four grows into ten. Impermanence and poverty define their lives. But with faith, hope, and back-breaking work, the family endures.

A jewel of a book--Rolando Hinojosa-Smith

These stories are so realistic they choke the heart.--Rudolfo Anaya

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After dark in a Mexican border town, a father holds open a hole in a wire fence as his wife and two small boys crawl through.So begins life in the United States for many people every day.

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Use of clips from this movie to show live in OR Territory. Cheesy and fun. Many kids end up going home and watching the whole thing.

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Tutorial: Taking a photo of Physical Text on Padlet

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Tutorial: Taking a photo of Physical Text on Padlet

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Tutorial: Uploading Digital Text to Padlet

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Tutorial: Uploading Digital Text to Padlet