Subtopic: Critical Reading

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Resource	Grade Level	Media Type
Analogies - The Baka of Cameroon, West Africa Students complete analogies and connect them to information about the Baka of Cameroon, West Africa.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Analyzing and Comparing Perspectives on Issues - Gorillas Students compare and contrast their perspectives on raising gorillas in captivity with their peers and with scientists. They summarize their perspectives and the perspectives of others.	5-12	Lesson Plan
Analyzing an Issue From Three Perspectives - Smoking in Public Places Students note various perspectives on the debate about smoking in public places in NYC and create an interview to research the perspectives of peers and community members. They write a report to present their findings and opinion on the issue.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Analyzing Information - Can Pigs be Pets? Students identify a main idea as well as analyze, evaluate and interpret new information, personal experiences and prior knowledge to form an opinion which they then write about.	3-5	Lesson Plan
Ancestors Talk Through Drums In this segment from EGG:the arts show, meet Camilo Gaetan who is becoming a master drummer.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Animal Shelter In this video segment from WILD TV, dogs are housed in an animal shelter in Albuquerque, New Mexico.	3-8	QuickTime Video
The Book In this video segment from Jakers! Abuelita describes her life as a migrant worker.	1-4	QuickTime Video
The Buzz about Fact and Opinion Students differentiate between fact and opinion on a handout with statements about bees.	3-5	Lesson Plan
Cats In this video segment from Nature, learn about cats and consider the possibility that the cat may become the number one choice of pet owners.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Cause and Effect Relationships - Silence of the Bees Students write an essay that synthesizes the cause and effect relationship the disappearance of bees will cause.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Chalk Sculpture In this video segment from Art in the 21st Century: Paradox, two artists create a public art piece using giant pieces of chalk.	6-12	QuickTime Video
A Character's Perspective - Colonial House Students watch a video segment that shows the reactions of colonists and native people when they encounter one another for the first time during a colony settlement reenactment. Students then select a character and write a letter from that character’s point of view that describes the meeting.	6-8	Lesson Plan
City Horses Part I Carolyne DeGrammont of the Cedar Lane Stables in Queens, NY talks about why she enjoys horses in this video segment from Wild TV.	3-8	QuickTime Video
City Parrots In this video segment from WILD TV, learn about wild parrots that breed and nest in Brooklyn.	3-8	QuickTime Video
City Pigeons Learn about the history of pigeons in this video segment from WILD TV.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Cloud A round up of wild horses proves too strenuous for a young colt in this video segment from Nature.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Colony Collapse Disorder In this video segment from Nature, scientists work to discover why bees are disappearing.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Compare and Contrast - City Pigeons and City Parrots Students take notes on similarities and differences between two types of city birds using a T-chart and then construct a Venn diagram to compare and contrast them.	4-8	Lesson Plan
Compare and Contrast Information from Multiple Sources - Wolong's Pandas Students compare and contrast information from three sources to determine the reasons that contributed to panda population decline. They draw conclusions from these sources by writing their own paragraphs.	5-7	Lesson Plan
Comparing and Contrasting - Explorers of Yesterday and Today Students write essays that compare and contrast two explorers of Yellowstone National Park, Tom Murphy, a modern day explorer and photographer and John Colter, an explorer who traveled across the same area almost 200 years ago.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Comparing and Contrasting - Grassland, Desert, and Forest Elephants Students use a T-chart to take notes on the similarities and differences among elephants. With partners, they organize their notes and construct a Venn diagram with illustrations.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Comparing Education Around the World Students compare and contrast the circumstances surrounding two boys’ experiences at schools in different countries.	3-5	Lesson Plan
Creating a Hypothesis - The Intelligent Robot Students watch a video segment that discusses developing intelligent robots, and then write paragraphs that provide detailed hypotheses of results that could come from this endeavor.	6-12	Lesson Plan
Developing Supporting Ideas - A Garden Grows in Brooklyn Students design and draw a garden and give reasons to support why their garden is important to the neighborhood.	3-6	Lesson Plan
Disappearance of the Bees - What's the Impact? The disappearance of bees will have tremendous impact upon the way we live according to scientists in this segment from Nature.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Documenting Change In this video segment from New York Voices, botanists study plants to inform agriculture and climate change.	3-12	QuickTime Video
The Double V In this video segment from Soldiers Without Swords, learn about the "Double V" campaign launched by the black press during World War II to empower African-Americans at home and abroad on the war front.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Drawing Conclusions - Polka Town, U.S.A. Students draw conclusions from basic premises they identify while watching a video. They test each other’s conclusions based on the explicit and implicit information that is available to the reader.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Drawing Conclusions - Is This a Map of the Underground Railroad? After watching a video segment, students complete a graphic organizer to establish evidence regarding the authenticity of a map and whether it is or is not a map of the Underground Railroad.	6-12	Lesson Plan
Drawing Conclusions - Miss Navajo Students watch a video documenting the Navajo language portion of the Miss Navajo Nation beauty contest, determine the main responsibilities of the winner of Miss Navajo Nation and complete graphic organizers to write paragraphs that highlight these details and explain their inferences.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Evaluating the Validity of Information - Did the Chinese Discover America in 1421? Students evaluate evidence regarding the Chinese building a massive fleet for naval exploration then determine whether the evidence presented is valid.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Explicit and Implicit Language – Interpreting the Meaning of the 14th Amendment Students watch two video segments about the 14th Amendment and then write an essay addressing where the amendment is explicit or implicit in meaning.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Explorers of Yesterday and Today Explorer Tom Murphy braves a ground blizzard during a winter night in Yellowstone as seen in this video segment from Nature.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Fact or Opinion - Manatees Students differentiate between facts and opinions about manatees.	5-7	Lesson Plan
Fire Cloud Firefighters fight a raging fire on a wild horse range in Montana in this video segment from Nature.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Gullah Music In this video segment from EGG: the arts show, visit Sapelo Island, an island in Georgia inhabited by descendants of African slaves.	4-12	QuickTime Video
The Healing Totem In this video segment from New York Voices, Native-Americans make a gift of a commemorative totem pole for the September 11th tragedy.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Historic Relationships Between Dogs and Humans In this video segment from Nature, learn the history of the world’s first domesticated animal, the dog.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Identifying Different Perspectives - Camilo's Drums Students complete a graphic organizer that illustrates the multiple perspectives presented in the video segments.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Identifying Important and Unimportant Details - An Ornithologist's Job Students distinguish between important and unimportant details and, acting as news reporters, write an article about the job of an ornithologist.	4-8	Lesson Plan
Identifying Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives - Dogs That Changed the World Students identify social, cultural, and historical perspectives regarding the importance of dogs in the past and present. They write and illustrate list poems that incorporate each perspective.	5-8	Lesson Plan
Identifying the Social and Cultural Context of a Period - The New Negro and the Harlem Renaissance Students write an essay summarizing the social and cultural changes in African American life and attitudes during the Harlem Renaissance.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Interpreting Data, Facts and Ideas from Informational Texts - A Different Kind of Fuel Students watch a video about the world’s need to find a replacement for fossil fuels and scientists' attempts to produce energy. Students then answer questions by using their understanding of the text and details from the segment to support their answers.	6-12	Lesson Plan
Is This a Map of the Underground Railroad? In this segment from History Detectives, Anne Zorela, a map collector, believes she's found a map that outlines the routes of the Underground Railroad.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Jamaica Bay Introduction In this video segment from WILD TV, learn about the field study of scientists observing raccoons and terrapins in Jamaica Bay.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Jarrod Studies Birds In this video segment from WILD TV, an ornithologist describes his job.	3-8	QuickTime Video
A Look at a Kenyan Classroom In this video segment from Wide Angle, learn about education in Kenya by visiting the first-grade classroom of Joab, a young Kenyan boy.	3-12	QuickTime Video
Making and Monitoring Predictions - Pet Advice and Jamaica Bay Students respond to prompts that help them make and monitor predictions about two video segments. They reflect on whether predicting influenced their comprehension of the texts.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Making Predictions - The Injured Otter Students watch a video segment that shows a young injured otter’s attempts to locate his missing family. Then they predict what happens next and then write a narrative account of these events from three possible points of view: the injured otter, the filmmaker or an animal behaviorist.	6-10	Lesson Plan
Manatees In this video segment from Nature, a veterinarian talks about the Florida manatee, an endangered species.	3-8	QuickTime VR Video
Neeraj In this video segment from Wide Angle, learn about Neeraj's home and school in India.	4-12	QuickTime Video
An Ornithologist’s Job In this video segment from WILD TV, an ornithologist describes his job.	3-8	QuickTime Video
Persuasive Presentation - Pigeons and Gardens Students assess a video segment using a rubric they construct that identifies the components of effective persuasive presentations.	5-7	Lesson Plan
Pulaski, Wisconsin - Polka Town, U.S.A. The town of Pulaski, Wisconsin claims to have more musicians per capita than anywhere in the U.S. Learn about Pulaski, a town that thrives on polka music in this video segment from EGG: the arts show.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Recurring Themes - The Lives of Nanavi and Neeraj Students practice identifying themes using questions from varying perspectives (their own, the author’s and the main character’s).	4-7	Lesson Plan
Taking a Stand The Baka are a semi-nomadic forest people who live in the republic of Cameroon in central Africa. In this video from Africa, the Baka men meet with a government official for help to protect their forest.	4-12	QuickTime Video
Unforgettable Elephants A family of elephants rescues a baby elephant kidnapped by a rival elephant family in this video segment from Nature.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Using Prior Knowledge from Personal Experiences - Understanding Duke Ellington Students use prior knowledge to compare their own experiences to those of Duke Ellington.	1-6	Lesson Plan
The Voyage of Zheng He I This video segment adapted from 1421: The Year the Chinese Discovered America? introduces the theory that the Chinese discovered America prior to Columbus.	6-12	QuickTime Video
The Voyage of Zheng He II In this video segment adapted from 1421: The Year the Chinese Discovered America?, learn more about the theory that the Chinese discovered America prior to Columbus.	6-12	QuickTime Video
What's the Author's Purpose? Animal Shelter Using a 2-column chart, students scaffold their thinking and draw conclusions about the author’s purpose.	4-8	Lesson Plan
What Do You Infer? Animal Shelter Students identify which statements made in a video segment are inferences.	4-6	Lesson Plan
What was the Harlem Renaissance? Professor Kate Rushin describes the Harlem Renaissance as a large social and cultural movement fueled by many factors in this video from A Walk Through Harlem.	6-12	QuickTime Video
Wolong's Pandas Wild pandas are treated at the Wolong Conservation Center in this video segment from Nature.	4-12	QuickTime Video

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Subtopic: Critical Reading