I wrote this mini-lesson for my community service class. Students were studying ethical dilemmas and the consequences and values compromised when making choices. This mini project sends students searching for pop songs of their choice to identify an ethical dilemma. Included are the criteria for an ethical dilemma, some pre-search scenarios to get kids thinking about what comprises an ethical dilemma, a short song list you could present a few songs from to start and parameters for the students choices. Project takes about two days to do in class. One for you, and one for them. This lesson would be good for a Leadership Class, a homeroom activity in character education or as an icebreaker to a contemporary issues social studies class. This mini lesson was not rocket science, but it was fun and students enjoyed connecting the idea of ethical dilemmas to their favourite music.

This book centers on the topic of name calling and fitting in at a small town middle school. Four students labeled by their peers on a repeated basis take a stand and run for Student Council on a platform of No Name Calling. The characters are all people who kids can relate to, this book is an excellent launch point for the topic of in-school bullying. Reading guide contains 79 questions organized by chapter and opportunities for students to REFLECT and share in small groups along the way on a variety of topics. REFLECT opportunities can be assigned as independent journal entries and help to facilitate discussions in class, and 8 discussion topics, with suggestions for interviews, independent research and large group discussion. Best suited for a middle school audience, alternates between narration/play format with good places for read alouds. It will prompt some excellent discussion around acceptance, difference, and hopefully some solutions to making middle school experience better.

This 96 question reading guide accompanies the book La Línea by Ann Jaramillo. The story is fiction but based on facts she learned from her own ELL students. This story chronicles the perilous journey of two Mexican children heading North to reunite with their parents. This book is in English but is full of Spanish words and would be a great filler activity to read in a lower level Spanish class for a few minutes daily or to use in a middle school classroom or with ELL learners who could connect with the story. The book is highly recommended and positively reviewed. Its a cliff hanger in parts and a tear jerker in others, and should invite students to be introspective about the hot topic of illegal immigrants in the US. This book would also work well with the film "La Misma Luna" or the documentary "WETBACK".

These open ended, closed ended, decoding and reflection questions accompany the book HOME OF THE BRAVE by Katherine Applegate. This book tells the story of Kek, a refugee from Dharfur who relocates to Minnesota. This beautiful book is written in free verse and is an easy read for anyone in middle or high school. The underlying themes are deep and strike personal connections with many students. The language is not difficult and would be excellent reading for an ELL class of students. Questions are in order by chapter and there is a list of additional resources at the end on Youtube so you can educate everyone on the complexities of the situation in Dharfur and cultivate an understanding of the loss the suffering these refugees bring with them to the US. This book is culturally sensitive and opens up a lot of great discussions, and while sad at times, has some great comical moments.

This lesson contains 82 guided reading questions in chronological order that accompany the book ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams. One Crazy Summer is a delightful story written for middle school or early high school aged reader, that explores themes of Black identity in Oakland during the Civil Rights era. Students explore themes and reflect on quotes in addition to the questions and some "in your opinion" questions that help them to gain a deeper meaning of the text. Also included are some brainstorm topics for pre-search prior to reading with a video link and discussion questions for follow up. Book takes about two weeks to teach. This book would also work well in conjunction with a social studies unit on the Civil Rights movement at the middle school level. One Crazy Summer Guided reading questions by Barbara Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

This 110 question reading guide accompanies the book The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez. Questions are chronologically ordered by chapter and provide many opportunities for Reflections, Connections, and sharing in partner and small groups. Also included is a glossary of terms for the Spanish vocabulary sprinkled throughout the text. This is an excellent book for 9-10th grade readers, with lots of opportunities to discuss discrimination, family, and other challenges young people of color face in our country today. Be ready for some great discussions! The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez : Reading Guide by Barbara Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

an excellent book for young readers and has won many awards. It is probably best suited for 8th-11th graders. It does contain a few swear words, but for the most part is appropriate for young readers. Reading guide has 115 questions in chronological order, organized by chapter with pages. Also included are 6 follow up discussion questions. If you are reading the book for the first time with the students, these will be useful to you as well as your students. An excellent book if you have a multi-cultural classroom or students that come from impoverished backgrounds as they will be able to identify with the narrator. Creative Commons License The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Barbara Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.