MS ELA ORM-Slam Dunk Index


 

book with pencil 

  Middle School: English Language Arts



*PDF versions are provided for student access on Chromebooks. PPTs may be customized by the teacher/librarian and then posted as PDFs in Schoology. 

Direct links to database content within these models may require authentication with logins available on the BCPS Digital Content page in the Apps Portal.

** Some labeled Slam Dunks are available in Schoology lesson format; consult your curriculum or ask your library media specialist.

 

Grade 6 ELA 

  • American Graffiti (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How has graffiti art influenced American culture?

  • Bionic Dreams (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How have recent developments in the field of bionics advanced human health?

  • Celebrating Juneteenth (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT
    What are the best ways to celebrate the importance of Juneteenth in American history? 
  • Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers  (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How did community and culture influence Cesar Chavez’s development and perspective?

  • Civil Disobedience (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How did civil disobedience shape the Civil Rights Movement?

  • Dedicated Animals  (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    Aside from being companions, how have animals served humans?

  • Disaster Strikes! Survival and Relationships in The Cay  (ORM)  CourseArc
    How are people and their relationships affected by a disaster?

  • Esperanza Rising  (ORM)  CourseArc

    How does an understanding of the historical and cultural background of Esperanza Rising enhance your reading of the novel?

  • Exotic Animals (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    Why are some exotic animals illegal to own as pets?

  • Extreme Fear: Focus on Phobias (ORM)  CourseArc
    How can conducting research affect your opinion of a phobia?
  • Gary Paulsen (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How do our experiences shape who we become?

  • Meet the Olympians (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How well did the author characterize the Greek gods and goddesses in the novel Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief?

  • Naming Traditions and Brown Girl Dreaming (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How do names and naming traditions reflect cultural values? 

  • Overcoming Obstacles (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How have people overcome obstacles to find success?

  • Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (ORM)  CourseArc

    How does learning about the historical period help you to better understand the novel Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes?

  • Sundown Towns (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How have segregation practices like "sundown towns" continued to affect American people's lives and communities? 

 

Grade 6 ELA - Advanced Academics

  • American Graffiti (Slam Dunk)  PDF PPT*
    How has graffiti art influenced American culture? 

  • Careers in Sports and Space (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    Do the benefits of a career in sports or space outweigh the risks?

  • Celebrating Juneteenth (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT
    What are the best ways to celebrate the importance of Juneteenth in American history? 
  • Civil Disobedience (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How did civil disobedience shape the Civil Rights Movement? 

  • Dystopian Inspiration (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How do events in an author's life and times shape or influence his/her writing?

  • Going Ape: A Look at Primatology (Slam Dunk )  PDF | PPT*
    What is the global impact of the study of primates? 
  • Media Depictions (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT* | Schoology Lesson** 
    How are individuals and groups depicted in the media?

  • Meet Mr. Shakespeare  (ORM)  CourseArc

    Who was William Shakespeare, and how did he become one of the most popular and influential authors of all time?

  • Meet the Olympians - AA (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How well did Edith Hamilton characterize the Greek gods and goddesses in the text Mythology?

  • Naming Traditions and Brown Girl Dreaming (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How do names and naming traditions reflect cultural values?  

  • One Crazy Year (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How did the events of 1968 shape American culture?

  • Power of the Pen: Writers as Agents of Social Change (ORM)  CourseArc

    How can writers serve as agents of change in society?

  • Screenplay, Take 1!  (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How do I create a dystopian society screenplay?

  • Sundown Towns (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How have segregation practices like "sundown towns" continued to affect American people's lives and communities?
  • Two Lives Changed: I Will Always Write Back (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How are Zimbabwean and American cultures both similar and different?

 

Grade 6-8 Reading Research

  • Unit 1: Connecting to Research: Unsolved Mysteries (ORM)  CourseArc
    How can I determine the validity and reliability of sources to develop a position about an unsolved mystery?
  • Unit 2: Making Cultural Connections (ORM)  CourseArc
    How do fictional texts authentically reflect cultural beliefs and practices?
  • Unit 3: Making Scientific Connections (ORM)  CourseArc
    How has a scientifically-enhanced invention changed and developed over time? 
  • Unit 4: Making Artistic Connections (ORM)  CourseArc
    How are narrative elements reflected in traditional vs. graphic texts?

 

Grade 7 ELA

  • Achieving Greatness through Bold Actions (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT
    How have bold actions allowed kids and teens to achieve greatness? 

  • Epidemic Experts (ORM)  CourseArc

    How do the time period, location, and people's roles in a society impact their response to an epidemic?

  • Imagining History (ORM) CourseArc
    How do authors use or alter history to write historical fiction? 

  • The Miracle Worker (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    Why did the author title this play The Miracle Worker

 

Grade 7 ELA - Advanced Academics

  • Actions Speak Louder: Activating Your Voice (ORM)  CourseArc
    How can I activate my voice to inspire others and promote social change? 

  • Epidemic Experts - AA (ORM)  CourseArc

    How can I use historical facts about an epidemic and narrative writing techniques to create historical fiction?

  • George Orwell's Animal Farm (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How do historical and political movements inspire and influence writers?

  • Hidden Figures (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How are arguments developed in an effective way?

  • Imagining History (ORM) CourseArc
    How do authors use or alter history to write historical fiction?  

  • Inspiration: A Poet's Life and Themes (Slam Dunk) PDF | PPT* | Schoology Lesson** 

           How might a poet's life experience influence themes in their work? 

  • Raisin in the Sun  (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How will application of the sociological approach help you to understand racial tensions in Chicago in the 1950s?

 

Grade 8 ELA

  • American Civil War: Background Research for Historical Fiction  (ORM)  CourseArc

    How does an understanding of the historical and cultural background of the American Civil War enhance your reading of historical fiction?

  • Beyond Heroes and Holidays: Belonging (ORM)  CourseArc 

    How do people develop a sense of belonging within a new culture?

  • Farewell to Manzanar (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    What kind of emotions did the internees feel as a result of living in the camps?

  • Mind Your Manners!  Learning Civility (ORM)  CourseArc 
    Should students be required to take classes in manners, etiquette, or civility?

  • Refugee (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How do the experiences of refugees transcend time and place? 

 

Grade 8 ELA - Advanced Academics

  • All the World's a Stage: Western Drama from Ancient Greece to Shakespeare's England (ORM)  CourseArc
    How did Western drama evolve from ancient Greece to Shakespeare's England?

  • Beyond Heroes and Holidays: Belonging (ORM)  CourseArc 

    How do people develop a sense of belonging within a new culture? 

  • The Book Thief  (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    Is The Book Thief a better example of historical fiction, postmodernism, or magical realism?

  • Dracula (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    How is the Gothic mode used to create suspense within the reader?

  • Human Made Monsters (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How are society's fears reflected in the monsters we create? 

  • Humor in The Princess Bride (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How does the author employ literary elements in The Princess Bride in order to create humor? 

  • I am Malala (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT

    What cultural factors would impact a young girl in Pakistan in 2012?

  • Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité!  (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*

    Is a revolution a justifiable means of changing the power structure in a society?

  • Little, but Fierce: Allusions in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How do authors reuse and reinvent old stories? 

  • Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy: Setting & Suspense (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How does the setting contribute to suspense in the novel Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy?

  • Refugee (Slam Dunk)  PDF | PPT*
    How do the experiences of refugees transcend time and place?

  • Slavery and Abolitionism  (Slam Dunk) PDF | PPT*

    How does an understanding of the historical and cultural background of A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass enhance your reading of the novel?