The Mandela Effect–A Research Lesson That’ll Make Their Heads Explode!

Posted by Oct 2, 2023 Accessible ELA Lesson Plans , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m always thinking about high-engagement topics for teaching students to conduct research and tackle informational texts. I was talking to some of my juniors and seniors about the Mandela Effect, and they were super interested. We’re getting ready to delve into research essays, and I wanted to create a lesson that would grab their attention and get them excited about nonfiction reading and note-taking.

It’s a bonus that they’ll have to learn who Nelson Mandela was. History. Sneaky.

Introduce the idea of summarizing and paraphrasing sources in order to support a stance with this fun, 90-minute lesson about the Mandela Effect. Students will learn about the Mandela effect by engaging in a whole-class activity/game to lead in to the concept before completing by a guided research into three famous Mandela Effect cases: Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s, Darth Vader said “Luke, I am Your Father” in Star Wars, and Britney Spears’s skirt in the Baby, One More Time music video.

Streamlined features make this lesson quick and simple:

  • Embedded links to news articles saved to Google Drive; no hearing “this link is expired.”
  • Articles are formatted to be easy to read–no ads or popups!
  • Accompaniment YouTube videos are linked as sources right in the lesson plan document.
  • Intro game can be downloaded as a PDF or accessed in Canva. Either way, all you have to do is open it and go–even if you didn’t look at it before class!
  • Research lesson is ALL ON ONE GOOGLE DOC. Live links for students make sources simple and easy to locate.
  • Graphic organizers help even struggling students navigate the lesson and take effective notes.

I think this will be the perfect lesson for a stand-alone 90-minute block class. Check out the resource, including a preview of the whole thing on TpT!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/E2E-Mandela-Effect-Intro-to-Research-Game-Organizer-90-Minute-ELA-Lesson-Plan-10274928

Keywords: E2E, enraged2engaged, Mandela Effect, research intro, informational text, nonfiction text, evaluate text evidence, note taking organizer, graphic organizer, secondary ELA, high school English, accommodations, modifications, high engagement lesson, 90-minute ELA lesson, google docs, google drive

About sara

I have spent the last 22 years in secondary classrooms. I've run the gamut from criminal, at-risk, or behavior-disordered students to college-bound high-flyers. I am just a regular teacher like you, who learned a lot of quality information the hard way. Currently, I work with students, families, and teachers to formulate effective and creative plans for helping students change problematic behaviors into productive ones as we work together to create success for students in general education high school ELA classes.
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