Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: In the Small, Small Pond (Fleming)
Explore pond life and action words through Denise Fleming's In the Small, Small Pond, which you can find online if you don't have it on hand. Learners explore the following verbs: doze, hover, plunge, scatter, swoop, and wade. Go over...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse (Henkes)
Familiarize budding readers with new vocabulary in context as they listen you read Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, which can be found on YouTube if you don't have in on hand. Recommended focus words here are: considerate, creative,...
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: Assessment Strategy
Close up your study of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science with a letter-writing assignment. Pupils prepare by journaling and sharing with a partner. They then compose letters that focus on a big idea from the...
EngageNY
Paragraph Writing About Waiting for the Biblioburro
Ask your learners to synthesize what they know about Waiting for the Biblioburro by writing a well-organized paragraph. Young writers focus on using transition words and including specific details in their paragraphs. The plan allows for...
Curated OER
My Antonia: Bloom’s Taxonomy Questions
How well do your pupils know My Antonia by Willa Cather? Take some time to create questions about the text. After examining a teacher model, individuals write questions that match each level of Bloom's Taxonomy and draft answers to these...
Curated OER
Paradise Lost: Bloom’s Taxonomy of Thinking Processes
Chapter II of John Milton's Paradise Lost provides the text for a series of comprehension questions crafted using Bloom's Taxonomy.
Curated OER
Let Me Tell You About My State
State reports can be a lot of fun, especially when the learners get to choose the state they study. This research and writing-focused social studies lesson engages learners in collecting information, essay structure, research, and...
Curated OER
Propaganda and World War II
What was the true meaning behind WWII propaganda posters? Historians analyze images from the U.S., Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union, sharing findings in small groups. A poster analysis worksheet and all posters are...
Curated OER
KWHL Questioning Strategy for Briar Rose
Whether new to the KWHL strategy or not readers of Briar Rose will benefit from the detailed procedures and templates designed for Jane Yolen’s novel. Links are provided for research into the Holocaust and activities reveal the many...
Curated OER
The Old Man and the Sea: Questioning Strategies
Readers learn to ask questions about text with an activity based on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. As they read, class members craft questions based on Bloom's Taxonomy and then find the answers themselves.
Scholastic
The First Thanksgiving Feast for Grades 6–8
It's time for the feast! Young historians complete their study of the First Thanksgiving by completing an online activity, watching a slideshow, and examining a First Thanksgiving timeline. After answering text-dependent questions to...
Curated OER
Waterfalls
Third graders practice identifying the main idea and supporting details when reading informational text. They read text related to waterfalls and practice note taking skills to identify critical details. Students use their notes to...
Curated OER
Showdown on the Frontier
Especially critical following a series of shootings in schools, theaters, and religious buildings, it's safe to say that we need to evaluate the current laws on gun control. Eighth graders read a New York Times article in order to better...
Curated OER
Trade Secrets
Young analysists explore how global trade and free market policies might personally affect them. They read an article, view a series of documenteries, and engage in a class discussion. Great lesson!
Curated OER
A Way with Words
How do facts and opinions impact the news? After reading "How to Cover a War" from the New York Times, middle schoolers evaluate the claims in the article. They also consider the media's responsibilities in reporting during wartime....
Curated OER
For the Record
Students read a New York Times article in order to examine the importance of cultural artifacts. They create essays from the point of view of one cultural artifact to demonstrate the knowledge they gained by doing research.
Curated OER
Comprehension Questions: "Papa's Parrot"
Readers demonstrate comprehension and reflect on their reading of Cynthia Rylant's short story "Papa's Parrot." They recall, infer, analyze, speculate, synthesize, and make judgments about the content of the text.
College Board
2007 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B
Do museums offer eyes into the past? Scholars synthesize sources to make a claim in an essay about the importance each museum artifact deserves. Pupils also write to analyze journalist level of ethics as well as a speech by Wendell...
Curated OER
Prom king...or not?
Pupils conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to...
Curated OER
Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Eighth graders read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and participate in whole class discussions. They evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information in the text in order to explain character motivation and action. Students produce an essay...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.7
Considering adding more research to your curriculum? Check out this idea. The assignment example, which connects to the Common Core, is written for a lesson on "The Scarlet Ibis." However, you could adapt the bigger idea to almost any...
Curated OER
What can money tell us?
Students study the physical presence, imagery and written text on a reproduction of colonial currency. They apply their research to a modern day quarter to compare and contrast two coins. In addition, they design their own colonial...
Curated OER
Hoot: Bloom's Taxonomy- Questioning Strategy
What better way to examine a text than to ask your own questions? Use Bloom's taxonomy to guide kids through Carl Hiaasen's Hoot by asking questions based on knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Curated OER
Using Aphorisms to Help Dealing with People
Here's a formal plan for what many effective teachers already do: Provide a week's worth of aphorisms and have learners choose one to write about in their journals each day. They reflect on the meaning of each aphorism and project how it...