Curated OER
Ag In The Outfield
Young scholars explore baseball. This is a cross-curricular plan that includes math, history, and agriculture. Pupils use their five senses to observe the materials a baseball is made from and identify the agricultural products used. In...
Curated OER
Just Lookin' For a Home
What is a boll weevil? Your class can find out that and more by following the activities included here. Pupils read an article, sing a boll weevil song, add to the song with their own original lyrics, illustrate the song, study the...
Curated OER
Truth or Hogwash
Explore the history of domesticated pigs and their important byproducts. After discussing the use of pigs, class members create game boards describing the animals. While playing the game, they determine if the answers are true or...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Concept to Classroom: Inquiry Based Learning
One of eleven workshops presented by Concept to Classroom, this workshop on Inquiry-based Learning takes you through four major steps (explanation, demonstration, exploration, and implementation) to learn about it, then put it into...
Beacon Learning Center
Beacon Learning Center: If You've Seen One Source, You've Seen Them All. Right?
This is a tutorial teaching the difference between primary and secondary research sources. It provides specific examples and asks students to answer questions along the way. Java is required.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Writing With Scientists
After students investigate a topic through research, hypothesizing, observing, and experimentating, teachers can use this instructional activity to help their students prepare short science reports and publish them online. The Writing...
Beacon Learning Center
Beacon Learning Center: Information Elimination: Lesson on Narrowing the Topic
This is a tutorial which focuses on how to narrow the topic for expository writing, how to determine what information to keep or eliminate, and what questions to ask yourself. Students respond to questions throughout. A comparison is...
Scholastic
Scholastic: Writing Workshop: Research Paper
A site for both students and teachers to explore the writing of a research paper. Find teacher resources, student interactive mini-lessons, and a review of types of research resources.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Research Building Blocks: Examining Electronic Sources
This lesson helps elementary students identify the important components of web site evaluation. It includes a website evaluation question sheet.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Metamorphosis Stories of Change
The goal of this activity is for students to learn how to tell a story in order to make a complex topic (such as global warming or ozone holes) easier for a reader to grasp. Students realize that the narrative impulse underlies even...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Pingus Penguins: Writing Good Instructions
Students use the free computer game Pingus to learn how engineers, specifically environmental engineers, use their technical writing skills to give instructions and follow the instructions of others. Students learn to write instructions...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Cool Tools for Finding Information (Grade 3 4)
Identify text structures in various informational sources.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: A Storm of Ideas
The first step in writing an informational text on the topic of students' choice is helping the student choose a topic of interest. Students will brainstorm ideas that will be possible final topics.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Researching a Topic: Teaching Students to Research Information
Students will conduct a short research project about a topic. This lesson focuses on how to find the information needed on their chosen topic.
Other
Educator Voices: Grade 3 Research Skills Unit
Describes the process teachers went through to create a lesson unit where students first brainstormed what it means to do research, then were tasked with choosing a topic, researching it, and presenting on it several days later. The...
Scholastic
Scholastic History Mystery
Students will choose from a variety of concepts and can play a game to enhance their learning.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Who Doesn't Want to Be a Millionaire
Inspired by Barry Lane's book 51 Wacky We-Search Reports, in this cross-curricular lesson students learn how to summarize properly.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: The Wacky Classroom Calendar
Inspired by Barry Lane's book 51 Wacky We-Search Reports, in this cross-curricular lesson plan students learn how to summarize properly.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: The Wacky Advertisement (With Disclaimer) Activity
Inspired by Barry Lane's book 51 Wacky We-Search Reports, in this cross-curricular lesson students learn how to summarize properly.
E Reading Worksheets
E Reading Worksheets: Genre Activities
This learning module features "genre" as the topic for PowerPoint presentations, lessons, and quizzes. Numerous projects with the "genre" theme are available for further exploration as opportunities for more in-depth investigations.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
Depaul University: Center for Urban Education: K Plus [Pdf]
Students can use this information to collect facts about a topic. Students will collect information but record the "gold standard" of facts only.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Literature in Nonfiction Inquiry
This lesson plan involves students working in groups after reading a work of literature to develop text sets. Included in the lesson plan is an overview, practice, objectives, resources, preparation, and more.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Question and Answer Books From Genre Study to Report Writing
Contains plans for eight lessons that explore Question and Answer Books and ask students to do research in order to write their own. In addition to objectives and standards, these instructional plans contain links to sites used in the...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Technical Reading and Writing Using Board Games
Contains plans for a game that helps teach technical reading and writing while reviewing a novel that young scholars have read. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains links to sites used in the lessons...