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Unit Plan
1
1
Film Foundation

To Kill a Mockingbird: Historical and Cultural Context

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
As part of their study of the film adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird, class members analyze how Robert Mulligan uses the film lens to depict the historical period and social issues presented in Harper Lee's novel. A superior resource...
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Unit Plan
Roald Dahl

The BFG Lesson Plans

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
A 55-page unit examines the novel, The BFG, by Roald Dahl. Six lessons pay close attention to friendship, dreams, and believing themes while analyzing interesting characters, writing creative vocabulary, smilies, metaphors, an exciting...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl Matilda Lesson Plans

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Fifty eye-catching pages contain six lessons about Roald Dahl's novel, Matilda. Each lesson has a theme and covers a different subject—literacy, social-emotional learning, science, and geography. Scholars analyze characters, examine...
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Assessment
IPA Productions

A Christmas Carol - The Story

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
Thirty-six pages familiarize scholars with the story and vocabulary of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. After reading and listening to an abbreviated version of the holiday tale learners show what they know about the sequence of...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Echoes & Reflections

The "Final Solution"

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Nazi policies shifted from deportation and imprisonment to extermination of the Jewish people in death camps in the "Final Solution." Learners examine photos of artifacts, read poetry written by survivors, analyze testimony from...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Echoes & Reflections

Survivors and Liberators

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The end was just the beginning. The period immediately after the end of World War II and the Holocaust is often called "The Return to Life" as survivors looked to reunite and recreate broken families and shattered lives. A two-lesson...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Echoes & Reflections

The Ghettos

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young historians examine primary sources, including diaries, poems, and photographs, to consider the conditions in the ghettos and how they fit into the escalation of the Third Reich's plot against the Jewish people. 
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Lesson Plan
Digital Public Library of America

Teaching Guide: Exploring Little Women

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...
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Activity
Novelinks

Words by Heart: Question Answer Relationship

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Even though readers investigate matters of the heart, this activity promotes the inner workings of learners' brains. The fifth lesson of six has the teacher first model the strategy to the class before having small groups practice. To...
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Unit Plan
Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory unit is a golden ticket for teachers looking for nicely written plans. Elementary and middle schoolers draw their impressions of characters, design and market their own candy creations, and use...
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Study Guide
Scholastic

A Reading Guide to A Wrinkle in Time

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
Accompany a reading of Madeleine L'Engle's classic tale, A Wrinkle in Time, with a detailed guide equipped with 15 informative and useful chapters. Scholars discover who the author is, why she wrote the book, and crucial story elements...
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Unit Plan
2
2
Poetry Foundation

Dream in Color — Middle School

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Celebrate diversity with a toolkit designed to inspire young poets to develop their own voices. After examining poems by African American poets, individuals craft their own poetic stories. The packet features poems by Gwendolyn Brooks,...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

Magical Musical Tour: Using Lyrics to Teach Literary Elements

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Language arts learners don't need a lecture about poetry; they listen to poetry every day on the radio! Apply skills from literary analysis to famous songs and beautiful lyrics with a activity about literary devices. As class...
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Lesson Plan
MENSA Education & Research Foundation

It’s Greek to Me: Greek Mythology

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
It's no myth: this packet on Greek mythology is an excellent addition to your social studies curriculum. With writing activities, such as short answer responses and biopoems, and reading activities, which include creation stories and...
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Worksheet
1
1
K12 Reader

If

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Rudyard Kipling's advice to his son in the poem "If" is a resounding message that echoes through generations. After reading the famous poem, middle schoolers work on analyzing specific lines, completing activities based on unfamiliar...
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Activity
Curated OER

On Target: Strategies to Help Readers Make Meaning through Inferences

For Students 4th - 12th Standards
Here's a resource that explicitly teaches, models, and provides readers with opportunities to practice the process of drawing inferences from text. Packed with strategies elementary, middle, and high school teachers can use, the resource...
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Lesson Plan
11
11
Illinois State Board of Education

Common Core Teaching and Learning Strategies

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library, whether or not your school has adopted the Common Core. Designed for middle and high school language arts classes, the packet is packed with teaching tips, materials,...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Curated OER

The Glorious Whitewasher

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Young readers can be exposed to the literary works of Mark Twain as they interact with challenging text and gain experience by reading the complex passages of chapter two "The Glorious Whitewasher" from his famous book, The Adventures of...
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Unit Plan
3
3
Curated OER

Farewell to Manzanar

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Examine human resilience across two texts with a detailed unit. Over the course of a week, learners will conduct a close reading of excerpts from Unbroken and Farewell to Manzanar. The resource includes clear procedures for reading and...
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Unit Plan
National Library of Medicine

Electricity, Frankenstein, and the Spark of Life

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Shocking! After viewing a short clip from the 1931 movie, Frankenstein and reviewing electricity references in Mary Shelley's novel, class members examine Luigi Galvani's and Alessandro Volta's observations on electricity and muscle...
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Lesson Plan
Gateways

Teaching the Easter Story

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
If you are looking for a secular approach to teaching about Easter, this may just be the resource for you. Pupils read a paraphrased text depicting the last supper, arrest, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ as told in the Bible, while also...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare

For Teachers 7th Standards
Jacque's soliloquy from Act II, scene ii of As You Like It sets the stage for a close reading exercise that models how to approach difficult, dense text and enables readers to practice reading comprehension and analysis skills. Learners...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Advertising in the Contemporary World: An Introduction to Persuasive Texts

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Beginning a persuasive writing unit with your middle schoolers? Approach it through something that persuades us all: advertising! Through studying video and print advertisement, your class will practice Common Core skills for reading...
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Lesson Plan
7
7
The New York Times

Stress Less: Understanding How Your Mind and Body Respond to Anxiety

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What could be more relevant to teens and preteens than experiencing stress? Use an article from the New York Times website to practice valuable Common Core skills for informational text reading, and also get a discussion going in your...