Madison Public Schools
Journalism
Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...
Curated OER
Death On Board La Belle: Finding Clues from Old Bones
Students practice analyzing skeletal remains for clues by using the Internet. In this scientific investigation lesson, students research the La Belle shipwreck using the Internet and written materials, later completing a Skeletal Report...
Curated OER
Jack London's The Call of the Wild: "Nature Faker"?
Students take a stand on whether or not London could be dubbed a "nature faker." They support their position with evidence either historical or from the text. Students write an essay, complete with hypothesis and textual support, on...
Curated OER
Making School a Better Place.
Students study the problems in their school and work on solutions for those problems. In this writing process lesson, students analyze a problem and work as a team to find a solution. Students present written and oral work to support...
Curated OER
Commas and Semicolons: Compound Sentences
In this comma and semicolon worksheet, students are given sentences that they must correctly punctuate using either a comma or a semicolon.
Thomas Jefferson Foundation
Personal Morals vs. Political Moves Document Based Essay
Was Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite? Tackle this question with primary source analysis and an essay. The packet includes historical background, a writing prompt, a combined outline and checklist, and ten primary documents paired with...
Classroom Adventures Program
Creating Characters
Examine character in depth. Over the course of these six lessons, learners explore their own character traits, determine the traits of characters in the books they read, practice comparing and contrasting, and collaborate in small groups...
Curated OER
Mystery Writing Lesson Plans
Introduce your class to the genre of mystery. Included is a vocabulary list, a rubric, and a sample mystery story called "Lethal Lesson." There are very limited directions on what to do with these resources, so you will need to plan some...
Mr. Roughton
Late Middle Ages Dossiers
Young detectives are given the "clues" to investigate whether King John should be remembered as a poor ruler of England, particularly in comparison in King Richard. They analyze historical informational texts and work in groups to...
Curated OER
Extinction Theories: Dinosaurs
Students examine how scientist use evidence to create theories. In this problem solving lesson, students use evidence cards to determine their own theory about the extinction of dinosaurs. They will debate their theories based on the...
Curated OER
Propaganda Techniques
Sixth graders locate examples of persuasive writing. For this persuasive writing lesson students work in a groups to identify and analyze the use of propaganda techniques. Students use newspapers to find editorials, or advertisements,...
Curated OER
Review of a Novel Project
This review of a novel project is a great way to ensure accountability for independent reading. The assignment sheet, templates, samples, and rubrics are all part of the packet materials.
Curated OER
Oliver Twist Goes to Hollywood
How does Oliver Twist, the novel written by Charles Dickens, compare with its screenplay adaptation? Although the activity doesn't require learners to have read the novel, the similarities and differences of the highlighted passages...
Curated OER
Our Disastrous World
Students explore natural disasters around the world from the experiences of other students, friends and families. They collaborate with countries such as Japan, China, India, Australia, Russia, Great Britain as well as from the United...
Curated OER
Examining Persuasive Literature
Examine persuasive literature and writing. In this persuasive literature lesson, pupils work through a variety of activities over the course of three weeks (each week is planned by day). The unit's purpose is to examine examples of...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Light Is
Students explore the properties of light. In this light instructional activity, students investigate visible light by viewing a website, examining an electromagnetic spectrum chart, and observing light demonstrations. Students write...
Curated OER
"I Can” Common Core! 6th Grade Writing
It is impossible to know whether one has reached a goal without first knowing the goal. Help your sixth graders reach all the Common Core writing standards by giving them a checklist written in language they will understand. As you teach...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Galileo: Revealing the Universe
To gain an understanding of the significance of Galileo Galilei's revolutionary ideas, class members watch the short video "Stargazing Before Galileo," and conduct a close reading of Galileo's Sidereal Messsenger. They then compare...
Dr. Seuss Enterprises
Dr. Seuss in the Classroom
Explore the works of Dr. Seuss, such as Horton Hears a Who, Horton Hatches and Egg, The Sneetches and Other Stories, The Lorax, The Butter Battle Book, and Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories. Each story lesson includes reading...
EngageNY
Analyzing the Structure and Content of an Essay to Inform
Outlines are a great asset to essay planning. Scholars read and analyze a model essay about the importance of daily reading and consider how it would look in an outline format. Next, they outline their own informative essays about rules...
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
Curated OER
Who is the Expert? Exploring Credible Sources in Healthcare
How do you decide what sources are credible when researching online? Evaluate sources with a focus on researching health issues. After brainstorming common health concerns and how they would try to diagnose these problems, class members...
Curated OER
Towards Separation of Church and State in Gloucester
Explore New England government in the 1700's with your class. They will identify historical documents as primary or secondary sources, then read and discuss the significance of these documents as they relate to the "freedom of religion"...
San Diego Unified School District
On-Demand Persuasive Writing Samples
Young writers complete a timed persuasive writing assignment in which they argue for a club they would like to see established at school, and are then provided with real student samples of responses.