Curated OER
Author's Purpose: Research Process/Narrative Writing Techniques
Determine the author's purpose in writing a memoir. Eighth graders work in groups to elicit author's purpose in memoirs, taking care to note how subtle the message can be hidden throughout the work. This lesson is a good way to...
Curated OER
Author Study: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Students read novel, Little House in the Big Woods, explore web sites and other resources devoted to author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, complete Venn Diagram showing ways they and author are alike and different, and create diorama, read...
Curated OER
Georgia CRCT Online: 8th Reading Quiz B
Practice for a standardized test or reinforce reading comprehension with this practice test, designed for the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). Twelve reading questions about two short passages (one fiction, one...
Idaho State Department of Education
Lessons for Social Studies Educators
Point of view, purpose, and tone: three concepts readers of primary and secondary source materials must take into account when examining documents. Class members view a PowerPoint presentation and use the SOAPS strategy to identify an...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Jack London's The Call of the Wild
The Yukon provides plenty of opportunity for adventure. A study guide for The Call of the Wild by Jack London, also the author of White Fang, helps readers navigate the novel which is set in Yukon, Canada. Chapter summaries give a quick...
Curated OER
Where I'm From: Imitative Poem
Students analyze 'Where I'm From' by George Ella Lyon. In this poetry lesson plan students examine the content and structure of the poem and mimic it to create a similar poem of their own.
Curated OER
Variety Is the Spice of Cellular Life
Do you need to review animal cell structure? Investigate the ways in which different types of cells interact in a common human reflex. Your students can explore the functions of stem cells, consider various illnesses and assess stem...
Curated OER
Gaining Perspective
Discuss race in the United States. Start by having each learner read a copy of Martin Luther King Jr's famous speech, "I Have a Dream." Then, have them read the article "Shared Prayers, Mixed Blessings" about a church in Atlanta,...
Curated OER
Whose Feat?
Play a vocabulary game with words from an article about Savion Glover's contribution to the film "Happy Feet." Then, small groups of students design and create original movie advertisements using vivid vocabulary to give Glover the...
Random House
Focus On: Censorship & Banned Books
Billy Collins' "Rain" introduces the Random House 104-page magazine for educators that focuses on censorship and banned books. The resource is packed with teaching guides, articles by noted authors, and links to organizations against...
Museum of Tolerance
Developing Media Literacy
To protect young people from questionable content, many schools limit access. This resource suggests that because learners can so readily avail themselves to unrestricted Internet access, it is vital for 21st century learners to develop...
Curated OER
Bolts Out of the Blue
Students research different types of lightning patterns and compare their origins to an experiment on static electricity. They research different types of lightning, and explain how different light patterns result from those charges.
Curated OER
A Whale of a Problem
Students evaluate the possible causes contributing to the decline of the killer whale population from a number of differing perspectives. They present their findings in a talk show format and in letters of advocacy regarding
Curated OER
It Comes In Waves
Students investigate the behavior and different origins of tsunami waves, and they then research and chart the path of certain tsunamis from recent history using the Internet, maps and firsthand accounts.
Curated OER
Swinging on a Star
Students explore the issues that might arise if humans were to go on an interstellar space mission. They synthesize their understanding of interstellar travel by writing scenes from a science fiction novel that would depict such a mission.
Curated OER
Personal Ads
Students study advertisements from the 'H.I.V Stops with Me' Web site and develop similar theme-based advertisements geared specifically toward an H.I.V.-positive teenage audience.
Curated OER
Moonwalking to Mars?
Students examine a quote from George W. Bush's recent speech on space exploration. They evaluate one writer's stance on Bush's space exploration goals by reading and discussing "Plea to Policy Makers: Let's Take Another Giant Step." In...
Curated OER
Research and Technical Writing
Students summarize information from their research on to note-cards. In this technical writing lesson students examine examples of note-cards that contain main ideas from research previously conducted. They will then compose their own...
Folger Shakespeare Library
Julius Caesar Curriculum Guide
Julius Caesar need not be Greek to kids. The background information and suggestions for teachers, as well as the activities for learners, make this curriculum guide a must-have for your Shakespeare curriculum library.
Curated OER
The Price of Power
Explore the current political debate over regulating power plant emissions. Critical thinkers research, formulate, and present arguments regarding selective catalytic reduction systems for coal-burning plants.
Teaching Matters
Welcome to Writing Poetry
Your pupils are poets, and now they'll be able to show it with the exercises in this packet. The lessons, designed for beginner, intermediate, and experienced poets, not only feature a variety of poetic forms, but take learners through...
Curated OER
Nine Lives, One Habitat
Students explore reintroduction of endangered species into new habitats. They research and promote possible sites for reintroducing populations of Florida panthers outside of their current habitat in the Big Cypress Swamp region of...
Curated OER
Nothing to Sneeze At
Students explore allergic reactions; they then synthesize their knowledge by creating informational pamphlets that help new allergy patients research the nature of allergies.
Curated OER
Active Voice
Students identify the qualities that contribute to effective verbal and non-verbal communication. They use those qualities as criteria by which to judge an in-class political debate on education.