Curated OER
Character in a Box
Partners choose, research, and analyze fictional or historical characters and design character life boxes to represent them. They also compose a rhyme royal, which they understand inductively by deconstructing examples. Based largely on...
Nosapo
Verbs: Regular, Irregular, Simple Past Tense
Adding -ed to the ends of most verbs can change a sentence to the past tense—but what about verbs like think or draw? Provide class members with practice activities that focus on both regular and irregular verbs in the simple past...
Curated OER
The Quilting Connection....a Teaching Unit on Slavery, the Underground Railroad And Quilting
Students research the Internet, read designated books and selection, participate in discussions and write short reports while completing this series of lessons about slavery and the Underground Railroad. As a final project, they design a...
Curated OER
A Way with Words or Say What?
Students explore the language of Shakespeare. In this literature lesson, students examine words invented by Shakespeare as they interpret their meanings in drawings. Students pantomime the meanings and then write a short story...
Haiku Society of American
Haiku: Lesson Plan for Teachers
After examining winning entries to the Nicholas A. Virgilio Memorial Haiku Competition, young poets try their hand at this fixed form.
Curated OER
Hispanic World - Spain
Take your class on an electronic field trip to Spain! Visit Cordoba or Barcelona, and run with the bulls (virtually) in Pamplona. Groups search the Internet to find sites that permit them to explore the original Spanish-speaking country....
Curated OER
"All Together Now" by Barbara Jordan
Cover the topic of race relations with these questions that go with Barbara Jordan's persuasive speech "All Together Now." These reading questions ask readers to think about her speech in a variety of ways by analyzing particular words...
Penguin Books
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Young Readers Edition
As the saying goes, you are what you eat. A useful set of lesson plans encourage young readers to take a second look at their eating habits. Pre- and post-reading questions bring in reflective writing and discussion while extension...
Curated OER
Ordinary People: Desktop Teaching
Turn the pupil into the teacher to help your learners pick up and retain vocabulary from Ordinary People by Judith Guest. Each individual selects a word, studies it in depth, and then teaches their word to the rest of the class, one...
Curated OER
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Vocabulary Strategy
In order to truly understand The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, you'll need to provide middle schoolers with background information about the Holocaust. After contributing as many words as they can associate with the Holocaust, such as...
Curated OER
Mississippi Trial, 1955: Concept Analysis
Considering Christopher Crowe's Mississippi Trial, 1955 with reading groups or as a whole-class text? Check out the background information and instructional ideas in this seven-page resource packet.
Curated OER
Digital Curation: Life and Times of Mark Twain
By digitally organizing research, your class leaves a legacy for future students on the life and times of Mark Twain. Before reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, scholars conduct group research projects on one of six (listed)...
Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust
The Lost World
Fans of Sherlock Holmes may be surprised to learn that in addition to stories of the famous deductionist, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is also the creator of Professor Challenger. An irascible, unpredictable scientist, Challenger was featured...
Curated OER
Persuasive Practice: A Mt. Rushmore Addition
Budding authors research a US President and persuade the National Park Service to add him to Mt. Rushmore. In addition to the persuasive essay, individuals are required to develop a visual presentation using a web-based software that...
Curated OER
7th Grade Poetry Project
Ask your pupils to explore the sounds, forms, and language of poetry by putting together a portfolio of their own work. In a binder, learners collect the poems listed on the second page of the assignment sheet. Each individual creates a...
Teaching English
Poetry Project in Three Parts
It’s poetry T.I.M.E! Individuals use the T.I.M.E. format (T = Title, thought, and theme; I = Imagery and figurative language; M = music and sound; E = emotion) to study a poet, collect poems that have a similar theme, and create a...
Teaching English
Fairy Tales; Not Just for Kids
"Once upon a time . . ." Language learners examine the key elements of well-known fairy tales and then craft their own.
Curated OER
The Lightning Thief: Vocabulary Strategy
Take an in-depth look into the vocabulary from the novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. With a list of words to choose from, scholars discover the definition, origin, stories associated with...
Anchorage School District
Writing Effective Summaries
Drafting a strong first sentence for a summary is an important step. Writers can use the formula presented on this handout to get started. The resource lists three steps to put together a strong topic sentence, as well as tips and hints...
Curated OER
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Vocab Squares
Creatively develop and reinforce new vocabulary from the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, using these vocabulary squares. Each square is divided into four quadrants asking scholars to input the word, a...
Curated OER
A PLAY ON WORDS
After making predictions about Janell Cannon's story Verdi, middle schoolers read through the book and make a new list of descriptions, personality traits, etc. They select an animal and write a narrative story about the animal, paying...
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Essays
One of these things is not like the other. But, so what? Why is it important to examine the similarities and differences between two entities? Here's a presentation that shows viewers how to go beyond a mere listing to create and...
Teachers.net
How to Write a Movie Review from a Pet's Perspective
When would two paws up denote a blockbuster film in your classroom? Only when young writers create movie reviews from a pet's perspective in this imaginative expository writing practice. This engaging topic begins with a class discussion...
Curated OER
The Outsiders
Are you working on an Outsiders unit? Use this list of activities to deepen your middle schoolers' understanding of the novel. After reading S.E. Hinton's novel, young readers work on three required activities, including participating in...