Curated OER
The Odyssey Lesson 6
"How are belief systems represented and reproduced through nature?" This essential question guides lesson 6 of this unit on The Odyssey (the rest of the unit is linked). Students first write about a scenario in which they are disguised,...
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6 Word Digital Memoirs
Students discuss the idea of 6 word memoirs. In this technology lesson, students explore how using a small number of words sometimes is the best. Students practice using 6 word memoirs writing six words for various nursery rhymes and...
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Dragonwings: Explore Chapters 1-5
If you are beginning Laurence Yep's Dragonwings, this will provide activities for the first five chapters. The objectives include making connections to oneself and the world, organizing information and events, vocabulary acquisition,...
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Symphonic Poetry
Students interpret the themes in Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, create a 6-line poem based on the themes in the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and define musical terms related to the study of programmatic music in...
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Lyddie: An Instructional Unit Resource Guide
Katherine Paterson’s young adult novel Lyddie is the foundation of a differentiated instruction unit that not only explores the rise of industrialization and labor but women’s rights issues as well. After learners read the novel, they...
Annenberg Foundation
The Search for Identity
Discover how writers express identity in their writing. Learners explore how issues of identity surface in the literature of minority writers. Scholars watch a video, read and discuss biographies, conduct research, engage in creative...
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Book Club Discussion: Things Fall Apart
Learners read and discuss Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart. Students are guided to analyze the text through consideration of the author's use of 6 literary devices. Learners also evaluate the text according to their personal...
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Traditional African Literature: The Gentleman and the Jungle
In this African literature worksheet, students read "The Gentleman and the Jungle," and then respond to 6 short answers questions about the African folk tale.
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What's In a Name?
Students explore the relationship between names and certain cultures and locations. In this identity lesson, students create family migration or immigration maps. Students read excerpts from When My Name was Keoko and Lost Names: Scenes...
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Reliving History through Slave Narratives
Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...
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A Way with Words or Say What?
Students examine Shakespearean language. In this word study lesson, students investigate the meaning of words that Shakespeare invented. Students draw and pantomime with the words prior to writing short stories that feature Shakespeare's...
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Elements of Myth
Students read and act out myths. In this world mythology lesson, students read and analyze myths from various cultures and then recognize their attributes as they prepare presentations of myths that explain natural phenomena.
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Giving Voice to History
Learners examine the plight of Japanese Americans during World War II. In this World War II instructional activity, students participate in a mock evocation simulation, research primary and secondary documents about internment camps, and...
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Playing with Puns
Students examine the wit of characters in two plays. In this drama lesson plan, students read The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary L. Blackwood and Twelfth Night by Shakespeare. Students analyze the puns used in both plays and write essays...
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Set a Poem to Music
Students consider the role of rhythm and meter in poetry. In this integrated arts lesson, students discuss the attributes of poetry and use their music skills to set picture book poetry to music by creating "singable" poems.
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Writing Myths
Students read and write myths. In this world mythology lesson, students read and analyze myths from various cultures and then recognize their attributes as they write their own myths that explain natural phenomena.
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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - The Caldecott Award
Students engage in a variety of activities as they study illustrators, how illustrations enhance a studenT book, and the Caldecott Award. They write a report about their favorite illustrator.
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Pink Floyd and the Carpe Diem Theme
Students listen to Pink Floyd's "Time" in order to apply the theme of carpe diem to other works of literature and to their own life.
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Making the Ordinary Pop
Students examine the attributes of pop art. In this visual arts lesson, students examine works by Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg prior to applying pop art techniques to their own pop art examples.
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1920s Variety Show
To better understand the cultural achievements of the Harlem Renaissance and become familiar with its major figures, class members examine a painting by Aaron Douglas and a poem by Langston Hughes and compare how the artists develop...
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Dragonwings: Evaluate Chapters 10-12
As your class finishes the novel Dragonwings, use these culminating projects. A vocabulary list is given for chapters eleven and twelve and either an epitaph or letter activity concludes the book. The final project consists of creating a...
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"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
After reading the short story "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant, give your readers this two-page packet to assess their reading comprehension. These are not your typical recall questions-instead, readers focus on the climax, types of...
Crafting Freedom
George Moses Horton: Crafting Virtual Freedom Through Poetry
What is "virtual freedom"? How about "enslaved entrepreneurship"? Class members will learn about these terms and much more as they read the poems and examine the life of George Moses Horton.
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Pride and Prejudice: Magic Square Activity
Turn Pride and Prejudice into a math activity with a magic squares lesson plan. Kids read nine character traits and pair them to a list of the book's characters in order to complete the activity and find the magic number.