Online Publications
Become a Journalist
Explore the newspaper as a unique entity with a detailed and extended unit. The unit requires learners to consider the newspaper's role in democracy, think about ethics, practice writing and interviewing, and examine advertising and news...
Curated OER
Beauty Is Skin Deep
Students reflect upon the the experiences of superficial comments based upon physical appearance. The expectations of others is discussed in class. Also the influences of media is stressed and its expectations are demonstrated as either...
Curated OER
Who Am I Without Him?
Middle schoolers read and discuss the book, Who Am I Without Him? In this fluency lesson plan, students practice reading with expression and making text to self connections. Middle schoolers practice writing expressively in their journals.
Curated OER
Conversation Lesson: First World Obligation
Students engage in a debate about the obligation each country has to help other countries in need in order to help build their conversation skills. The format of the debate is imbedded in this lesson plan.
Curated OER
Adding to the Picture: The 1963 March on Washington
Who do your scholars imagine when they think about the civil rights movement? If only a few faces come to mind, this lesson plan will expand their concepts of the movement's leaders. Learners examine an image of the 1963 March on...
Curated OER
Woody Guthrie: Life and Art
Woody Guthrie will capture the imagination of even your most reluctant learners. Using his work, your class will develop their skills in non-fiction reading comprehension, interpreting primary source material, and use of multiple forms...
English Linx
Points of View Worksheet
Put your learners' skills in identifying point of view to the test (or just practice) with an activity that has them identify the point of view in a story by giving three textual examples. The directions are clear and examples of first...
Curated OER
Getting the Word Out
Discuss and generate blogs in this technology lesson. Middle and high schoolers explore examples of blogs and create their own blogs. Use this lesson throughout the year to reinforce concepts from your language arts class (or any class)....
Curriculum Corner
8th Grade ELA Common Core Checklists
How close are your eighth graders to mastering the ELA Common Core standards? Keep an eye on progress with these charts, which include every eighth grade identifier and full standard text. As you move through the year and teach,...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
A Lesson on the Nature of Science
If you are looking for a great way to present natural selection in humans, look no further. This handout is intended to accompany the 14-minute video The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection in Humans, which can be found on the...
Vanderbilt University
Stories from the Panama Canal
The stories of the Silver People, the West Indies immigrants hired to work on the Panama Canal, come to life in a instructional activity about the building of the Panama Canal. Groups research why the canal was built, how it was build,...
Polk Bros Foundation
Common Core Constructed Response Organizer
Get your writers ready to compose a constructed response essay in response to either an informational or fictional text. Pupils note down the big idea they wish to address as well as up to nine examples from the text that they wish to...
National Institute of Open Schooling
Chemical Arithmetics
Substances with the same empirical and molecular formula must be differentiated by their structural formula. Part two in a series of 36 has pupils using chemical formulas to calculate how much of a compound is present in a given...
Curated OER
Community Journals
Students visit a multimedia online journal as a model for their research and journal about their own communities. They examine writing for themselves and writing for an audience as they study the community and present it in more than one...
Curated OER
Re-Searching
Students take a closer look at the research cycle. In this journalism lesson, students discover and practice Internet searching skills. Students use the search techniques discussed to locate information on selected topics.
Curated OER
"Tarantula Shoes," by Tom Birdseye
Students read a book and explore spending, saving, opportunity cost, and trade-offs. They keep a diary of expenses to track their spending and examine their opportunity costs.
Curated OER
Reading My Hero Stories
Students use the My Hero website to help them develop their reading skills. They create a KWL chart for the hero of their choice.
Curated OER
Daily Language Practice Builds Skills, Test Scores
Pupils develop their proofreading skills. In this daily language practice lesson, students improve their writing skills as they edit passages. The editing work encompasses capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.
Curated OER
Organizers for Students
Young scholars . In this organization lesson, students have a general discussion about sports cards and make a chart to answer the questions. Young scholars read the baseball card story from USA Today. Students watch a web video about...
Student Achievement Partners
Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" and Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston's "Farewell to Manzanar"
Passages from Unbroken and Farewell to Manzanar provide the context for a study of the historical themes of experiencing war, resilience during war, and understanding the lasting trauma of war. Appendices include extension...
Curated OER
Create a Magic Lantern Show; Freed People in the Reconstruction South
Engage your scholars by having them create "magic lantern shows" inspired by the film Dr. Toer's Amazing Magic Lantern Show: A Different View of Emancipation. As they study the South's Reconstruction through primary...
Smarter Balanced
A New Kind of News
Newspapers and broadcast news. Social media, blogs, and blogospheres. Class members generate a list of news sources they use to get information about events. The big idea here is to introduce the necessary vocabulary and to establish a...
Mark Twain Media
Understanding Informational Text Features
Everything you need to know about informational text features can be found in this resource. Recognizing these types of text features and how they are used in text allows readers to better understand information. Teachers...
Curated OER
Myth and Truth: The First Thanksgiving
Encourage learners to think critically about common myths regarding the Wampanoag Indians in Colonial America. They discover that behind every myth are many possible explanations—and that learning more about American history helps them...