EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Justification for Character and Scene Selection
When it comes to love and midsummer nights, confessions are tricky. Learners place themselves in the shoes of a character from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and explain how a character manipulated another character in...
Curated OER
Adapting Literary Learning Methods with the Grimm Fairy Tales
Learners use Grimm's tales to explore theme, thesis statement, textual analysis, and historical context.
Curated OER
The Outsiders Essay Question Options
Extend your study of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton with an essay. Pupils can choose one of the three prompts provided on this page and write about either characterization, conflict, or theme. Each prompt includes a brief definition of the...
Curated OER
Jack London's The Call of the Wild: "Nature Faker"?
Middle schoolers 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,...
Curated OER
Whirligig Lollapalooza
Using a cut-out template of a whirligig, emerging engineers experiment with flight behavior. After you teach them the concepts of force, air resistance, and lift, they discuss what variables on the whirligigs might be changed in order to...
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...
Santa Barbara City College
Structure of a General Expository Essay
A great student reference tool and graphic organizer in one worksheet! Young writers can read a detailed description of each section of a standard five-paragraph essay before completing a graphic organized with their own writing. The...
Curated OER
A Soldier's View of the American Civil War
Study and research the American Civil War in this explanatory writing activity. Middle schoolers complete six activities to learn about the American Civil War and soldiers' views of the war. The activity includes several options to...
Curated OER
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Explore Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in this literature analysis instructional activity. Middle schoolers read and summarize the plot of the story. They then adapt passages for a contemporary audience and analyze the...
National Math + Science Initative
Reading an Informational Text: "It All Started with Sputnik"
Sputnik was one of the greatest scientific advancements of the 1950s, and this reading lesson does it justice. Pupils start off with pre-reading questions and a video. They then read an excerpt from an article, which is accompanied by...
Curated OER
Uniform Design
Students investigate the military by examining their uniforms. For this design lesson, students analyze the military uniforms from different locations and time periods. Students create new ideas for current military uniforms.
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Compare and Contrast
Work with your class to fill out this Venn diagram. Pupils can compare and contrast any two things and then write a short paragraph about the relationship demonstrated in their diagram.
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
Advanced Sentence Completion 8
In this advanced sentence completion worksheet, young scholars choose the best word(s) to complete each sentence. Students must complete more than one blank per sentence in some instances.
Curated OER
Focus on Figurative Language in Prose and Poetry
Young scholars place emphasis on the use of figurative language when analyzing prose and poetry. In this figurative language lesson, students explore the tone of a story and its imagery. Young scholars read and discuss how the author...
Curated OER
Writing to describe
Students examine descriptive writing. In this writing lesson, students listen to an audio version of the diary of Lt. Polly Hatchard and her expedition to the South Pole. Students explore the components of descriptive writing and...
Curated OER
Analysis Through Character Action/Beliefs
Students explore characterization. In this characterization lesson plan, students give analytical responses to questions and determine a character's beliefs. Students use the school mission statement to develop two beliefs that the...