Curated OER
Mystery Writing Lesson Plans
Introduce your class to the genre of mystery. Included is a vocabulary list, a rubric, and a sample mystery story called "Lethal Lesson." There are very limited directions on what to do with these resources, so you will need to plan some...
Mr. Roughton
Late Middle Ages Dossiers
Young detectives are given the "clues" to investigate whether King John should be remembered as a poor ruler of England, particularly in comparison in King Richard. They analyze historical informational texts and work in groups to...
Curated OER
Making a Formal Argument - "The Most Important Word"
In this formal argument worksheet, students learn debate skills by writing a formal argument to the given prompt. Students must be able to state their position, provide points that support their decision, and support each point with...
Curated OER
Personal or Social Tragedy? A Close Reading of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome
Students complete close reading activities to analyze Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome. For this literary analysis lesson, students analyze key quotations from Ethan Frome and respond to contemporary reviews of the text. Students use textual...
Curated OER
Sophocles' Oedipus the King
Introduce your class to the Greek tragedy with a study of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Learners examine the features of a Greek tragedy, Sophocles’ achievements and contributions, and the universal themes that make the drama an enduring...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Persuasion
Students examine the characteristics of persuasive writing. They identify arguments, supporting details, and discuss how to reorganize and present information in more effective ways. Students compose their own essays and discuss their...
Student Handouts
Five-paragraph Essay Organizer
Some learners just feel more comfortable with very explicit directions. The directions on this template for a five-paragraph essay are very explicit and detail the content and order of each paragraph to be crafted. Color coding reveals...
Curated OER
History of American Child Labor
Students study the historical and social issue of child labor. They examine the photographs of Lewis Hine to see evidence of child labor and decide how the photographs depict the historical impact of the practice. They write a letter to...
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
Oliver Twist Goes to Hollywood
How does Oliver Twist, the novel written by Charles Dickens, compare with its screenplay adaptation? Although the activity doesn't require learners to have read the novel, the similarities and differences of the highlighted passages...
Curated OER
Aztec Myths: Writing Editorials
Middle schoolers write an editorial giving an opinion of whether or not Quetzalcoatl has arrived and if so, what the Aztecs should do. They discuss whether or not they believe Quetzalcoatl is a god or a man, and use an Editorial...
University of Chicago
Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
Curated OER
Peer Editing Form
Save time by downloading a template for peer editing. Included, you will find a one-form-per-page format and a four-forms-per-page format.
Curated OER
Examining Persuasive Literature
Examine persuasive literature and writing. In this persuasive literature lesson, pupils work through a variety of activities over the course of three weeks (each week is planned by day). The unit's purpose is to examine examples of...
Curated OER
Comparing Themes Across Texts
Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...
Curated OER
Word Wake
Put your common writing errors to rest with this resource, which prompts high schoolers to create eulogies and tombstones for overused and incorrect words. They work on correcting common errors in spelling and usage mistakes in their own...
Curated OER
Photography Narratives
Young scholars write a narrative corresponding to a photo. They create a background story based on the person in their picture and share it with the class.
Media Smarts
Bias in News Sources
As young consumers of media, it is important for high schoolers to explore concepts of bias and prejudice, and how they may be present in media. After discussing ideological messages that media can contain, individuals complete a warm-up...
Public Media for Northern California
An Educator’s Guide to Teaching Gun Control Issues | The Lowdown
The topic of gun control is vast, controversial, and difficult to introduce to students. This gem of a resource covers both sides of the issue and provides topic background, various multimedia and print resources, analysis questions, and...
Madison Public Schools
Journalism
Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...
Los Angeles Unified School District
Capitalism and Socialism
Capitalism, socialism, communism ... these may seem like a whole bunch of isms to your scholars. High schoolers won't confuse them after completing an informative resource. Your class masters how to use primary sources to critically...
Curated OER
Foreshadowing and Prediction: W.W. Jacob's, "The Monkey's Paw"
W.W. Jacobs' story "The Monkey's Paw" provides plenty of foreshadowing which readers use to make predictions in this tightly composed, sound instructional plan. Your class reads the story, recording predictions and checking for veracity...
Saskatchewan Elocution and Debate Association
Grab ‘N Go Debate
Here's a resource that provides debaters with the background information and worksheets they will need when planning a policy debate. Templates and sentence frames, as well as a rationale for using debates in the classroom, are included...
Curated OER
Adolescent Sleep
Students discuss, summarize, and express alternative positions regarding a study on adolescent sleep. They examine arguments for and against changing the school start time for high-school students, based upon the findings of a scientific...