Curated OER
Spanish-English Cognates in the ELL Classroom: Friends or Foes?
Define the meaning of a cognate and use the concept to help Spanish-speaking ELLs connect their first language to English. Middle schoolers explore Latin roots to find cognates in both languages. They relate the Spanish and English word...
Curated OER
Word Pairs
Students compare similar words that are often confused. For this Language arts lesson, students review meanings of words that are often confused. Students complete a worksheet and sentences to practice correct usage of these words.
Curated OER
Words Have Meaning
Students interpret and analyze art for meaning and a Maya Angelou poem for meaning. In this art and literature analysis lesson, students analyze Alison Saar's "Lost and Found" and Maya Angelou's poem "Alone." Students write creative...
Curated OER
Using Similes and Metaphors in Poetry
The use of similes and metaphors will become more clear and your pupils will gain knowledge and comprehend the meanings of the words with these activities. They compose interesting similes and metaphors based on visual prompts and write...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a great story to share with your class, and this lesson focuses on just that story! The eighth in a fourteen-lesson series on short stories, the plan has learners study some vocabulary, read the story,...
Curated OER
Teaching Tolerance: Taking Action on the R-Word
Students explore the use of derogatory language and labeling others. In this discrimination lesson students research word origins, how different terms came to be used in a negative sense and what it would be like to have a negative label...
Curated OER
Mapping Your Identity: A Back-To-School Ice Breaker
Identify the unique personal attributes of your class members. Begin by viewing the Visual Thesaurus and discussing displayed attributes associated with famous American leaders. Using these identity maps as models, pupils generate nouns...
Virginia Department of Education
Developing a Research Strategy - Define Your Topic
Your budding scholars spent the day in the library looking for a topic for their research essay, and now they are all in tears because there is too much information available on their topics. Wipe those tears away with the ideas and...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Common Core Reading Standards: Understanding Argument
What does your class know about logical fallacies? They can find out quite a bit and practice identifying logical fallacies if you follow the steps and use the resources provided here! After reviewing ethos, pathos, and logos, ask small...
Idaho State Department of Education
Lessons for Social Studies Educators
Point of view, purpose, and tone: three concepts readers of primary and secondary source materials must take into account when examining documents. Class members view a PowerPoint presentation and use the SOAPS strategy to identify an...
Curated OER
Slanted Sentences
Students examine biased words in news articles, suggest synonyms, then rewrite the sentences to demonstrate how word choice can alter meaning.
Curated OER
Making a Treasure Your Own: Lesson Two
Students write an essay describing the Curtis Center and what they learned there. In this descriptive writing essay, students discuss the five paragraph essay and review sensory discoveries from their trip. Students draft an outline and...
Curated OER
Gandhi's Voice: Writing as Nonviolent Resistance
Ninth graders identify how Mahatma Gandhi used writing as a means of nonviolent communication. In this nonviolent resistance lesson, 9th graders watch a film about Gandhi as a writer and identify characteristics of nonviolent activism....
Curated OER
Lexis: changing attitudes
Students notice lexical items as chunks of language. They use grammar of multi words and are introduced to a lexical set connected to money. Students are given a chance to peer teach. They are encouraged to use dictionaries.
Curated OER
"Live Out Loud" Celebrates Pride Week
Students investigate human relationships by creating oil paintings in class. In this gay pride lesson plan, students discuss why the Pride parade is so important, who appears at the parade and how art is used to spread awareness of gay...
Curated OER
Beneath the News: Who's Doing What to Whom, and Who Cares?
Students investigate the differences between various forms of media (print, radio, TV, Internet). They determine the target audience for each and compare exposure around the world. They write a short story 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...
Curated OER
Perfecting My Pal's Poe Paragraph
After analyzing the compelling first paragraph of Edgar Allen Poe's short story "The Masque of the Red Death," high schoolers draft original opening paragraphs using techniques identified Poe's writing. The relationship between suspense...
Curated OER
The Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire
Ninth graders investigate the growth of Christianity in Rome. In this Roman Empire lesson plan, 9th graders listen to a SMART Board lecture about the Jesus, Christianity, and the empire prior to composing thematic essays about the spread...
Curated OER
Tracing the Idea of Civil Disobedience through Thoreau, Gandhi, and King
Students analyze civil disobedience through history studying Thoreau, Gandhi, and Dr. King. In this civil disobedience lesson, students read and analyze excerpts from Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. Students demonstrate their...