Curated OER
Expressing Your Views to the Letter
Analyze the motivation, purpose, and value of letters to the editor by examining letters written in response to the violence at Columbine High School. For homework, middle and high schoolers write their own letters to the editor about an...
Curated OER
Miscast and Seldom Seen
Consider how well students' favorite TV shows, movies and video games reflect the diversity of society. The instructional activity introduces your class to several media literacy concepts, such as how media conveys values and messages,...
Dream of a Nation
Creating Awareness through Action Oriented Writing and Research
Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth graders...
Aurora City School District
Do Not Try to Kid a Kidder: The Art of Persuasion
The power to convince others of your argument lies in your knowledge of rhetoric! A thorough packet covers the basics of persuasion, including logical appeals and fallacies, and applies strategies to letters to the editor,...
Curated OER
Opinion through the Ages: Exploring 40 Years of New York Times Op-Eds
What is the role of a newspaper's Op-Ed page? High schoolers explore the New York Times' "Op-Ed at 40," an interactive feature that lets them browse through 40 years worth of op-ed features, and consider the purpose and value of this...
Curated OER
Learning From World War II and Connecting It to the Present
Compare and contrast World War II to the modern Iraq war with this instructional activity. After watching a film, learners use supporting evidence to support their point of view of the conflicts. Using the internet, they create a...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Get in the Newspaper Habit
Dive into journalism with your high schoolers! The resources provided here will help your learners write unbiased, clear, and succinct newspaper articles. First they spend time sifting through stacks of articles, filling out a graphic...
Curated OER
Modern Day Pen Pals, Connecting Our Art Room to the Rest of the World!
Initiate an international pen pal program! After establishing communication with an art class in another country, groups share pod casts and video streams of their work. The scripted resource details how to prepare for the pod casts, but...
Curated OER
Cat Study Article
Students write a letter to the editor of USA Today. In this letter writing lesson plan, students read a newspaper article about cats and consider a dog or cat's view on current events. Students reflect this perspective in their letters.
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Elizabeth Fry
After youngsters learn about the life and work of Elizabeth Fry, they pretend that they are a child in the Newgate Prison. They write a thank you letter to Elizabeth Fry thanking her for making their lives better while in the prison....
Curated OER
Learning To Get Along With Classmates: A Discussion of Bullying And Intimidation At School
Students discuss cliques, intimidators, support systems and how it feels to be victimized, and discuss ways to deal with hurtful people.
Curated OER
Tricks of the Trade A Collection of Concrete Poems-for writing concrete poems
Students explore concrete poetry. In this lesson about poetry, students read A Poke in the I, by Paul B. Janeczko, and are introduced to concrete poems. Students read several different kinds of concrete poems including single-word, and...
Curated OER
Loyalists
High schoolers explain why some colonists remained loyal to England during the American revolution. In this social studies lesson, students write a letter to an editor about their reasons for remaining loyal to England.
Curated OER
"No News Like Ancient News"
Want to know more about Ancient history? Young historians will read a minimum of two web sites to complete the chart "Residents of Olympus". They choose one Greek god or goddess to research. This could be a small group activity or...
Curated OER
Protecting your home from carbon monoxide
Young scholars create and distribute flyers, mailings, posters in public areas to help make people aware of how to protect yourself from carbon monoxide. Students research what carbon monoxide is and what can be done to protect those in...
Curated OER
The Lorax Explorations
Students read and debate the purpose of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, analyze its story elements, and write their own The Lorax II.
Curated OER
Build Your Own Adventure
Sixth graders write a narrative. They choose options for plot and climax within the context of an outdoor survival story.
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The Teen Scene
Students explore the methods used by teen magazines to attract a variety of teenagers. They evaluate existing magazines and in small groups, students create their own magazine that is geared toward specific teen demographics.
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Progressive Era - Muckraking
Students discuss muckraking and societal changes. In this progressive era lesson, students review photographs and read excerpts from The Jungle. Students select a task of their choice, sorting events into categories, writing a letter,...
Curated OER
Anne Frank: Newspaper
Students research information about the Holocaust or a current example of prejudice. They create a newspaper to be used by future classes as a learning tool.
Curated OER
Democracy: Participating in the Process
Students research all of the candidates running in an upcoming election. They interview them if possible and state their platforms. They organize a forum for the candidates to come and speak at their school.
Curated OER
A Closer Look: Unemployment
Students view a video clip about unemployment. They research data and create a scatter plot graph. They discover the importance of graphs and what they can tell us. They create their own publication on unemployment.
Curated OER
Novel News
Students, working in groups create a newspaper based on the events that take place in a novel. Groups complete sections of the newsletter based on criteria and publish it using newsletter publishing software.