Curated OER
One Small Act
Young scholars explore the trait of caring. For this character education lesson, students discuss acts of kindness and collaborate to promote a kindness campaign.
Curated OER
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Young scholars work in groups to imagine, research and simulate a dinner party involving an author, a fictional character, and a significant historical figure as dinner guests. The activity uses Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and...
Curated OER
Probably Passage
Young scholars apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency. They use their imagination and create their own short stories. They identify words as various parts of the story - including setting, character, problem,...
Curated OER
Who is Gertrude, Really?
Students form opinions about Gertrude by imaginatively creating 5 entries for Gertrude's journal. Each journal entry reveal much about Gertrude's character at pivotal moments in the play.
Curated OER
Cinderella Stories: An African Tale
Students read and analyze an African version of the Cinderella story. They listen to John Steptoe's story, "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters," locate Africa on a map, compare and contrast the story with Cinderella, and identify fairytale and...
Curated OER
A Morning of Weighing Babies
Pupils read sections of "A Morning of Weighing Babies". Individually, they write a paragraph examining the main characters and their actions. After sharing a few writings, they discuss the relationship between the author and the...
Curated OER
Warriors Don't Cry
Students write a journal depicting a day in the life of a character and a newspaper article. In this Warriors Don't Cry instructional activity, students summarize the main events of integration and find out about the life of Melba...
Curated OER
Dolley Madison and the War of 1812
Students read a letter that Dolley Madison wrote in 1814. They discuss her predicament with advancing troops and imagine what her personality was like. They compare the letter to a political cartoon and discuss its tone.
Curated OER
Where is Flat Stanley?
Learners create a story map of the basic elements and significant events of the book Flat Stanley. Students brainstorm places they would like to visit if they had been flattened and then, write about an imagined experience. Learners...
Curated OER
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts
Learners discuss character development, literary devices, events, and foreshadowing found in, "The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts" by Maxine Hong Kingston. They compare and contrast the main character's actions while...
Curated OER
Help, I'm a Prisoner in the Library
Fourth graders complete activities with the book Help, I'm a Prisoner in the Library by Eth. In this reading ideas lesson, 4th graders are broken into tiers based on their reading ability and complete different activities. These...
Curated OER
Peace Journals
Students create peace journals. In this character education lesson, students record their thoughts about peace and their innermost thoughts and feelings. Students use various journal starters, including describing someone who is a...
Curated OER
Woman Walks into a Bar
Students create an imaginative response to a book title as a way to anticipate what the book is going to be about. They explore the use of humour to make a serious point. Students are asked what they think that statement 'Woman walks...
Curated OER
Gunfighters of the Old West
Students identify, through specific character traits, several of the major gunfighters of the Old West. They create a new composite character from preexisting and famous persons and their own imagination.
Curated OER
Guided Writing: Writing a Story on the OHP
Pupils practice fluency as well as story-writing skills. They work together to prepare and write their stories. Students are told that they are going to write a story entitled 'A Wonderful Day' and that they are going to be the...
Curated OER
Introducing Recycling
Students study environmental issues of excess garbage and learn about recycling. In this recycling lesson, students discuss recycling and read a story about too much garbage. Students write a persuasive essay about the importance of...
PBS
Women's History: Parading Through History
Want to teach your pupils about debate, effective speech techniques, propaganda, and the women's movement? The first in a sequential series of three, scholars analyze real propaganda images from the the historic women's movement, view a...
Curated OER
Think It, Write It, Create It
Help your scholars create a class story. They will write a page of the story and illustrate that page. Then they use a variety of digital technologies to make the story come alive. A variety of digital resources are recommended for the...
Carnegie Library
Creative Writing: Middle School Lesson Plan
Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers.
Curated OER
Reader's Theater: Presenting Asian Folktales
Students, working in groups, rewrite Asian folktales as Reader's Theater scripts. Depending on grade level, they visit Websites and copy assigned stories. Students then perform their versions for classmates.
Curated OER
Vivid Verbs
Spice up your writing! Your amateur writers will benefit from concentrating on understanding and improving verb use in writing. An introductory activity addresses weak verbs. A second exercise helps them see the importance of strong...
Curated OER
Manners and Mores of Washington's America
Students explore the social policies of early America. In this etiquette lesson, students read George Washington's "110 Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation." Students identify expectations for their own...
Curated OER
A River Runs Through It; Writing Assignment
While reading A River Runs Through It, have your high schoolers work on their final project, a multi-genre research paper. There are 10 clear steps for completion but not much additional help. For early high schoolers (or lower-level...
Curated OER
Constructing Narrative from the Migrant Experience in Literature
Excerpts from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and from John Fante's Ask the Dust, as well as a variety of primary source documents provide the background for an examination of the migrant experience from 1920-1945.