Curated OER
Documentary-Style Research Projects
Show your pupils how to use guiding questions to help them focus their research into a topic. Using the framework provided by these questions, researchers explore a topic, collect interesting facts, and prepare a PowerPoint presentation...
Curated OER
Popular Music and Music Videos
This resource is part of a three-activity unit that introduces your class to the concept of popular culture and the role that it plays in their lives. Here, learners examine the importance of the music industry and music videos in pop...
PBS
Helen Keller: Author, Advocate, and Activist
Have you ever had to work through a disability or shortcoming? Scholars analyze the life and impact of author, advocate, and activist Helen Keller. After researching photos, video clips, and primary sources, individuals form a written...
Turabian Teacher Collaborative
My Favorite Martian: Workshopping Warrants
Sometimes explaining an argument can lead to confusion and miscommunication. Narrow down the details in written arguments with a group activity in which learners pretend to be aliens from another planet, struggling to understand each...
MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Quotation Station: Using Quotes in the Classroom
An informative list compiled with quotes, authors, and discussion questions, along with 20 out-of-the-box application ideas, make up the collection of lessons geared to spark dialogue and creative thinking about quotations.
Curated OER
The Grapes of Wrath: KWHL Strategy
Before beginning The Grapes of Wrath, readers create a KWHL chart recording what they already know about the Dust Bowl, the author, and the book, what they want to know, and where they might find answers to these questions. After reading...
Curated OER
Cooperative Jigsaw Expert Report of Fables
Students research literary elements of fables. In this literature lesson, students analyze literary elements of fables. Students work collaboratively using a jigsaw strategy to analyze literary elements.
Curated OER
Feeding the Soul
Students share memories of a special meal. They research, write and peer edit a newspaper column about a favorite food associated with Thanksgiving (or other holiday or celebration).
Media Smarts
The Broadcast Project
As part of a unit on media studies, kids are asked to chart their viewing habits, observe the advertising that sponsors their favorite shows, and then to imagine what they would broadcast if given a block of airtime.
Curated OER
Pet Perspective
Discuss point of view through a familiar medium: your pet! Learners write a story from the perspective of their own or the class pet. Prompts such as "My Family" (or "My Class"), "My Day," and "A Day in the Life of a _________" help...
Louisiana Department of Education
Fahrenheit 451
In his 2013 introduction to Fahrenheit 451, Neil Gaiman states, “Fiction is a lie that tells us true things, over and over.” In this extraordinary unit plan, readers "explore the power of written language to educate and...
Curated OER
Techno Toys for Trendy Tots
Students reflect on their favorite childhood toys and assess their continued appeal. They work in pairs to redesign classic toys and create posters to represent their new models.
Curated OER
Constant Craving
Students experience the effect of sensory stimulation through a guided visualization. They explore possible genetic relationships between drug addiction and the nervous system by reading and discussing, "Genetic Studies Promise a Path to...
Curated OER
Folktale Unit: Pecos Bill
Students experience a shared reading of Steven Kellogg's, Pecos Bill, while learning the associated vocabulary. They examine similarities and differences in folktales and discuss what a hero is. Finally, journal about their favorite part...
Curated OER
Art Mystery
Students explore famous artists in order to write mystery stories incorporating their life and works. They write their own based on their research of a particular artist.
Curated OER
HyperStudio Book Reports
Fifth graders create a HyperStudio book report after reading a novel. They work in pairs or small groups to design a HyperStudio stack about a previously-read novel. They use a variety of graphic organizers to have Students gather...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Mummies in the Morning Egyptian pyramids, hieroglyphics
Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record...
Warren County Public Schools
Small Group Discussion Questions
Support a class reading of the novel Song of the Trees by Mildred D. Taylor with this series of discussion questions. Covering a variety of topics from character and setting to historical accuracy and symbolism, these questions...
Curated OER
Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Hanukkah Lights, Hanukkah Nights
Students read Hanukkah Lights, Hanukkah Nights by Leslie Himmelman. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of Hanukkah. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and library...
Curated OER
Duking It Out
Students read and discuss 'Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra: Mixing Treasures by Duke Ellington and Edvard Grieg,' exploring how jazz transformed European music and the influence jazz has had on modern music. They write musical reviews.
Curated OER
All Fired Up
Students brainstorm images and themes associated with the American Fourth of July holiday. They create illustrated posters to explain the processes or history behind these themes.
Curated OER
Class Action
Students design learning laboratories for their school in a variety of subject areas. They present their ideas to members of their community for feedback.