Curated OER
Visual Literacy: Using Images to Increase Comprehension
A colorful PowerPoint is a great way to introduce the topic of visual literacy. The eye-catching presentation begins with an overview of visual literacy and then provides some specific strategies to help enhance reading comprehension. As...
National Arts Centre
Visual Metaphors in Scenic Design: Activity
As part of a study of how visual metaphors are used in set design, class members examine an image of designer Josef Svoboda's 3-D scale model for the opera Idomeneo, re` di Creta. They then find another example that employs a visual...
Incredible Art
Skateboard Deck Graphics
Young artists don't need to be skateboarders to enjoy this assignment. Class members use the provided worksheet to craft 10 sketches that convey action or motion using no more than seven lines. They then select their three best ideas and...
Curated OER
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle: Graphic Organizer
After completing the first five chapters of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle By Avi, use direct quotes to make inferences about how Charlotte feels about certain characters. Later, when the novel has concluded, revisit...
University of North Carolina
Figures and Charts
Sometimes words aren't the best way to get information across to the reader. The eighth handout in the 24-part Writing the Paper series describes different type of figures and charts to display complex information in a paper....
Pearson
Catching the Sun: Tales from Asia
Explore the folklore of Asia and the South Pacific with this language arts lesson series. Complementing a reading of Catching the Sun: Tales from Asia by Jan M. Mike, this resource supports learners with understanding cause and...
EngageNY
Practicing Structures for Reading: Gathering and Using Evidence to Analyze Salva’s and Nya’s Points of View (Chapter 4)
Class members discuss the gist of chapter four of A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park with a partner and share their responses with the class. Next, they complete graphic organizers to answer text-dependent questions based on a close...
Open Oregon Educational Resources
Digital Foundations: Introduction to Media Design with the Adobe Creative Cloud, Revised Edition
How can Adobe Creative Cloud enhance digital art and media design? Readers explore just that with the Digital Foundations eBook. They learn how to source images and how to create symmetry and asymmetry in their digital designs. They also...
Prestwick House
"Because I could not stop for Death" -- Visualizing Meaning and Tone
Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death" provides high schoolers with an opportunity to practice their critical thinking skills. They examine the images, diction, rhythm, and rhyme scheme the poet uses and consider how...
EngageNY
Presenting a Research-Based Claim: Effective Speaking Techniques
Take note. Scholars receive their claim drafts back to revise and write their claims and three pieces of evidence on notecards. They save the notecards to use when the verbally present their claims to the class. At the end, individuals...
National Woman's History Museum
Propaganda and Women's Suffrage
Americans who backed the suffragist movement used posters to gain the support of others for their cause. Class members analyze the visual imagery and propaganda devices used in a variety of these posters. In addition, groups examine how...
Scholastic
Tell Us a Tale: Teaching Students to Be Storytellers
Encourage scholars to retell their favorite short story or folktale, adding personal details to make it their own. After reading their book of choice several times, story tellers retell a tale verbally to their classmates.
Curated OER
The Lightning Thief: Vocabulary Strategy
Take an in-depth look into the vocabulary from the novel, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. With a list of words to choose from, scholars discover the definition, origin, stories associated with...
Austin Independent School District
Social Studies Strategies: Concept of a Definition Map
Model for your class members how to use a definition map to make connections between new words and prior knowledge. Although the strategy is designed for social studies classes, the approach can be use at any grade level and in any...
New York City Department of Education
Theater Units for Lower and Upper Elementary Levels
Introduce middle schoolers to playwriting and the elements of drama with a six-session storytelling unit that encourages kids to expand their acting and writing skills. The 12-page packet includes overviews of the lessons,...
Denver Public Schools
Kung-hsi Fa-ts' ai! – A Chinese New Year Celebration
Looking for ideas for your Lunar New Year celebration? Check out an interdisciplinary unit of study that includes lessons in counting, calligraphy, culture, geography, literature, art, and music. Kung-hsi Fa-ts' ai! (May you...
Oregon State
Introduction to Cinematography
Places everyone! Action! Imagine an entire cinematography course, already designed, that includes everything you need to launch your own film studio, in one tidy 66-page packet.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Are You Balanced?
Balance scales create a strong visual of how an individual prioritizes one's self alongside their commitments to the community, school, and home. Scholars complete a graphic organizer then discuss their findings with their peers. A...
EngageNY
Analyzing Experiences: Carlotta Walls
What was life like in the American South following the Civil War? Scholars watch a video that discusses the aftermath of the Civil War and the events during the Reconstruction Period. Additionally, they continue reading Carlotta Walls...
EngageNY
Adding to Cascading Consequences and Stakeholders: Hunter-Gatherer Food Chain
Could the hunter-gatherer food chain feed everyone in the United States? To consider the question, pupils use their research and add to the Cascading Consequences chart based on Michael Pollan's hunter-gatherer food chain from The...
Lerner Publishing
Teaching Folklore
Wonderful worksheets and activities complementing six sequential lessons are what you'll find in this unit on folklore. Pupils create folktales using literary devices and included story starters, compare and contrast different...
EngageNY
Making a Claim: Moon Shadow’s Point of View of the Immediate Aftermath
Body paragraphs are the building blocks of every essay. Pupils view and discuss a model essay using a rubric to evaluate one of its supporting paragraphs. Next, scholars use what they've learned to continue drafting their own literary...
College Board
Choices and Consequences
Paul Fisher, the main character in Tangerine, comes to see that it's the choices in life that lead to the consequences that make all the difference. A unit study of Bloor's young adult novel leads readers down this same path.
University of North Carolina
Semi-Colons, Colons, and Dashes
Hey teacher, what's that weird thing with a period on top and a comma on the bottom? If you've ever received a question like this, it may be time to review the handout on semi-colons, colons, and dashes. Part of a larger series of...