Curated OER
Put the NEW in NEWBERY
Students read Newbery award books. In this Newbery book lesson, students look online to find all the books that have received this award and look through online reviews to find one they would like to read. After finishing the book, they...
Curated OER
Chrysanthemum - Read Aloud
First graders participate in active read aloud of Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. In this read aloud lesson set, 1st graders practice the "turn and talk" technique as they listen to Chrysanthemum. They listen to the story chapter by...
Curated OER
World War I and Its Consequences
Tenth graders decipher the long and short term causes of World War I. They follow through by studying the history of the present day situation in the Balkans and simulating peace talks with presentations.
Curated OER
Stop the Fighting and Start Uniting
Research current and proposed peace talks around the world with this New York Times lesson, Using the Darfur peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria as a starting point, middle schoolers create a news program on the subject. They propose a future...
Santa Ana Unified School District
Characters
Are your learners only talking about the plot of the story and not the richness of the characters? Then show them how important characters are to literature with the information available here. The learner will know how authors create...
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...
Write Away!
Voices In the Park
Explore the impact a narrator's point of view has on a story with a reading of the children's book, Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. Written in four different voices, the story is told and retold from different perspectives to...
Plainfield Public School District
Mood and Tone
"It was a dark and stormy night. Perfect for making Christmas cookies." Distinguishing between the mood of a piece and the tone can be tricky, but with the help of this presentation viewers quickly see and are able to identify the...
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...
TED-Ed
Different Ways of Knowing
“Words have colors, emotions, numbers, shapes, and personalities.” Daniel Tammet welcomes viewers to his world with a 10-minutes video that illustrates how he, as an autistic savant, perceives the world. Class members are then asked to...
Curated OER
The Mystery of Machu Picchu
Make the exploration of Machu Picchu a real adventure with these innovative lessons.
PACER Center
The Peer Advocacy Guide
Teasing, mocking, and disrespect can be the hallmarks in the life of those with disabilities. Disrupt the cycle of abuse with a toolkit designed to turn peers into advocates for all those who are bullied. Everything needed to create a...
Curated OER
Dandelion Wine: Questioning Strategy
Readers of Dandelion Wine work in groups to develop questions on four levels (right there, think and search, the author and you, and on my own) about Chapter 34 of Ray Bradbury's reflection on the joys of summer. Groups jigsaw and then...
Curated OER
Peter and the Starcatchers: Anticipation Guide
Pique your pupils' interest before reading Peter and the Starcatchers with an anticipation guide. Given a list of 10 statements, learners choose true or false based on what they think the book is about. They then discuss in small groups...
Curated OER
Same Setting, Different Moods: Voice and Word Choice Using Lord of the Flies
Whether it's dark, delightful, or somber, set the mood with William Golding's Lord of the Flies. High-schoolers practice descriptive writing by creating the appropriate mood for an original scene, starring one of the book's main characters.
Curated OER
Episodic Writing Using Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
Help your middle-schoolers expand their writing skills with this activity on episodic writing, which focuses on story details, idea development, and organization. After reading "The Eighth Picture: End of Summer" from Patricia Reilly...
Curated OER
Favorite Sports and Athletes: an Introduction to Sports Media
Even young children watch sports and like team logos and products. It's never too early to think critically about what's onscreen. This exercise develops awareness that media communicate values (i.e. who participates in sports and who...
Curriculum Corner
7th Grade ELA "I Can" Statement Posters
Help your seventh graders relate the ELA Common Core standards to their own learning with these "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been translated into a statement that pupils can understand and placed on its own page for easy...
Global Oneness Project
The Consciousness of Nature
Scholars voice their opinions about animal consciousness with an article that challenges common ideas about nature. After reading the article, learners engage in a thoughtful discussion before writing out their arguments in a persuasive...
Reed Novel Studies
The Invention of Hugo Cabret: Novel Study
If the walls could talk, you might hear Hugo from The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Hugo lives in the walls of a train stations in Paris. Scholars read and complete worksheet activities as they discover Hugo's secrets. They show their...
Baylor College
Calculating Exponential Growth
There can be a steep learning curve when teaching about exponential growth, but the lesson helps kids make sense out of the concept. When talking about exponential growth of viruses, learners may not be very interested, but when you are...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 1, Unit 1, Lesson 11
Address annotation, word choice, and tone in the same language arts instructional activity. Ninth graders read a section of Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" and track character development based on supporting...
Curated OER
Exploring Owls
What can young scientists discover from dissecting an owl pellet? Explore the owl food chain, beginning with an introduction to these predatory birds. Suggested strategies here include creating a podcast and purchasing a poster, however...
Curated OER
Request
Students play a game of questioning with the teacher after reading silently a beginning passage of text. They and teacher request specific information from each other until students are able to summarize and predict the outcome of the...