National Park Service
Making Choices
What factors go into a decision to enter a war? Use a collection of primary source documents and images to prompt a discussion about the American Revolution and the reasons for entering a war against Britain.
Curated OER
A Look at the History of Book Banning in America
Why do books end up on the banned book list? How do these banned books contribute to the literary canon? Start by showing the photo slide show, and discussing notably banned books. Then focus on some of the most popular objections:...
Curated OER
A Little Kandinsky For All
Students create abstract compositions based on the later works of Wassily Kandinsky using the primary colors in this early elementary Art instructional activity. The instructional activity emphasizes the use of color, lines, and shapes...
Curated OER
Painted Shoes
Students recreate great works of art on old shoes in this exciting art lesson for grades K-8. Emphasis is placed upon the work of Canadian artist Theodore Dragonieri and examples of paintings created by "the Masters" (including VanGogh,...
Curated OER
Criticism of Modernity: Gandhi's Association with the American Transcendentalists
Eleventh graders explore Gandhi's philosophy links to the works of American Transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau. In this transcendentalism lesson, 11th graders discuss essential questions about civilization and modernity.
Curated OER
Day One Dance Workshop
Fifth graders complete a unit of lessons on the definition of dance. They view videos of various dances, compare/contrast the dances viewed, categorize a list of words about dance on a handout, write journal responses, and perform dance...
National Park Service
The Power of Remembrance
On every July 4th, we watch fireworks and celebrate our independence, but how is the history of the American Revolution preserved? Four social studies lesson plan guide learners through different memorials, commemorative objects, and...
Curated OER
Inspire the Imagination with a Poet Study of Shel Silverstein
Captivating prose opens wondrous doors to critical thinking and language development.
Teaching for Change
Selma in Pictures: Socratic Seminar
Photographs from the freedom movement in Selma, Alabama serve as the basis of two Socratic Seminars. Class members prepare for the seminars by closely observing the images, form a hypothesis, and use evidence from photo to support a...
Curated OER
Building a House Using Circles
Students study circles and problem solving. In this critical thinking lesson, students build a house using all of the circles given to them gluing them onto paper.
Curated OER
Stop Action and Assess Alternatives
Students stop action and determine how history may have been altered. For this historical perspectives lesson, students consider how the Cherokee Removal, the Transcontinental Railroad, the Immigration Act of 1924, and the dropping of...
Curated OER
From Greece to Main Street
Students consider the influence of the Greeks on American architecture. In this American Greek Revival architecture lesson, students identify the attributes of architectural style as they compare the Parthenon with the Lincoln Memorial....
Curated OER
The Electric Hearth
Students examine popular media. In this media awareness lesson, students keep logs of their interactions with media and then write an essay regarding the data.
Curated OER
The Cask of Amontillado
High schoolers examine the Edgar Allan Poe story "The Cask of Amontillado." In this character lesson, students discuss and analyze the characters in the story. High schoolers make personal connections to the characters and create a...
Curated OER
Technology as a Design Tool for Abstract Artwork
Students manipulate pictures using Adobe Photoshop and digital cameras to produce unique abstract works. This lesson can be modified to include a painting/mixed media element. State standards are addressed in this lesson.
Media Smarts
Marketing to Teens: Alternate Ads
Did you know that Coke can teach the world to sing in perfect harmony? Learners develop an awareness of more subtle, less obvious methods advertisers use to reach consumers. Included is a list of related lessons available on the Media...
Curated OER
Shizuko’s Daughter: List-Group-Label Strategy
Help your learners navigate the vocabulary of Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori with a lesson plan on categorizing words. After coming up with a list of things that grow from the earth, learners decide which categories each words belong in.
Curated OER
Where the Red Fern Grows Chapter 19-20
Take a look at the final chapters of Wilson Rawls' much-loved novel. Class members respond to several plot-based questions and then consider the red fern as a symbol. The worksheet is part of a series that includes every chapter except...
Curated OER
The Secret Garden - Proper Nouns
Help your class master proper nouns with a themed worksheet. As they read Frances Hodgson Burnett's well-known novel The Secret Garden, have pupils practice identifying proper nouns with plot points from the story. They underline and...
Curated OER
The Case of Regulation in Cells
After your biologists have learned about transcription, translation, and gene regulation, they work in a small group to create a poster of a system that serves as an analogy of the gene regulation process. They share their creations with...
Curated OER
Hoot Chapter Book Test
If you need a quick reading assessment for Carl Hiaasen's Hoot, use these 20 questions to see how well your learners comprehend the story. The final question prompts kids to write a short essay about the story's environmental impact....
Curated OER
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Pre-Reading Strategy
Get your class ready to read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard with an anticipation guide. This document describes exactly how to create and implement an anticipation guide.
Have Fun Teaching
Compare and Contrast (3)
Sometimes the way a topic is presented in fiction can be very different from how it is in reality. Compare and contrast a topic from both a fiction and nonfiction source with a graphic organizer that prepares kids to write about what...
University of North Carolina
Scientific Reports
IMRAD isn't text-speak for I'm cool. It's actually the format for scientific reports. As part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, an informative handout explains the nuts and bolts of writing a lab report. First, however,...