Curated OER
Opinion through the Ages: Exploring 40 Years of New York Times Op-Eds
What is the role of a newspaper's Op-Ed page? High schoolers explore the New York Times' "Op-Ed at 40," an interactive feature that lets them browse through 40 years worth of op-ed features, and consider the purpose and value of this...
Curated OER
Brave New World: Biopoem
“Words can be like x-rays if you use them properly—they’ll go through anything.” Readers of Brave New World will be pierced by an activity that asks them to use details from the text to craft a biopoem for one of the characters in Aldous...
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...
Curated OER
Swamps, Shrimp, and Tsunamis: A Simulation of Sustainable Development Issues in Coastal Ecuador
Middle schoolers examine the economic benefits, environmental losses and dangers of the shrimp farming industry on the coast of Ecuador. They read a script, role-play people involved in the shrimp business, and write an essay of the pros...
Curated OER
Imagine That!
Enter the fantastical world of "Dungeons and Dragons" and other role-playing games with this lesson from The New York Times. Middle schoolers create the outline for a role-playing game based on their own community. Then, they...
Curated OER
Speaking Out About Kosovo
Invite your class to reflect on the responsibility of newspapers to act as vehicles for citizens to voice their opinions. Using an article to gain factual info. about gov't strategies in dealing with current events in Kosovo, young...
Curated OER
Research a Poet and Explicate a Poem by that Poet
Using your school's media center, internet research, and a SMART board, 7th graders research a chosen poet and write a research report. Additionally, 7th graders explicate one poem by the poet within their report. Several resource links...
Curated OER
The Embodied Presidency
Tenth graders compare and contrast the immigration reform policies of Presidents Reagan and Bush. In this immigration lesson, 10th graders examine primary documents related to each president's policy for immigration reform. Students...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Founding Documents
Teach the class about the predecessor to Declaration of Independence—the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Using the foundational documents, scholars examine the two writings to consider how they are similar and how they are different. A...
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Analyzing the Use of Irony in a Short Story
Ninth graders examine how literature connects to real-life and see how irony aids in the development of theme. They read Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, and discuss elements of foreshadowing and situational irony. Then learners will write...
Curated OER
An Introduction to Law
With so many different types of law, it can be difficult for learners to discern which is which! Use a newspaper to give tangible examples of various types of law, including criminal, civil, consumer, family, local, state, federal and...
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Will There Be Subsistence Farmers in the 21st Century?: Feeding the World
Students examine the topic of subsistence farming. They research the future of subsistence agriculture, identify the types and locations of subsistence agriculture, and write about subsistence farming in regards to developing nations and...
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Does Rick Warren Represent Diversity?
The topic of this lesson focuses on whether or not Obama was able to convincingly defend his choice of choosing Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. This is considered a controversial or hot topic because it...
Curated OER
Introduction to Ludwig van Beethoven
"Ode to la Tortilla" and "Ode to Joy"? Sure! Use Gary Soto's poem to introduce learners to the ode format. After examining the descriptive words Soto uses, class members study a poster of Ludwig van Beethoven, suggest words that describe...
Moanalua Gardens Foundation
The Mystery of Rapa Nui
What caused the collapse of the environment on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)? Who constructed the Moai? What was their purpose? Class members assume the role of investigators and use evidence drawn from field studies, ships' logs, and...
Curated OER
Marketing to Teens: Parody Ads
High schoolers deconstruct advertising messages by analyzing parody ads and exploring the purpose of satire. Then they create their own parodies based on real ads discussed in class. A creative activity to extend any study of media,...
Curated OER
Children's Books
Students explore daily dilemmas students face. They write and illustrate a story book dealing with one dilemma. Students write reviews of their books. They read their books to second grade students. Additional cross curriculum activities...
Curated OER
Spooky Story
Second graders write a Halloween story. In this combined technology and writing lesson, 2nd graders create a Halloween picture using KidPix, insert it into Microsoft Word, and then write a story to correspond with the picture.
Curated OER
A Multigenerational Pen Pal Program
Students discover the benefits of writing letters to multigenerational pen pals. In this pen pal lesson, students identify a need for communication among the generations. Students begin a pen pal program with the elders in...
Curated OER
Native American and Colonial Literature Debate
Students compare the tone, purpose, point of view, etc. of traditional Native American poems and creation myths to traditional Colonial American literature. they debate which is the right way of thinking/living.
Curated OER
The "Real" Fairy Tales
Students write a Fairy Tale from the point of view of the "bad guy".
Curated OER
Computer Olympics
Young scholars compete to achieve excellence in math facts, writing terms, problem solving, and writing skills on the computer. In this Computer Olympics lesson plan, students practice the skill of drill and practice in order to succeed...
Curated OER
The Use of Substitution As a Creative Thinking Tool
Students practice using substitution as a creative way of thinking about writing and try to substitute song lyrics, food items, rhythm movements and more. For this substitution lesson plan, students create a new candy, and create...
Curated OER
How Logical is Garfield?
Third graders analyze comics found in the newspaper for samples of logical, emotional, and ethical appeal. They write a paragraph for each selected comic strip explaining how the comic strip represents the use of logic, emotions, or ethics.