Curated OER
Who is Mark Zuckerberg?: Reading Informational Text
This New York Times "Learning Network" exercise provides 10 questions that apply to an article about Mark Zuckerberg. It poses key journalistic questions like, who, what, why, where, how, and when. This resource provides a nice, short...
Curated OER
The Atlanta Testing Scandal
What happens when a school is caught tampering with state test scores? Learners find out about the Atlanta Testing Scandal as they read a New York Times article. After they read, they test their comprehension by answering seven who,...
Curated OER
The Care and Feeding of Kids: Finding Information on Nutrition and Fitness
The Learning Network is featuring an article about First Lady Michelle Obama and her quest to help reduce childhood obesity in America. The article talks about how she has talked with the top three suppliers of school lunches and has...
Curated OER
Suspended 1,353 Feet Up
With a series of pictures you are transported to Chicago's Skywalk. Read about this magnificent tourist attraction and answer the reading comprehension questions provided. Extend this activity by having your class write about other...
Curated OER
School for Santas
Being able to read and recall is a very important skill. Why not have learners read about an American holiday phenomenon? They'll answer who, what, when, where, why, and how with regard to a New York Times article about a school for...
Curated OER
Fun, and Risks, at the Beach in Tel Aviv
After reading the article "Fun, and Risks, at the Beach in Tel Aviv," learners consider eight related questions. They'll answer who, what, when, where, why, and how about the risks several Palestinian women took as they snuck over the...
Curated OER
How Does Your Garden Grow? Discovering How Weather Patterns Affect Natural Cycles
For the warm-up in this cool climate lesson, you will need to click on "Mapping" and then "US Mapping" once you arrive at NOAA's "US Climate at a Glance" page. Earth science explorers realize that 2012 was a warm winter for us. They read...
Curated OER
Cruise Ship Capsizes
The newspaper offers many different types of stories about a variety of topics. Today, your class can read about the cruise ship Costa Concordia that capsized in 2012. They'll read the New York Times article, then answer each of the 10...
Curated OER
The Wild Dolphin Project
Inspire young marine biologists to study animals in the wild with this assignment. Pupils view an eight-minute video and read an article in the New York Times about Denise Herzing's 25-year long study of dolphins in their own natural...
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Student Opinion: Who Inspires You?
Inspire your class to write about role models and personal heroes with this resource from The Learning Network. Class members read a New York Times article excerpt about basketball star Jeremy Lin and how he inspired the author. After...
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It's All an Allusion: Identifying Allusions, in Literature and in Life
To allude, or not to allude, that is the question: whether ‘tis better to make a reference and engage your audience or risk confusing them or sounding dated. After reading an article about, and loaded with allusions, class members take a...
Core Task Project
Whatif by Shel Silverstein
What a skillful way to incorporate Shel Silverstein, a wonderful author, into the classroom. Composed of three tasks, children are led through a series of text-dependent questions that force them to unveil the meaning of Silverstein's...
Curated OER
Winning "The Voice": Cloze Exercise
This New York Times Learning Network exercise provides a cloze exercise along with a word bank that readers can use to complete the passage about the television show, "The Voice" and Jermaine Paul, a recent winner. Another option is to...
Curated OER
The New YouTube
Can you guess how many hits YouTube gets in one day? If you said two billion, you're wrong. If you said three billion, you're getting closer, but you're still over a billion hits away! Use this article to bring current events into the...
Curated OER
Hate 2.0
Combat hate online by bringing it into the light. Begin by giving learners a quiz, then lead a discussion based on the issues the quiz brought up. As a class, develop strategies to confront online hate. Assign different venues to groups...
Brown University
Analyzing the News
With so many ways to follow the news today, it is imperative to think critically about the sources of information we are turning to. Here is a fantastic graphic organizer that will help your learners develop the skills to properly...
Curated OER
Ladies Taking Over the Labs
Students explore the lives and accomplishments of the many women who have made tremendous strides in the various fields of science.
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Eating Over the Rainbow
Young scholars examine their own diets, and then redesign the USDA's Food Pyramid to reflect nutrition experts' latest advice. They read and discuss The Color of Nutrition: Fruits and Vegetables, which is an article imbedded in this plan.
Curated OER
Over-the-Counter Culture
Young scholars explore the changing consumer habits of Americans of various socioeconomic classes. They examine the exact costs of products, services and interest rates mentioned in the article and reflect on their own spending habits...
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Fill-In l Remembering Dick Clark
Your scholars may have an idea of who Dick Clark is, but do they understand the role he has played in American history for over 50 years? Give learners some practice with media literacy as they read an article about Clark's life and fill...
Curated OER
Poem in Your Pocket Day: Ideas for Celebrating
First instituted in New York City in 2002 and recognized nationwide in 2009, "Poem in Your Pocket Day" is part of National Poetry Month (April) and celebrates poetry in everyday life. A brief news story includes 9 ideas about how to...
Curated OER
The Learning Network: Reactions to Rating Teachers
Meant to be used in connection with the article "In Teacher Ratings, Good Test Scores Are Sometimes Not Good Enough" also available on The New York Times website, this resource provides 12 short-answer writing prompts that ask both basic...
Curated OER
Kernels of Wisdom: Investigating Natural Variations in Corn
Here is a brain-popper! Corn, or more appropriately, maize, was intentionally domesticated by humans around 9,000 years ago and over a period of hundreds to thousands of years! Genetics and botany researchers have collaborated to find...
Curated OER
Women's World Cup Champs
The Learning Network in conjunction with the New York Times provides an article for reading and questions for short answers and discussion. If you are looking for a rainy day activity or just a time-filler this story titled, "Women's...