National Endowment for the Humanities
Understanding the Context of Modernist Poetry
High schoolers examine the historical, social, and cultural context of modernist poetry. They explore websites, complete a chart, compare/contrast rural and urban life, watch a video of early New York, and complete a writing assessment...
Curated OER
ESL Network: Tezen, A Haitian Folktale
Sixth graders brainstorm various types of friendships prior to reading "Tezen," a tale about a young girl's friendship with a fish. After writing story reviews, they work in small groups to create dramatic skits based on the text and...
Creative Educator
Sell It with Propaganda
Augment a unit on propaganda by prompting class members to create propaganda. Using Frames software, groups demonstrate their understanding of propaganda techniques by designing a new product, creating a commercial to sell...
Curated OER
Interviewing Skills
Students participate in mock interviews. In this interview skills lesson, students prepare for a mock interview by following the provided lesson procedures, participate in the evaluated interview, and write Thank You letters to...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Spotlight Cards
Not all heroes wear capes—or cleats. Class members identify unsung heroes in their schools or towns for interviews, then create trading cards. A celebration including presentations or trading of cards completes their investigation of...
Curated OER
The Metamorphosis: Herber Readiness Activity
Delve into Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis before opening the book with a lesson on literary themes. High schoolers engage in a word association activity before reading a list of statements based on the book's...
PBS
Family History: Those with Lofty Ideals
Would you stand up for your beliefs, no matter the cost? Scholars investigate their own families to uncover examples of how and when someone stood up for their ideals. Using video clips, interviews, and eulogies, they come to understand...
Macmillan Education
Changing Your Mindset
Why do some people achieve their goals and persevere despite the setbacks they face? This question is the focus of this life skills instructional activity, which includes worksheets, discussion, and collaborative activities on developing...
Curated OER
Treasures of the Silk Roads
Young scholars examine and discuss art objects from the Silk Roads. They analyze images of artifacts, create a word map, and develop and write a short story or poem based on the slides viewed.
Curated OER
Treasures Along the Silk Roads
Ninth graders examine the travels of the Silk road. In this Ancient China lesson, 9th graders analyze slides of artifacts as cultural and social representations of the Silk Road civilizations. Students create a word map and...
Curated OER
Message in a Bottle
Sixth graders write a short story about being stranded on a deserted island. After a brief geography review of locations at various latitudes and longitudes, 6th graders draft their story about being stranded. They use sensory and...
Curated OER
Paragraph Elaboration and Examples
Students discuss the importance of elaboration and supporting ideas in writing. They are given a prompt and must complete it using details and examples.
Curated OER
Me, Plain and Tall
Second graders read and discuss Patricia MacLaclan's book Sarah, Plain and Tall. They write a narrative putting themselves in the setting of the story.
Curated OER
Note Taking
Second graders work in groups to gather information from a factual paragraph on the topic of ants. They demonstrate taking notes by selecting 3 or 4 important key words in each sentence and write it on a note card to compile summary...
Curated OER
Dear Abby: A Direct and Indirect Characterization Lesson Plan
Students practice identifying and creating examples of characterization based on comprehension. They assess direct and indirect characterization and use conflict in a plot to generate a piece of writing. Each student selects accurate...
Curated OER
The Keys To Higher Learning
Students discuss the validity of using the internet for learning. They compare and contrast the various strategies for learning when done online and in class. Students prepare a lesson plan for an online class and write a paper...
Curated OER
The Civil War Experience
Students write or design a creative project about the Civil War. In this Civil War lesson plan, students share memorable quotes from speeches and discuss documents historians could use to analyze the Civil War. Students read excerpts...
Curated OER
The Haitian Crisis: Thinking Historically
Students analyze the 2010 earthquake's effects on Haiti. In this Economics lesson, students brainstorm the problems caused in Haiti by the earthquake. Students listen to interviews with scholars to identify additional answers to focus...
Curated OER
The Sorcerers Shown
Students consider the different genres of literary and movie characters. In this character types lesson, students brainstorm character genres from books and movies. Students read the article 'Which Wizard Beats 'Em All?' and develop...
Curated OER
Picture This!
First graders watch the teacher model how to draw pictures and write words in a First, Next, Then, Last - 4 block graphic organizer. They write and draw in their own 4 block papers.
Curated OER
Ocean Influences on Climate
Students brainstorm the geographical factors that contribute to climate. They graph average monthly temperatures at two island groups. They analyze data for similarities and differences.
Curated OER
Rhyming With Pancakes
Students read a story. In this rhyming lesson, students define the word rhyme and brainstorm words that rhyme with hat. Students read The Great Pancake Escape and practice reciting each of the verses. Students are given a list of words...
Curated OER
Talking Over the Wall
Students explore how conflict resolution techniques can be used to resolve difference of opinion, both on a global and local scale. Students write in a journal about conflict using a phrase from the article as a starting point. ...
Curated OER
Re-Viewpoints From 2002
Students explore how editorials use various devices to convey a message to a reader. They select key news topics from 2002 and write their own editorials.