Curated OER
Smart Design
Share pupil responses to an interactive slide show about a design initiative intended to help the world's poor. The class works in groups to brainstorm ideas, and then prepares sketches of their own design solutions. Each rendering...
Curated OER
Pens, Paper and ... Cellphones?
Students consider the benefits that so-called disruptive technology can have in the classroom, then design class activities that feature such technology prominently. They write essays responding (as students) to their classmates'...
Curated OER
"Memories of Mom" Memento
Young scholars brainstorm a list of writing topics for a "Memories of Mom" book, choose one of the topics as the subject of a daily essay and combine a week of daily essays into a book to give their mothers for Mother's Day.
Curated OER
Dramatic Outlines
Young scholars write about main characters. In this dramatic writing lesson, students brainstorm character ideas. Young scholars create actions and give the character a voice. Students act out the scene in groups and create a final draft.
College Board
2009 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions
Scholars select a novel or play and craft an essay to discuss what the symbol reveals about the characters or theme. Writers also analyze a passage and a poem to determine how the authors use literary elements to relay their messages.
K12 Reader
Limited Resources
Here's a comprehension exercise that asks readers to include direct quotes in their analysis of an article on ways to conserve natural resources.
K12 Reader
An Interview with President Lincoln
What would you ask Abraham Lincoln if you had the chance? Class members draft interview questions for the 16th U.S. President, and imagine what his responses would be.
Curated OER
A History of Tibet: Dalai Lama Day
Sixth graders research the history of Tibet. In this history of Tibet lesson, 6th graders prepare for a visit by the Dalai Lama and review a timeline. students respond to a writing prompt, review vocabulary, and write "instant essays".
Curated OER
Pizzazz!...Chain Stories
Students compose a short story working with partners. They create a beginning, middle, and an ending. Students brainstorm with their partners and create a creative short story.
Novelinks
Lord of the Flies: Outlining and Begin Drafting
Help young writers with the daunting prospect of a five-paragraph essay. Using William Golding's Lord of the Flies, learners work through a short process to shore up their brainstorming and prepare to write a longer essay.
Curated OER
Technological Grand Conversations
Conduct a written literary discussion and diminish stress about public writing. Class members, already arranged into literature circles, compose and post responses to novels, signing with initials or class number. The process continues...
Curated OER
Asking the Questions and Questioning the Answers
What would you ask a presidential candidate if you had the chance? Bring politics to your language arts classroom with this lesson, in which young readers brainstorm questions they would have liked the presidential candidates to answer....
Curated OER
Compare and Contrast Poems vs. Lyrics
Combine your pupils' love of music with their growing knowledge of poetry! First, have them bring in their favorite songs for a discussion on word choice and literary devices. Then, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the...
California Academy of Science
What Would Happen?
Nothing says classroom fun like an invertebrate and a magnifying glass! Snails, earthworms, and roly-poly bugs become the center of attention as pint-sized investigators hone their inquiry and observation skills. They are guided through...
Curated OER
Social Class Stereotypes
Encourage your young scholars to think about how and why people and categorized in terms of social class. They decide what "class" they belong to, and then brainstorm about the indicators that society uses to define class and to...
Curated OER
Setting the Tone with Figurative Language
Explore figurative language with your secondary class. Extending a language arts unit, the lesson plan prompts middle schoolers to examine how an author's word choice establishes a story's tone, possibly using metaphors, similes,...
Bully Free Systems
Bully Free Lesson Plans—Eighth Grade
Middle schoolers are likely very familiar with the concept of bullying and cliques. Discuss their experiences and brainstorm ways to handle peer conflict and feelings of exclusion with a poem that focuses on bullying, and a second lesson...
Novelinks
Words By Heart: K-W-H-L Strategy
How can we heal our hearts through forgiveness? The third activity in a series of six prompts readers to answer questions about Words by Heart by Ouida Sebestyen. Not only does it activate background knowledge on the text, but it also...
Curated OER
Picture This
Give your littlest learners the opportunity to learn how to discuss, observe, and visualize. First, they determine if the image they are looking at is a photograph or a painting. Then they work together to brainstorm words that describe...
Anti-Defamation League
What Is Culture?
Explore the complexity of culture with this rich and comprehensive lesson plan, which will prompt your learners to think critically and respectfully discuss our current definitions of culture, and how those definitions might evolve.
Teaching Tolerance
Inventing a Better World
From play pumps that provide clean water to shoes made from trash, innovators change the world one invention at a time. After researching various inventions, young entrepreneurs develop their own. Extension opportunities include prompts...
Curated OER
What's A Word?
Students listen to the story "Wilfred Gordon Mcdonald Partridge" and brainstorm about memories. They write a story describing what they would put in a memory basket when they are 80 years old.
Curated OER
Writing: Lesson 5
Eighth graders pre-write a story brainstorming things that they want to tell in their story; writing down as many details as possible. They then arrange the details in chronological order and practice several ways to write a narrative.
Curated OER
Using Children's Literature to Teach Writing: Oh, Tucker!
Students are read the book "Oh, Tucker". They write a paper about the positive and negative aspects of having a dog as a pet. They use a graphic organizer to organize their thoughts and they edit them the next day in class.