Curated OER
Become a Character: Adjectives, Character Traits, and Perspective
Students use an online chart to match the character traits of a character in a book they are reading with specific actions the character takes. Students then work in pairs to "become" one of the major characters in a book and describe...
Curated OER
Multimedia Presentation on Roll of Thunder Hear Me Cry
What a wonderful way to follow up on the reading of, Roll of Thunder Hear Me Cry! The instructional activity has pupils split up into small groups of two to four students. Each group must work collaboratively to create a multimedia...
Curated OER
Current Events
Students explore different countries, their locations, and their cultures. Using an encyclopedia, they locate the information, then write a report. Ultimately, they create a paper doll to represent their chosen country.
Curated OER
Giving with Imagination
Demonstrate gift giving as an act of caring about someone versus gifts for show (or gifts from the purse). Elementary learners practice giving gifts from the heart by creating a poem for someone special to them.
Curated OER
The Stuff of Stories: Using Museums to Inspire Student Writing
Middle schoolers write descriptions, narratives, and dialogues based on objects of art and time periods in a museum. They base several writing assignments on art objects and paintings, including a literal description and an emotional...
Curated OER
Newcomers
Explore emotions associated with moving to a new home with young learners. First they listen to the books Painted Words/Spoken Memories by Aliki and Going Home by Eve Bunting. Then they are invited to share their experiences as well as...
New Museum of Contemporary Art
Lesson: Unmonumental: Fallen and Disappearing Monuments
Due to vandalism, war, and urban decay, many of the world's great monuments have fallen to ruin. Here is an interesting lesson that increases understanding of the dichotomy between what are intended as lasting tributes, and their...
Curated OER
A Monster of a Metaphor
What do Jeep advertisements and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath have in common? They both employ the art of the extended metaphor! Using the Six-Trait Writing model, learners begin to work on their own extended metaphors. Development...
Curated OER
Poetry Vocabulary
Consisting of a thorough and straightforward list of poetry terminology, the first part of this presentation would be a good introduction to a poetry unit, or a review for an upcoming poetry project. The list of terms is quite extensive,...
Curated OER
Two Truths and a Lie: Internet Research Skills
It's tough for high schoolers to assess what is a credible resource and what is not. A helpful resource prompts class members to research a particular topic and record two facts—and create one lie—while documenting the sources. They...
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
Identify Base Words and Suffixes to Read Multisyllabic Words #1
Show your scholars how adding an affix changes the entire meaning of a word; they focus on the suffix -able. You'll find a complete script here, but if you don't want to read this verbatim, use it simply as an outline. Learners...
Indiana University
World Literature: "One Evening in the Rainy Season" Shi Zhecun
Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...
Curated OER
Form and Observation
Use a familiar song and adorable baby animal pictures to teach youngsters about genetic variation. Begin by listening to "Twelve Variations on 'Ah vous dirai-je Maman,'" which you will need to find online (there are several versions...
Curated OER
A PLAY ON WORDS
After making predictions about Janell Cannon's story Verdi, middle schoolers read through the book and make a new list of descriptions, personality traits, etc. They select an animal and write a narrative story about the animal, paying...
Curated OER
Preparing for Poetry: A Reader's First Steps
Students examine denotation and connotation in language, and paraphrase a poem. They read and analyze a sonnet by iam Shakespeare, analyze the attitude and tone, paraphrase a poem, and create a thesis about a poem based on textual evidence.
Curated OER
Audio Aesop: Listen to the Lesson!
Aesop's Fables are the focus of this language arts lesson plan. Young philosophers study and discuss the morals found in the most famous of Aesop's Fables. They write an original fable that teaches a common moral. A "Fable Listening...
Curated OER
Lunch Pail
Explore a 1900s lunch pail. For this oral language and 1900s history lesson, students view a photograph of an old-fashioned lunch pail. Students describe the object and make predictions about what it is and its possible uses. Students...
Curated OER
What Happens Next: 2
What happens next? That is a great question that requires learners to think about the sequence of events then make a prediction. They assess the pictures on the left and draw lines to the pictures on the right that show what will happen...
Curated OER
The Great Gatsby: Symbolic Story Representation
The themes of The Great Gatsby are embodied in the images F. Scott Fitzgerald creates. To encourage reader interaction with the text, individuals create a symbolic representation of themselves, place themselves in the story,...
Curated OER
Possessives
What is a possessive? Review the information at the top of the page before asking your class to work on this independently. For the first eight questions, your learners add the necessary s's and apostrophes when appropriate. For the...
La Jolla High School
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Sketching a Portrait--Characterization
John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is known for rich character development. Expose your class to indirect characterization and all that it involves with this worksheet. Learners look at quotes, determine what method of characterization is...
Santa Ana Unified School District
Characters
Are your learners only talking about the plot of the story and not the richness of the characters? Then show them how important characters are to literature with the information available here. The learner will know how authors create...
Brooklyn Museum
HIDE/SEEK: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture
Visual arts lessons don't always mean the children need to make art. Here, they will practice using their visual literacy skills to analyze four images through the compare and contrast method. The first two images deal with gender...