Curated OER
Think It, Write It, Create It
Help your scholars create a class story. They will write a page of the story and illustrate that page. Then they use a variety of digital technologies to make the story come alive. A variety of digital resources are recommended for the...
EngageNY
Reading about the Author’s Perspective: Why Do Authors Write about Natural Disasters?
It's all about perspective. Scholars view a note from the author in Eight Days. They determine the gist and discuss what they can learn about the author's background based on the note. They then complete a fishbowl activity in...
Curated OER
Arctic Writing
Fifth graders analyze photographs in order to write descriptively. For this descriptive writing lesson, 5th graders use the Internet to research and view photographs of the arctic. Students use descriptive language to write...
Curated OER
Water Cycle Reading and Writing
Here is a great way to get pupils to express a scientific concept in a fun way. After hearing the story of Walter the Water drop and learning facts about the water cycle, the class will write a creative expository piece describing what...
Penguin Books
An Educator's Guide to the Works of Laurie Halse Anderson
Laurie Halse Anderson tackles challenging topics for teens. An educator's guide shares activities for many of her novels such as Prom, Shout, and Wintergirls. Questions, perfect to use as either discussion or as essay prompts, accompany...
Pace University
Short Stories
A reading of Kevin Lamb's short story "Lost in the Woods" launches a study of how writers use elements such as foreshadowing, mood, character development, setting, and conflict to engage readers. Class members then demonstrate what they...
Storytelling World
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Ring in the holiday season with The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson. A teacher's guide to each chapter, crossword puzzles, quote matching, and creative writing prompts are just a few of the language arts...
abcteach
A Turkey for Thanksgiving
If you're reading Eve Bunting's A Turkey for Thanksgiving, take a look at these activities to follow the story. Kids complete a crossword puzzle, word search, event sequence activity, and multiple choice reading quiz before...
Curated OER
The Call of the Wild: Activities
“There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life” and an excitement that comes with finding a good teaching resource. Included in a richly detailed packet designed to accompany The Call of the Wild, are a tableaux exercise, a...
Curated OER
Making Poetry Writing Fun!
Learners find a group of words from an unlikely source and turn them into a poem. They discuss the central image in two well-known poems by Langston Hughes and Emily Dickinson. They write their own short poem expressing one central...
Curated OER
From a Pet's Point of View
Students explore the concept of point of view. In this point of view lesson plan, students discuss the point of view of a pet and write an imaginative story. Students then create a power point presetation for the class to...
Curated OER
Maestro Creativity Challenge
Students work in small groups to write an article using the maestro group format. In this journalism instructional activity students break into groups and randomly choose an item that must be incorporated into...
Curated OER
Writing Prompt "Living With Fame"
Fourth graders practice their creative writing skills by describing fame. In this writing prompt lesson, 4th graders identify fame and how their life would be dramatically different if they were wildly famous. Students...
Curated OER
Writing Activity: Where Are They Going?
In this writing worksheet, students look at 2 different pictures of men, writing about where they are going and whether or not they may be lost.
Curated OER
"Take my Advice": Poems with a Voice
Discuss the meaning of the phrase tone of voice with the class. They respond to a variety of scenarios where a particular tone would be prevalent. They then read "Mother to Son" without knowing the title and answer some questions about...
Tennessee Technical University
Carousel Brainstorm
A variation of the Walkabout Review process, carousel brainstorming directs groups to rotate through a series of stations posting ideas on the topic or question posted at each stop.
PBS
Baseball: The Tenth Inning
Bring the historical relevance of baseball into the classroom, as pupils discover the lessons learned from the breaking of baseball's color barrier by Jackie Robinson. Learners view video and analyze Robinson’s character, as well as his...
Creative Chemistry
Simple Calorimetry to Find the Enthalpy of Combustion of Alcohols
Accomplished chemistry learners set up a calorimeter and measured the energy released by various alcohols: methanol, ethanol, and either propanol or butanol. Lab masters will first need to design their tables for recording data. Consider...
Global Oneness Project
A Day in the Life
We often see other countries depicted in movies, but getting a close look at a typical day in the life of a young person from another country isn't as common. Give your pupils such a look with a resource that helps class members...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Differences Among Colonial Regions
Classes look at and analyze primary source images to explore the differences between the colonial regions during the Revolutionary era. They break into groups to tackle each region and then present their findings to the class. A final...
Curated OER
Write Your Own Screen Play
Students critique the transition of "Holes" from a novel to screenplay and consider how the details in a book are brought to life in a movie. They then choose a scene in a book and transform it into an original script after brainstorming...
Curated OER
The Apprentice: A Study of Business and Technical Writing
Students explore business practices by creating a portfolio in class. In this business writing lesson, students identify the causes for a businesses success and failure before deciding on a business they would like to create. Students...
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Gayle Forman
Sometimes a novel is the best way to tackle a tough topic. A helpful educator's guide for the novels of Gayle Forman discuss tough topics such as teenage suicide. Discussion questions and writing activities encourage readers to think...
Curated OER
Shakespeare 2000
Comparing the more modern film Ten Things I Hate About You to The Taming of the Shrew leads to an understanding of how Shakespearean plots can be applied to modern-day situations and characters. As a culminating activity, groups select a...