Curated OER
Journeying to Create
Show a video clip that descripes how taking a journey can change a person's outlook on life. Learners write a paragraph about a place that uses imagery and tone to create a specfic effect. They evaluate their journal entries as well.
Digital Public Library of America
Teaching Guide: Exploring Little Women
Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a literary masterpiece as well as a timestamp of the formative mid-nineteenth century in America. Using a primary source set of photographs, letters, and portraits, readers discuss the ways...
Curated OER
Who Am I? (Intermediate Grades)
Young scholars write "Guess Who?" poems in a descriptive manner. They listen to the poems as they are read aloud and try to guess who the poem belongs to.
Curated OER
6 Room Image Poem (adapted from Georgia Heard’s Awakening the Heart)
Students explore emotions and memories in preparation for poetry writing. In this poetry activity students use a graphic organizer and prompts to begin to describe a specific memory which they will turned into a poem.
National Park Service
Petrified Forest National Park
Poetry Soup, a reading and writing unit constructed by the Petrified Forest National Park, will have scholars hungry to learn about nature. The cross-content unit contains topics related to history, science, and language arts. Content...
Curated OER
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Bio Poem
Get to know your learners on a deeper level or invite them to step into someone else's shoes by introducing them to a bio poem. With this type of poetry, scholars will answer questions such as self-description, hopes for the future, and...
Curated OER
Poetry for the Common Good
Students identify examples of philanthropy in poetry or song. In this philanthropy lesson, students examine several poems such as Give by Carrie A. Thomas and identify concepts of philanthropy in the poem. Students construct their own...
Curated OER
I Am From Poem
In this poetry worksheet, students create a poem about their memories and upbringing. Students use details and feelings that reflect their life and memories.
Curated OER
Lesson Ideas for Halloween Writing
Halloween writing activities provide a way to make descriptive language a part of a student's literary repertoire.
Curated OER
Thanksgiving Writing Activities
The holiday season is an opportunity for students to create meaningful Thanksgiving writing activities.
Curated OER
Poem Collage
Seventh graders read a descriptive language poem and then create a collage of what they feel the poem means to them. In this poems lesson plan, 7th graders take notes on the poem, and make the collage in groups.
Curated OER
Ten Red Apples; The Five Senses
A clever lesson designed around an apple awaits your learners. Descriptive words are used to explain what they believe is inside a bag while using their five senses. Young scholars read the story The Apple Pie Tree and are introduced to...
Curated OER
Explore your Culture through Storytelling
Explore the cultural heritage through of your class through reading, writing, and speaking exercises. They create illustrated mini-books that express their unique cultural and personal experiences. They share their stores with the class...
Curated OER
The Outsiders
Are you working on an Outsiders unit? Use this list of activities to deepen your middle schoolers' understanding of the novel. After reading S.E. Hinton's novel, young readers work on three required activities, including participating in...
Curated OER
Color My World Grey and Blue
Can colors help to convey a mood in writing? Explore this question with your class using the songs "Grey Street" by the Dave Matthews Band and "Blu is a Mood" by Blu Cantrell. After analyzing the effect of the color words in these songs...
Curated OER
A Weigh we Go!
Here are some cross-curricular activities whil should help your kids understnad weight measurements and grammar. In this grammar and math instructional activity, students read the book Skittles Riddles and practice counting and balancing...
Curated OER
The Great Gatsby Historical Background Using Multi-Genre Research Project
Before beginning F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, create a historical context of the Roaring 20s with this lesson plan. Set up a gallery walk with the provided PowerPoint, which features 10 topics related to the 1920s. Then...
PBS
Dear Pen Pal
Explore cultures from around the world with an engaging pen pal resource. Through a series of classroom activities and written correspondence, children learn about the favoritec pastimes, schooling, geography, and weather that is...
Reed Novel Studies
The Yearling: Novel Study
Ever known the feeling of being stuck between a rock and a hard place? Jody, a character in The Yearling, knows this feeling all too well. Nature forces Jody to choose between his beloved pet and his family's food supply. Readers...
Reed Novel Studies
Scat: Novel Study
If the most terrifying teacher in the school was lost, would you try to find her? Well, when the toughest teacher in the school is lost on a field trip, Nick and Marta, characters in Scat, decide to go looking for her. Readers discover...
Annenberg Foundation
Exploring Borderlands
What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...
Friends of Fort McHenry
Sensory “Star Spangled Banner”
Music can help us to access memories and events in a meaningful way, and Francis Scott Key used specific words to convey what he had seen and felt when writing what would become America's national anthem. Help your class connect to...
Dr. Seuss Enterprises
Dr. Seuss in the Classroom
Explore the works of Dr. Seuss, such as Horton Hears a Who, Horton Hatches and Egg, The Sneetches and Other Stories, The Lorax, The Butter Battle Book, and Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories. Each story lesson includes reading...
Curated OER
Out of the Dust: Open Form Poetry
Students write a description of their own life in the same style used in the first poem in Out of the Dust. In this Out of the Dust lesson, students discuss open form poetry and how the spacing and line breaks create a flow to...