Activity
Curated OER

Illuminated Letter

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Writers light up their manuscripts by embellishing the first letter in their text. The two-page assignment sheet includes colorful samples from twelfth and thirteenth century texts.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Coaching, Conferencing, and Correcting

For Teachers 5th - Higher Ed
Students, after revising their writing and identifying their strengths and weaknesses, edit their writing incorporating teacher feedback and examples from class exercises. In addition, they continue working on individual writing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Letter to Self: A Personal Time Capsule

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders identify the parts of a friendly letter and write a letter to themselves as a part of a time capsule. In this letter writing lesson, 7th graders identify the five parts of a letter and write a friendly letter to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It's All Part of the Story

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students explore storytelling through pantomime, improvisation, and dramatization. They watch an online video, discuss Native American earth stories, role-play various situations, explore websites, and present an oral story to the class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Developing Student Web Pages for Showcasing Research

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Learners employ information literacy skills to research topics. They develop topics using a graphic organizer. They draft, revise and edit research projects. They write an expository essay. They create a web page in Microsoft Publisher.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Monster Lesson

For Teachers 5th
Fifth graders write a detailed description of a monster or alien they have created. They e-mail the description to another student, and the e-mail buddy draws the monster based on the descriptive writing.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fall Similes and Metaphors

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students interpret what a similies and metaphors are. They give examples of similies and metaphors. Pupils write different similies and metaphors using fall or autumn descriptive words. Students base their comparisons on facts, once they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Houdini Report

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Young scholars write a biography after thy have found facts from the Houdini website. They complete a report using the organizational trait. Students use the internet to complete their fact sheets on Houdini. They discuss organization...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Respiration

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students explore Adenosine Triphosphate and how energy is released. They examine the basic process of cellular respiration and draw its chemical formula. After describing cellular respiration and photosynthesis, students compare and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Children's Book

For Teachers 6th
A great way to publish students' stories is by having them create a picture book using Pages. This simple lesson has them take a short story they have written and create a book with a title page and dedication. After they have printed...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It's a Mystery to Me

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders produce a mystery story based on a mystery box created by a classmate. They develop the story using appropriate voice and containing a clear beginning,middle and end. They participate in peer editing.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adopt a Highway

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders write a letter to a community company asking for a donation to their adopt a highway project. In the letter, they include the reasons they want to adopt the highway and thank they store for their time. They word process the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creative Writing/Historical Journals

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students research primary and secondary sources to find information about their ancestors. They write a series of journal entries, from the perspective of one of their ancestors, on what life was like in that given time period.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Soldier's Valentine

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students create Valentine's for soldiers in Iraq. They review how to write a friendly paragraph and discuss the military and duties of soldiers in Iraq. They create postcards and write reasons why they are rpoud of the military and how...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

You Mean I Am Part of History?

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders open the lines of communication between family members and to gain a historical understanding about family history. They research and interview their grandparents and parents and create a research paper.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sincerely Yours

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Learners write a friendly letter. They write a friendly letter to author, Cynthia Rylant, after reading a number of her books, and watch a presentation by the teacher that describes how to write the letter. They word process their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Monster Descriptions

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Monsters take center stage! Elementary schoolers are assigned to write a descriptive paragraph by a toy company to help in designing a new monster for their toy line. One student composes the paragraph, another uses that to create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Use photographs to trigger memories. Writers use a personal photograph as a starting point for an autobiographical writing exercise. They complete brainstorming activities that have them study their photograph before actually putting pen...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Children Around The World

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students read a multicultural book called "This Is the Way We Go to School" by Edith Baer and Steve Bjorhman. They become culturally aware of the different nationalities around the world and different ways that they may do things on a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Call for Change

For Teachers 5th - 12th
"Come gather round people, wherever you roam..." Bring the voice of Bob Dylan to your class with this lesson plan, which takes Dylan's song "The Times They Are A-Changing" and analyzes both the message and voice in the lyrics. Your class...
Lesson Plan
Code.org

Digital Assistant Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Scholars apply previously learned skills to create a functional computer program. They produce a digital assistant incorporating string commands and complex conditional logic.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Folktales

For Teachers 6th - 7th
Learners study the elements of folktales. They write, perform and produce their own African folktales using camcorders and movie software.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African Folktales

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students examine the art of storytelling. In groups, they write their own African folktales, design costumes, props and scenery, and videotape folktale presented in dramatic form.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Novel Character Study

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Young scholars complete a character study using a database to compile information from a novel. They design a five slide presentation highlighting the character's reaction to different situations in the book. They write an acrostic poem...