Curated OER
From the Source to the Sea: The Nisqually River Watershed
Middle schoolers research the conflicts over different uses of the Nisqually River resources and role play as mediators between Chief Leschi and other interested parties. They cite and interpret relevant artifacts and primary and...
Curated OER
A Whale of a Tale
Students read "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" and discuss factual information in the book. They research whales and use information to write a narrative story. They take their stories through the writing process.
Curated OER
Reading the Play
Students read the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. In groups, they identify the instances of similes, metaphors and personification. They use the Internet to compare and contrast the events in the play with historical facts....
Curated OER
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
Students, after reading the book, "Esperanza Rising," create a virtual display by combining different story elements into a visual representation. They choose the setting and characters of a scene that will act as a springboard of ideas...
Curated OER
Cluing into Symbols Robert Frost
Learners use the Internet and video to discover how find evidence in poetry in order to discover the theme(s) of the poems. They are able to define poetic devices like simile, metaphor and repetition. Students identify themes in...
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Adapting a Musical
High schoolers transform literature into musical productions. In this integrated arts instructional activity, students discuss how musicals are written and produced. High schoolers then select literature they are familiar with to adapt...
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What Do Bread and Beer Have in Common?
Students listen to an explanation of yeast cells and how they effect bread and beer. They discuss the ways alcohol affects the human body and participate in an indirect observation about cell respiration in yeast-molasses cultures.
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Insect Monitoring
Middle schoolers participate in an interactive lesson using the scientific method to study biodiversity. For this insect monitoring lesson, students simulate the layers of soil and the insects that would live there. Middle...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Folklore in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
Learners define folklore, folk groups, tradition, and oral narrative. They identify traditional elements in Their Eyes Were Watching God Analyze and understand the role of traditional folkways and folk speech in the overall literary...
Curated OER
Literary Analysis - Young Goodman Brown
Why is literary analysis so important? Readers explore writing a literary analysis by reviewing literary elements such as character, metaphor, plot, setting, simile, personification, and style. They read "Young Goodman Brown" by...
Curated OER
Dalai Lama Peace and Conflict Resolution
First graders explore the Dalai Lama teachings on peaceful conflict resolution. They discuss how actions and words affect others. Students sing action songs about peace. They create a stick puppet to enhance discussions about conflict...
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Harmony and Expression in Writing Form
How do you write an interesting beginning, middle, and end of a story? With this activity, young writers look to other stories as examples. Then, they use some of the attached graphic organizers to help them create their own story. Note:...
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Comparing Two Poe Classics
Students read and discuss The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. For this poetry lesson, students construct a Venn diagram to compare and contrast two pieces of literature.
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Summarizing Key Information
Imagine the surprise when small groups present their Evidence Charts to the class and discover that each group has studied a different version of the Cinderella story. Irish, Ojibwa, Egyptian, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Mexican, and...
Curated OER
A Fairy Tale: Italian Folklore
Students work in groups to write an original fairy tale in Italian. They research the components of a fairy tale, compare and contrast fairy tales with myths and follow an outline to write a complete, 15-20 page fairy tale.
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Emotions and Feelings
Students should have a concept idea of the significance of friendship, feelings, communication and emotions. The use of the Internet is essential for communicationing their emotions through EPAL.
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Irony
What are the three types of irony? High schoolers engage in a lesson about the use of irony while reading O.Henry's short story "Gift of the Magi." They'll discuss rising action, climax, and resolution in the text before highlighting the...
Curated OER
Be a Vishnu Avatar
Students write a story about a problem on earth. They imagine themselves as one of Vishnu's avatars or create another avatar for Vishnu who can solve the problem.
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Science: Let's Fly a Kite!
Students make observations about the wind and develop predictions to test with kites. The lesson's Language Arts component invloves communication of concepts with peers. On their kite flying day, students discuss how the wind and air...
Curated OER
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Students will explore And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. In this analysis lesson, students read And Then There Were None and take notes about the book as they read. Students write a plot summary of the book.
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Investigation of Polarized Light
Students investigate how polorizers filter light. In this physics lesson, students record their data and plot their results using a computer logging software. They discuss practical applications of polarization.
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A Long Time Ago in the Future
Students read and discuss Canadian young adult literature. They compare/contrast the elements of citizenship, characterization, and themes, write journal responses, and identify the elements that define Canadians.
Curated OER
A Formal Analysis of Science Fiction
Students write a five paragraph expository theme. They explain in their theme how the story they read qualifies as science fiction. Students write using all the conventions of English correctly.
Curated OER
Conflict
Middle schoolers outline the action in their narrative writing assignments by brainstorming about conflict. In this conflict analysis lesson, students define conflict and discuss the different types of conflict. Middle schoolers...