Anti-Defamation League
Why are Children’s and Young Adult Books Challenged and Banned?
September's "Banned Books Week" brings attention to the number of books that are challenged, censored, or banned each year. After watching a video about banned book week, reading articles about the history of book banning, and examining...
Crafting Freedom
Harriet Jabocs and Elizabeth Keckly: The Material and Emotional Realities of Childhood in Slavery
Learning how to make accurate inferences by putting together facts found in multiple sources is one of those skills all learners must develop, but one that can be a challenge to teach. This resource is a must-have for your curriculum...
Curated OER
Poetry and Emotional Health
Students explore self-expression through poetry. In this personal health lessons students read and discuss poetry regarding teen topics of interest. Students write poems, that express empathy.
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...
Facing History and Ourselves
Hardship and Hope: Teaching Amanda Gorman's "New Day's Lyric"
Class members come together to study Amanda Gorman's poem "New Day's Lyric." After a close reading of the poem, learners watch a video of Gorman reading her poem, and then craft additional lines for the poem where they offer suggestions...
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl Matilda Lesson Plans
Fifty eye-catching pages contain six lessons about Roald Dahl's novel, Matilda. Each lesson has a theme and covers a different subject—literacy, social-emotional learning, science, and geography. Scholars analyze characters, examine...
Curated OER
Haiku: The Power of Nature and Emotion
Introduce your students to the famous Japanese Haiku with these great ideas for the classroom.
Curated OER
Bases Loaded Word Challenge
In this word challenge game worksheet, students list as many words as they can from the letters in the words "bases" and "loaded". The worksheet includes 14 hints for words the students may use.
Facing History and Ourselves
First Chapter Fridays
Fridays can be a challenge with learners already dreaming about their weekends. Here's a routine that will bring their minds back to the classroom. Read aloud the beginning of a story, sure to engage your listeners.
Teaching Tolerance
Listen Up! PSA for Change
Challenge scholars to speak up about a topic by creating a public service announcement or social media blitz about an issue they feel passionate about. Have them research their issues, then decide the best way to take their messages to...
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
What Does It Mean to be a Good Citizen?
Civics scholars are challenged to determine what it means to be a good citizen. Class members select three adults in their lives and interview them to discover what the term "good citizen" means to each of these people. The class then...
Facing History and Ourselves
Notable Quotable
Engaging learners in the classroom can be a challenge. Here's a bell ringer that can easily adapt to any subject area. Instructors post a "Notable Quotable" and ask learners to respond to it in their journals.
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Moving to the Poems of Angel Island
A poem carved on Angel Island's walls is the guiding text of a instructional activity that challenges scholars to put movement into a written piece of art. After warm up-activities, learners play a game of "Pass the Clap" and "Pass the...
TED-Ed
Different Ways of Knowing
“Words have colors, emotions, numbers, shapes, and personalities.” Daniel Tammet welcomes viewers to his world with a 10-minutes video that illustrates how he, as an autistic savant, perceives the world. Class members are then...
Teach It Primary
What Letter Will You Write?
After reading "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," scholars discuss the emotions the events provoked in its characters. In pairs, writers compose a letter depending on the topic and style of their choice then reply to their own or a peer's...
Curated OER
Friends Helping Friends
Students practice effective communication skills by giving a speech on emotional health topics researched on the Internet.
Curated OER
Family Life
What is family? Challenge your scholars to write an encompassing definition of what this word means to them. After reading "It May Be a Family Matter, But Just Try to Define Family," class members discuss the emotional issues surrounding...
Curated OER
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Imagine what it was like to be a slave in the United States in 1845. Eighth graders are given an opportunity to experience life from the point of view of Frederick Douglass as they read and discuss an annotated passage from Narrative of...
Curated OER
Say Hi to Haibun Fun
What is a haibun? With this interesting lesson, writers will experience the Japanese writing form haibun, identify elements important to Japanese writing styles, analyze a haibun, and compose their own. Different from the typical journal...
Curated OER
Books that Make You Think, Books that Make You Feel
In this book analysis instructional activity, students discover how challenging novels affected other students by reading those student's letters to the specific authors. Students are to read the excerpts and then discuss the emotions...
Facing History and Ourselves
Becoming Ourselves
Here's a great way to build community during the first days of the new school year. Participants read personal narratives, then craft and share their stories with others.
Anti-Defamation League
Diverse Books Matter
A campaign by Marley Diaz sheds light on the importance of diverse books. Scholars explore the campaign and identify "window" and "mirror" books. They look closely at their library and classroom bookshelves and reflect on why diverse...
Curated OER
Poems Put to Use
Students listen to sample poetry recitations. They discuss times when poetry might be used in real-life situations to move/motivate other people or audiences. They identify particularly moving passages and then quote them effectively to...
District 186 Springfield Public Schools
Tone, Mood, Theme, and Motif
It's all well and good when you're asked to identify a speaker's tone using his or her body language, facial expression, and pitch and emphasis. Identifying the tone of a written passage is another challenge entirely. Check out an...