Curated OER
Creating Bloggers
Blogs provide the motivation for this richly detailed writing lesson. After viewing blogs on various websites, class members pick topics, create a blog, and post an entry. Your bloggers then evaluate their work using evaluation sheets....
Curated OER
Story Stew
Students identify the elements of a story. In this reading and writing lesson, pupils read the book, Tyrone the Horrible by Hans Wihelm and then identify the characters, setting, and plot of the story.This lesson includes adaptations and...
Curated OER
Promises, Promises
If someone breaks a promise, is that person no longer trustworthy? Present your 6th and 7th graders with a series of statements and have them debate their opinions with supporting evidence. As an extension, have your students write a...
Indiana University
Literature of Asia and the Middle East: "A Sound of Hammering" by Dazai Osamu
Dazai Osamu’s short story, “A Sound of Hammering” is the focus of a three-day investigation of modern Japanese literature and life in post-World War II Japan. The events in Osamu’s story mirror those in his own life, and give a...
Curated OER
Letters to Poets
Add a strong poetry lesson to your literature unit. Middle and high schoolers investigate their writing voices with journaling and group discussion, then choose a famous poet to study. They write letters to their chosen poets, explaining...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.7
Use this resource's pairings of classical literature and paintings to practice the skill of comparing different artistic mediums with your ELA class. Addressing standard 7 for literature in the Common Core, the resource encourages your...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 4
Class members have an opportunity to compare how a film and a play handle the same source material by viewing the opening chapters of George Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope and acts I and II of Ian Doescher's play, William...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Days 8 and 9
How does an author's choice of artistic medium influence an audience? What about how an author chooses to transform original source material? These are the questions class members grapple with as they compare scenes from episode IV...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 12
Class members compare the final 30 minutes of Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope with Act V of Doescher's play, William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope and consider how the choice of media influences viewers' impression...
Curated OER
The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe: Literature and Theater
Students read and discuss the literary elements of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis. They explore the elements of dramatic performance and create a TV news program based on life in Narnia. They videotape their...
Curated OER
Goldie Girl and There, Their, and They're: Homophones and Homographs
Instruct your class on homonyms and homophones. Learners take a pre-test and examine a list of homophones. They also play online word games to practice spelling and usage and write a fairy tale in which they use at least 10 homophones....
Curated OER
Planning A Vacation Online
If you could travel anywhere in the United States, where would you go? Use this question to interest your fourth, fifth, and sixth graders as they experiment with Mapquest or other direction-based resources. They choose where they'd like...
Curated OER
Chef for a Day
Learners make chocolate chip cookies. In this cooking lesson, students follow a recipe by doing each step in sequence.
Curated OER
2nd Grade - Act. 01: Exploration Tubs
Second graders communicate ideas, information, and feelings.
Curated OER
Using Onomatopoeia
Students explore onomatopoeia. They discuss the definition of onomatopoeia. Students brainstorm words that use onomatopoeia and they create a words work to use as a reference for poetry writing.
Curated OER
EA Words
Students determine if the "e" sound is long or short in words. In this language arts lesson, students practice discriminating between the long and short "e" sounds by practicing with word cards that are embedded in the lesson. This...
Curated OER
Imagination and the Second Great Migration
Students examine the struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties. They access websites imbedded in this plan to research, then write about past struggles for gender and racial fairness.
Curated OER
Second Set of Essay Questions on The Hobbit
Students explore The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. In this reading and writing lesson plan, students read chapters 7-12. Students write an essay on two essay questions related to these chapters.
Curated OER
Pioneering Children on the Move
Students inquire about life for pioneer children. In this pioneer period lesson, students analyze photographs of children, make information foldables, and create a covered wagon that was typical of the ones of the past. Students will...
Curated OER
Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Third graders read Beverly Cleary's book "Ramona Quimby, Age 8" and then complete a series of extension activities. Students explore cause and effect, sequencing, related websites, grammar lessons and comparison skills.
Curated OER
Latin and Greek Roots Lesson Plan: Creating a Board Game
Students explore Latin and Greek roots. In this vocabulary lesson plan, students create a board game featuring Greek and Latin roots.
Curated OER
Places in My World
Second graders explore where they are located on the globe. In this maps and globes lesson, 2nd graders use a map to show where they live and show the cardinal directions. Students identify characteristics of mountains, flat land,...
Curated OER
Reading Fiction: Analyzing Sentences
Students investigate sentence construction in fiction. In this sentence construction lesson, students examine examples of fiction work and discover why sentences are a certain length. Students create their own passages...
Curated OER
Story vs. Plot
Students, after reading and discussing the two texts by Flannery O'Connor, "Good Country People" and "Greenleaf," analyze the plot, tone, characters, themes and setting in each story. They write their own short stories dealing with a...