Curated OER
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Eighth graders view half of the video, Murders in the rue Morgue, and predict who is the killer. They evaluate the differences between fact, opinion and assumoption, and they apply inductive reasoning skills to solve other mystery tales.
Curated OER
Author's Opinion
Fifth graders read a text about Amelia Earhart's father and use facts from the text to identify the author's opinion. In this author's opinion lesson plan, 5th graders complete a worksheet that is provided.
Curated OER
Why did the Aztec and Inca civilizations disappear?
Middle schoolers can analyze primary source documents to answer the question, "Why did the Aztec and Inca civilizations disappear?" They will read the provided excerpts then answer 11 different questions to uncover the ultimate answer.
Curated OER
Prince Ibrahima
Sixth graders read and utilize the facts from the story "Abd al-Rahmen Ibrahima" by Walter Dean Myers to analyze the main character's life which is ruined by conflict, jealousy, and greed. Journal entries are created in response to the...
Curated OER
Justice Is Blind, Colorblind That Is
It's so interesting to see kids respond to articles about education. To start the day, prompt learners to discuss the words colorblindness and diversity. Then, split your class in two and have one side read an article from 2007 and...
Scholastic
Making Judgments Practice
Encourage young learners to identify persuasive writing techniques in a text with this resource, which includes two multiple-choice worksheets with advertisements for students to analyze.
Curated OER
Guy Fawkes
Sixth graders access their prior knowledge of the job of Parliament and its relationship to the monarchy. In this Gunpowder Plot lesson, 6th graders research the Gunpowder Plot, summarize key story ideas, and role play the plot. They...
PBS
Does Art Imitate Life?
Write what you know, sound advice for any writer and something many famous authors are known to have done. Use these materials to explore how Shakespeare's life influenced his plays. This resource is packed with readings, video segments,...
Clever Student Training Company
Logical Fallacies Recognition
“Should same-sex marriage be allowed?” As part of a study of recognizing logical fallacies learners read John Stemberger’s April 12, 2012 argument against same-sex marriage published on the opinion page of the Orlando Sentinel. They then...
Virginia Department of Education
The Writing Process for Persuasive Writing
Get your junior high writers stimulated with the strategies and ideas available in this activity. Learners discuss and debate controversial subjects, and outline their reasons with an online graphic organizer (link included) that creates...
Curated OER
Establishing a Strong Authorial Voice
Why do some phrases contribute to a weak authorial voice? The first page of this packet explains what a strong and weak voice sound like, and it lists some common phrases that clutter writing, ultimately weakening it. The second page...
Curated OER
Checklist for Persuasive Writing
Provide third and fourth graders with a persuasive writing example and this checklist. Have learners read through the persuasive writing example to find the characteristics included in the checklist. Is the passage a good example?...
Curated OER
Knowledge of Idioms
What is an idiom, and why is it necessary that we know and understand them? This brief PowerPoint helps answer these questions by looking at examples and offering a strategy for reading new text that might contain an idiom. The final...
Curated OER
Recognizing Propaganda/Bias
Middle and high schoolers examine the uses of propaganda during the Nazi era. Using examples of propaganda used by Hitler, they discuss how it changed the thinking and ideas of people exposed to it. In groups, they identify how and why...
Curated OER
Collective Poetry: Teaching Tolerance
Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...
Curated OER
High School Literary Paragraph Development
You can cover literary elements, writing organization, and proofreading skills in this SMART board lesson. Using student paragraphs from a previous assignment, the class reviews the best examples of writing. A SMART board activity guides...
Curated OER
Recognizing Bias
This PowerPoint outlines methods for recognizing bias in various forms of media. The presentation defines loaded words, stereotypes, and one-sided arguments as types of bias and also highlights the characteristics of facts and...
Curated OER
Conducting Research
Third graders conduct research. In this conducting research lesson plan, 3rd graders discuss the importance of nonfiction text in providing factual information. Students write questions about an assigned topic and research using...
Curated OER
What is News?
Eighth graders discover elements that make a story newsworthy. They play an online game about newsworthy stories and complete a worksheet with partners. They also examine the difference between facts and opinions.
Curated OER
Reading The Flag Maker
Students explore The Flag Maker. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, students listen to the book The Flag Maker, making predictions and answering questions during the reading. Students locate facts and opinions within...
Curated OER
Democracy in Action
Young scholars consider words that reflect their knowledge and opinions about democracy. They work in groups to research countries that have recently transitioned to democratic forms of government.
TV411
How Do You Read Your News?
Words carry baggage. Class members are asked to consider the weight of words in an exercise that contrasts the word choices in two versions of the same event. Consider following the exercise with an activity in which pairs craft positive...
Curated OER
Contemporary Civic-life Issue Research Based Essay
Seventh graders write a five paragraph persuasive essay on a contemporary civic-life issue.
Curated OER
Nonfiction Text Features
Identify features of a nonfiction article in this language arts lesson. Middle schoolers apply comprehension strategies as they read the parts of the article, and analyze the author's key points. Additionally, they examine information in...