NPR
Teaching Podcasting: Choosing a Topic
Pick a topic, any topic! Working in small groups, scholars choose three topics they think would make interesting podcasts. Next, each group shares their ideas with the class to narrow down their choices.
Curated OER
Language Arts: Ode to the Ordinary
Eighth graders select ordinary objects, determine their uses, and write poems about them. Once they select an object, they create a web about its uses to serve as an outline. Once they have written their own odes, 8th graders meet in...
ESL Library
Intermediate Kwanzaa
As part of a study of holiday traditions, language learners read about the creation of Kwanzaa, the seven-day festival created by Dr. Maulana Karenga to celebrate traditional African values.
University of Oklahoma
Barbie™: Blessing or Curse? - Style, Format, and Genre
Barbie has been an iconic figure in the lives of girls since the 1950s, but her existence has been full of controversy. A lesson plan on style, format, and genre explores that controversy by looking at three texts with different...
Curated OER
The South, the North and the Great Migration: Blues and Literature
Here is a complex lesson plan that interweaves the history of the Jim Crow South and the Great Migration with the study of poetry, art, and blues music from the Harlem Renaissance. The plan helps young historians develop a deep...
Kelly's Kindergarten
January Daily Activities
Start the year right with a series of activities about phonics, reading, winter exercises, and writing. Focused on snow and winter items, a month's worth of short lessons address various skills and keep your kids practicing language arts.
Curated OER
Lesson: Paul Chan: Alternumeric Fonts
Learning to analyze language, symbols, and codes is part of becoming a deep and critical thinker. Young analysts consider their ability to see hidden messages as they analyze the work of Paul Chan. There are two fully developed...
Curated OER
Parody Hilarity
Upper grade and middle school writers study the art of parody. In this language arts lesson, learners study the work of Lewis Carroll, read and discuss parodies from the book, Alice in Wonderland, and construct their own parody based on...
Curated OER
Online —On Stage—and Action
Use your tablets to participate in a culture-sharing project with a class in a foreign country. Your class can communicate and share ideas with a class in another country, swapping information regarding language and culture. Together you...
Curated OER
Narrative Writing
Binoculars are used as a metaphor for good descriptive writing. Class members first view a small picture and then an enlarged view of the same image in which the details come into focus. Next, learners examine a paragraph lacking sensory...
Curated OER
Remembrance of Things Past
Engage critical and social thinking by exploring the value of language and word choice. The class considers the article "The Silence of the Historic Present" and analyzes several presidential speeches. They engage in class...
Curated OER
Telling Stories Through Dance
Examine the movement of characters in the story, Caps for Sale. Using the text, pupils invent gestures and movements for some of the actions and major events. They practice retelling a story by using the movements they developed. They...
Curated OER
Sports Safety Role Play
Learners role-play sports situations and determine the actions needed to stay safe from injuries. They define the term sports safety, develop short skits about situations involving sports safety, and work together in cooperative groups.
Curated OER
Carnival of the Animals and Aquarium and Magic Fish
Engage little learners in this moderately developed three-instructional activity unit on the composer Camille Saint-Saens and his piece "The Carnival of Animals." Each instructional activity includes a listening, discussion, and an art...
Curated OER
A BIOGRAPHICAL JOURNEY: USING THE LITTLE PRINCE TO EXPLORE BIOGRAPHY & CREAIVE WRITING
Students integrate Author and Biography study with Students personal perspective. They make connections between research and creative writing. Students enrich research and critical thinking skills. They encourage students to think about...
Curated OER
Rhythm and Improv, Jazz and Poetry
Connect the ideas of jazz improvisation and art to writing poetry. Learners collaborate and write different lines of poetry, imitating the jazz styles of improvisation and freewriting. Take a close look at the poems "Tenebrae" by Yusef...
Curated OER
Lesson: Unmonumental: Final Projects
If you've used any of the New Class Museum lessons exploring the theme, Unmonumental, then check this out! Included are three different final project ideas that tie into the other seven Unmonumental lessons. Kids create community through...
Curated OER
Julie of the Wolves
Have your class practice their comprehension skills using this resource. After reading Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George, learners engage in cause and effect activities, identify story elements and figurative language, and...
Curated OER
Let Pharady Enjoy Her Childhood
A thought-provoking lesson which will provide your 5th graders with a world view. Pupils discuss children's rights here in the US and around the world, and do some comparisons. They watch a video, embedded in the plan, that shows a young...
Curated OER
Mystery Lessons
Learn about mysteries with your readers. They will investigate plot, basic elements of mystery, famous characters, and become familiar with genre vocabulary. Bring in props and mystery books to begin and then have learners create story...
Curated OER
Writing Classroom Agreements using Inspiration & Word to Go
How can you foster a thoughtful learning community for your class? First, the class brainstorms a list of behaviors that will help make the classroom a great place to learn. Then learners group similar ideas together and come up with...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Bullfrog Life Cycle
The sixth lesson plan in this Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle unit assesses your third graders' ability to read and understand informational text. The included assessment asks learners to take notes about the main idea and supporting...
Curated OER
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves Storia Teaching Guide
There was an old lady who swallowed some leaves? Little learners read a new version of the old swallow story with a fall twist as they try to answer the big question; Why is that lady swallowing all that weird stuff? The teacher's guide...
Curated OER
Reading Pictures, Seeing Poetry
Learners examine the painting, The Combat of the Giaour and Hassan based on a poem by Lord Byron. They compare how Romantic artists and writers made choices about visual elements and language to depict their subjects.