Film English
Be Happy
What makes your pupils happy? Find out with a lesson centered around this theme. Class members come up with things that make them happy and write about them in preparation for quick group project. Learners watch and discuss a short film...
Curated OER
Skill Building for Educational and Vocational Advancement
Over ten weeks, 8th graders refine their visions of future careers, develop skills needed to write resumes and business letters, and learn to make a strong impression at interviews. Three specific activities are included, but mostly the...
Curated OER
The Personal Narrative - Part Five
Create a class anthology with your young writers. In this personal narrative lesson, each writer reflects on actions and events from their own lives and chronicles them in a three-part written sequence. They create a table of contents...
Media Smarts
How to Analyze the News
Teach kids how to watch television, specifically the news, with this creative idea for learners of all ages from the Media Awareness Network. The elementary school plan focuses on presenting news as a story and uses Jon Scieszka's story...
Curated OER
The Band
In this identifying words spelled with "-ang" activity, students use the word bank to fill in the blanks with -ang words and then number the pictures in order. Students write 9 answers.
Curated OER
English Exercises: Nanny Application Letter
For this online reading comprehension and writing worksheet, students read a letter asking for employment before answering 12 fill in the blank questions about the text formatting and vocabulary. They sequence 6 sentences to a make a...
Curated OER
Rooster's Night Out
Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton's Rooster's Night Out, a retelling of a classic Cuba folktale, launches a cross-curricular study of Cuban cultural traditions. Class members draw the characters from the book, participate in math and...
Field Museum
The Case of Darwin's Finches
One of the most striking pieces of evidence for Darwin's Evolution of Species was his observations of finches and how their beaks differed from island to island, depending on their primary food sources. So what would happen to the theory...
Curated OER
The Fisherman and His Wife
Engage conversation and explore the journey as you challenge young readers to interpret the german folktale, "The Fisherman and His Wife" written by literary brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
Poetry Foundation
Dream in Color — Middle School
Celebrate diversity with a toolkit designed to inspire young poets to develop their own voices. After examining poems by African American poets, individuals craft their own poetic stories. The packet features poems by Gwendolyn Brooks,...
Poetry Foundation
Dream in Color - High School
Whether focusing on African American poets, Black History Month, or the poetic experience, an amazing toolkit that encourages learners to develop unique poetic voices deserves a place in your curriculum.
Curated OER
Retelling Main Event in Sequence
Second graders practice retelling events from a fiction book. For this reading comprehension lesson, 2nd graders read Harry and the Lady Next Door and retell the main events of the story to a partner.
Curated OER
Froggy Gets Dressed Activity Card
For this reading worksheet, students respond to the book Froggy Gets Dressed by completing an activity at home with parents. Students cut out 3 articles of clothing depicted in the book and paste them in the chart by the correct caption.
Curated OER
MacBeth Activity Using Alanis Morissette's "Wake Up"
Students analyze Macbeth through the lens of a pop song. In this Macbeth lesson, students read Act I, Scene 7 of Macbeth and determine Lady Macbeth's viewpoint. Students read the lyrics to Alanis Morrissette's song 'Wake Up' and work in...
Curated OER
Reading and Activity Suggestions for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Students learn about characterization techniques in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In this Adventures of Tom Sawyeractivity, students write a description of one character through the eyes of another character and identify scenes...
Curated OER
Celebrate Abe Lincoln: A Primary Timeline Activity
Learners explore the qualities possessed by Abraham Lincoln. In this Abraham Lincoln lesson, students create a timeline of events that shows why Abraham Lincoln could overcome obstacles to be come President. Learners create a book and...
Curated OER
A Dollar Goes A Long Way
Investigate life along the Old Spanish Trail! They visit websites and identify the history and environment. They create journals, dramatic enactments, and maps to discover the role individuals played in society. They also explore the...
Curated OER
Writing to Make a Point
Begin your persuasive writing with a helpful exercise on making points. With a list of ten points on transportation in a city, third graders map a logical order to their argument. They then write one or two paragraphs about the points...
Curated OER
Lesson Four: Comparatives and Superlatives
Put on your best smile, or a least a better one, for this lesson on superlatives and comparatives. English language learners first fill out a graphic organizer by finding other people in the class who are taller than they are, shorter...
Reading for Meaning
Sample Lessons and Worksheets
If you need to bulk up your reading comprehension worksheet collection, take a look at a resource that includes graphic organizers and reading comprehension questions. The series of 50 worksheets addresses novels such as Julie of...
Curated OER
Developing a Topic for Writing Using an Idea Web
Teach your upper graders how to use an idea web to develop a topic for writing. After reading a variety of stories about friendship (a list of stories with the theme of friendship is included), model using an idea web. Class members...
Computer Science Unplugged
Twenty Guesses—Information Theory
How do we determine how much information to include and what can be left out? By playing a game of 20 questions, the class generates the best strategies for finding a number. They then move on to guessing the next letter in a short...
Computer Science Unplugged
Treasure Hunt—Finite-State Automata
Introduce your class to the concept of finite-state automata with an activity that asks individuals to try to map their way to Treasure Island by taking different routes though an island chain. Each island has two ship sailing...
Curated OER
Whale Song Acrostic
What do whales sing about? Invite your class to imagine the thoughts of whales before writing acrostic poems on the topic. The plan blends together a bit of life science with plenty of opportunities for creativity and writing.