Stanford University
Letter from Birmingham Jail: The Power of Nonviolent Direct Action
What strategies are most effective in changing an unjust law? Class members examine the tactics used in the Birmingham Campaign of 1963 (Project C) to achieve social justice and social transformation. After examining documents that...
Curated OER
Phineas Gage: Assessment Strategy
Close up your study of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science with a letter-writing assignment. Pupils prepare by journaling and sharing with a partner. They then compose letters that focus on a big idea from the...
Curated OER
Fourth of July Addition and Subtraction
What is Thomas Jefferson signing? Focus on American history with this cross-curricular math puzzle. Learners utilize addition and subtraction skills to solve the mystery of the Fourth of July. All numbers are 3-digit, and there are no...
Curated OER
A Fantasy Story: Spooky!
This creepy fantasy story needs an ending! Learners use a spooky voice to read a short story ending at an ellipsis...what was in the dark, dark box? They illustrate what they think could have been in there and write a title for the...
Curated OER
Teens Making a Difference
Is your opinion significant? Help your class discover the influence their opinions hold and encourage them to make a positive change in their community. To start, they get in teams and brainstorm why their school should have more healthy...
Digital Commons
Convince Me! A Persuasive Writing Unit for 2nd Grade
Elementary learners are not often shy about expressing what they want, but they could use a little help organizing their arguments. Help young writers work through a series of persuasive writing exercises that emphasize the importance of...
Learning to Give
Deliver Gratitude Day
Gratitude is the focus of a discussion that sets the stage for pupils to take part in a service-learning project in which they deliver notes of kindness by way of social media or mail. A reflection closes the learning experience.
Core Knowledge Foundation
First Grade Skills Unit 5
Twenty-two lessons make up a unit that focuses on first-grade skills. Scholars examine spelling alternatives—their rules and patterns, practice tricky spelling and high-frequency words, explore plural nouns and sentences, read a...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Plants Tell It Again!™ Read-Aloud Anthology
A 190-page anthology explores the life and parts of plants, flowers, and trees while boosting reading comprehension skills. Literature and informational texts showcase Johnny Appleseed and George Washington Carver. Lessons...
Curated OER
Think of an Ending
Good endings are hard to find. And write. This, the final lesson plan in a six-part series devoted to study of the ingredients of a good story, focuses on crafting endings. Class members draft ideas about what should happen to each of...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Phonics: Letter Recognition, Alphabet Borders
Reinforce early reading skills with an activity focusing on letter recognition. Class members work in pairs to match uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet.
Curated OER
Architectural Letters
Have your class construct their own architectural letter. This art project focuses on architecture, or the art of building. You can connect this activity to a biography activity. Your class can decorate their initial to reflect their...
Curated OER
Nathaniel Hawthorne's—The Scarlet Letter
Designed for teachers, this guide to The Scarlet Letter is divided into background information about Hawthorne and Puritan New England, suggestions for teaching various ability levels, and ideas for extensions that include...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Unauthorized Immigration and the US Economy
As part of a study of immigration and the U.S. economy, class members assume the role of newspaper editors to determine which submitted letters to print on their paper's editorial page to present a balanced view of the debate.
British Council
Unit 5: Making Arrangements
Are future entrepreneurs prepared to set up a meeting or schedule a conference call? Lesson five of a nine-part series of career education and skills activities focuses on proper punctuation and great grammar in the business world....
1 plus 1 plus 1 equals 1
I Can Read! Sight Words Set #16
Now, there, of, and say are the sight words in focus in a printable packet in which you can use all, or some, of the activities to reinforce your early readers' sight word proficiency.
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
The Boston Massacre: You Be the Judge!
The importance of considering multiple perspectives of the same event is the big idea in this exercise that focuses on the Boston Massacre. Class groups examine photos of four depictions of the massacre, an English and an American...
Ophelia Project
Let’s Be Friends
Introduce positive social skills and friendship to young learners with this wonderfully designed eight-lesson unit. It includes several activities to help learners identify positive attributes, build empathy, and understand...
Curated OER
Writing an Informal Letter
What is the difference between formal and informal letter writing? Who gets a formal letter? What about an informal letter? This reference page presents different introductions and phrases you might see in each type of letter, and then...
Curated OER
Consumer Scams
Letter writing may be outdated but it's a great way to practice English conventions, grammar, and spelling. The class researches consumer scams, then writes a letter about them. They each choose a scam to write about paying close...
Microsoft
Back to School Welcome Letter
Here is a basic and organized template that will help get you started on a welcome letter for parents at the beginning of the school year. It will help guide you in considering the primary components to include your...
Curated OER
l and j
Young printers focus on lowercase letters l and j in a creative way, starting with tracing and printing each letter several times. Next, they apply these skills by tracing the letters to complete an image. These...
Curated OER
x and z
Move to the end of the alphabet with some kid-friendly practice focused on the letters x and z that will inspire your scholars' artistic side. They connect the dots to trace the lowercase letters before copying them in the space...
Curated OER
Writing Lowercase Letters
Break down lowercase cursive letters with this packet of materials. Learners copy a cursive alphabet chart, practice letters grouped by starting strokes, work on joining letters, and complete several other activities using...