Curated OER
Summing It Up Can Be Fun!!
Young scholars observe and demonstrate the process of summarizing text. As a class, they silently read an article about panda bears from "Ranger Rick" magazine and answer comprehension questions. They answer the five "W" questions, and...
Curated OER
What Do We Owe To Thoreau?
Students use this design as an electronic reading and writing guide to Henry David Thoreau's famous essay, "On Civil Disobedience." They use activities to familiarize students with the political issues of Thoreau's time. Comprehension...
Curated OER
The Research Paper
Learners demonstrate a working knowledge of how to produce bibliography cards using MLA Documentation. They organize information from a variety of sources and credit sources for both quoted and paraphrased ideas.
Curated OER
Strong Verb Image Makers
Students use description language to clarify ideas and create vivid images in an essay focusing of strong verbs. They discuss weak verbs and explore that the better image the words create, the better the reader understands the text.
National Endowment for the Humanities
"An Expression of the American Mind": Understanding the Declaration of Independence
Students research the structure of the Declaration: introduction, main political/philosophical ideas, grievances and assertion of sovereignty. They analyze the ideological/political origins of the ideas in the Declaration. Students...
Curated OER
Author Activities
In this author activity worksheet, students read a variety of books and discuss ideas that go along with the themes of the books. Students read Ruby Rogers books, Stink books, and also Troll Trouble books. After reading the books the...
Curated OER
The Big Bang Theory
Students will use scientific reasoning to formulate ideas about the formation of the universe using the Big Bang Theory. The use of critical thinking skills is part of the activity and the foundation of the scientific method will serve...
Curated OER
Performance Art and The Waste Stream
Students research local waste management services, discuss findings, give opinions about what they have found, offer solutions and ideas, and create performance art, design art works, and fine art works to convey information on waste...
Curated OER
Scientists Study Dinosaur "Mummy"
Students share ideas about how scientists know about dinosaurs, then read a news article about the recently found remains of a hadrosaur. In this dinosaur lesson plan, the teacher introduces the article with a class discussion and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Thirteen Ways of Reading a Modernist Poem
High schoolers analyze modernist poetry and the role of speaker in example poems. Learners study modernist poems from the Romanticism and Victorian periods as well as Wallace Stevens' "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." Using a...
Curated OER
PhotoStory 3 Lesson Plan
In this lesson plan, PhotoStory 3, students create a story board of an original poem through the use of PhotoStory 3 presentation. Students write a poem and use it to develop their storyboard. Students publish and share their...
Curated OER
Explain Your Vote!
Young scholars improve their essay writing skills using the subject of voting as a topic. For this writing essays lesson, students write expository essays to increase the weight of their vote in the 'Cast Your Vote Poll' for the...
Curated OER
All About Me
Young scholars explore autobiographical stories. They write about a personal experience that is significant and memorable. Students specifically explain the chosen events. They define autobiography and share their stories.
Curated OER
Wagons West: Report
Have your middle schoolers choose a topic about the Oregon Trail to research for an informative report. They are given a list of report ideas and the components required when composing an informational report. Then, they choose one of...
Curated OER
Guided Reading Organizer for Chain Reaction
The class uses Chain Reaction, a magazine, to build a better understanding of Latin and Greek roots found in scientific vocabulary. They use two attached worksheets to help them read a scientific article, using visual clues and their...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to Literacy Criticism
As learners continue to examine a short story of their choice, they take some time to look at analysis completed by others on the same story. In the eleventh lesson in a series of fourteen, pupils explore various sites for literary...
Curated OER
Speaker Report
Fifth through eighth graders think of themselves as newspaper reporters as they listen to a presentation by a guest speaker. As reporters, they take notes during the presentation. Using these notes, they create a rough draft and then a...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Family Traditions
Honor family traditions with a lesson plan that examines the variety of winter celebrations. Class members discuss their family's traditions then complete a cut-and-paste practice page in which they match a picture to the name of a...
Civil War Trust
Civil War Soldier: Experiencing the Battle of Franklin
Fighting a war over home soil makes a living nightmare even more real. Class members describe the experience of a Civil War soldier during the Battle of Franklin, poised right at a major turning point of the war, after researching the...
Curated OER
Writing
Students discover the process of writing,. including the different steps to be taken in accomplishing the writing process to come up with the final published pieces.
Curated OER
Writing Prompts: Prose, Pamphlets and Poems
Students practice reading an atlas and writing prompts. They use graphic organizers to construct their writing prompt. They use the Internet to do their research.
Curated OER
INTRODUCTION TO POETIC WRITING
Students read about the four elements of poetry: form, theme, purpose, and mood. They are given several questions to ask themselves about each element as they begin to write their own successful poems.
Curated OER
Writing to See
Learners write descriptively and creatively after looking carefully at a work of art.