Curated OER
Trekking to Timbuktu: A Center of Trade
Students conduct online research regarding the origins of the city of Timbuktu and discover why it became such an important place. Students write about the city's origins until it became a part of Mali.
National History Day
Leland Linman’s War: A Look at Soldiers’ Daily Lives in World War I
Hunkering down in the trenches of World War I, Leland Linman decided to write a journal about his experiences. By reading Linman's entries in the fourth installment of an eight-part lesson series, scholars get a firsthand look at life in...
Virginia Department of Education
Succession
The final lesson in a two-part series prompts scholars to create newspaper articles and succession events. Applying their knowledge of the ecosystem and the past examples of succession, they predict what will happen in the future...
National History Day
Why Did the United States Enter World War I in 1917?
World War I was the first major conflict on a global scale. Using primary documents, learners determine why the United States chose to enter World War I when it did. After analytical writing and group research, the causes of America's...
Curated OER
Writing & Language
Young scholars examine Chinese and East Asian writing characters. They discuss how their writing systems differ from others found in the world. They practice reading and pronouncing Chinese and Japanese names and words.
Curated OER
The Write Stuff to Get the Job
Students conduct Internet research to determine how to properly create a cover letter, resume and follup-letter. Students then create their own letters and resumes using the Resume Wizard in Microsoft Word.
Curated OER
Picture Writing
Fourth graders create symbols. In this visual arts lesson, 4th graders study cave drawings, Native American pictographs, and Aboriginal Drawings prior to creating their own communication without using words.
Curated OER
Media Literacy Discussion Guide
Learners examine and analyze visual media and its messages critically. They determine whether specific media messages inform, entertain, or persuade and what factors influence the media. Using primary sources, they participate in peer...
Curated OER
Cyber Hunt Activities: Lewis & Clark
Young scholars participate in cyber hunt activities involving Lewis and Clark in order to gain a better idea of what it was like to be an explorer of the vast western lands. In this history lesson, students may choose to study the route...
Curated OER
Rough Draft and Peer Edit of Oral Book Review
Students write a rough draft book review over a book they have finished recently. Using their peers, they revise and make suggestions to correct spelling and grammatical errors. In groups, they practice giving their book report to the...
Curated OER
Another Side of Paradise
Students write a sequel to a book read as a class. In this culminating activity, students write a sequel to the novel This Side of Paradise by Stephen Layne. Students use the epilogue to guide their writing.
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5: Structure of an Argument
Imagine a cross-curricular project that not only rewards learners for examining the textbooks used in their other classes but builds literacy skills as well! Groups compare the formats and writing style in their various textbooks. Teams...
Curated OER
Can You Haiku?
Everyone loves haikus! They're short, quick, and fun to write! Analyze the rules and conventions of haiku. Readers interpret examples of haiku and develop a vocabulary for writing haiku. Then they compose a haiku based on a personal...
Curated OER
Concepts of Beauty Put Into Words
Studying haiku poetry with your English class? Delving into Japanese history with your world history class? Here is an authentic and creative way to explore Japanese culture more deeply. Pupils will compare and contrast two tea caddies...
Curated OER
The Role of the Musician and His Instruments in the Civil War
Fifth graders listen to and discuss the music of the Civil War Era in order to better explain society during this time period. They identify the musical instruments and write their own word to accompany the music of one of the songs.
Curated OER
Miss Rumphius
Students engage in a literature study in order to appreciate the world around them and create an innate instinct of working for the cause of conservation for the environment. They answer guided questions that use the story as a resource.
Curated OER
Comparing Themes Across Texts
Read various texts to compare the themes across each text. Learners write a journal entry describing the most beautiful scenery they've seen and use a map of the United States to locate the Sequoia National Park and Muir Woods. They then...
Curated OER
Using Pre-reading Strategies: Infer
Use this resource to support your class practicing inference with poetry and visual art. The plan calls for an examination of "The Scream" by Edvard Munch and the "Mona Lisa" to promote speculation about artist's intent. From there, it...
Curated OER
Symphonic Poetry (SMART Board Lesson)
Let music and poetry collide in this well-orchestrated language arts lesson plan. After studying program music and C. Debussy's Prelude to an Afternoon Faun, view the attached SMART board lesson plan to read through "Fog" by Carl...
Curated OER
Author's Purpose
Sixth graders brainstorm the reasons authors write, and they list their responses on the board. Students discuss each purpose they have listed.Students work independently to read the selection "Tarantulas and Typhoid" by...
Curated OER
The Young Basketball Player
Students explore the history of basketball by reading and listening to a book entitled, "The Young Basketball Player." Afterwards, they create a trivia basketball game and write an interview for their favorite player. As a...
Curated OER
The Magic School bus Inside A Hurricane
Students investigate the concept of a hurricane by using the cartoon series "The Magic Schoolbus" to simulate the fantasy of traveling through a hurricane. The lesson uses a KWL graphic organizer in order to guide student inquiry and as...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.3
Tired of simple sentences? Bored by brief sentences? Plagued by boring sentences? Enrich your life and the writing of your pupils by modeling how to combine sentences to create more varied syntax. Groups then find a number of ways to...