Constitutional Rights Foundation
Women in the Military
Scholars analyze the role of women in the military in United States history. Using group research, debate, and diary entries, they explore various military activity in America. To complete the lesson, young historians write an essay...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Conservation, Preservation, and the National Parks
Going green? Scholars investigate the creation of the US National Park program. Through diary entries as well as expert testimony, they synthesize information and analyze the need for conservation and preservation. Finally, they display...
Penguin Books
An Educator's Guide to the Works of Laurie Halse Anderson
Laurie Halse Anderson tackles challenging topics for teens. An educator's guide shares activities for many of her novels such as Prom, Shout, and Wintergirls. Questions, perfect to use as either discussion or as essay prompts, accompany...
Nemours KidsHealth
Obesity: Grades 6-8
Screen time and fast foods, sugary drinks and greasy fries have lead to one-third of tween and teens being overweight or obese. As part of the Health Problems Series scholars analyze the nutritional value of the school food services menu...
Simon & Schuster
Classroom Activities for Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome is the focus of an 11-page packet that includes three lesson plans, three worksheets, and a homework assignment. The first lesson introduces readers to the historical context of the novel. At the same time,...
Curated OER
Essay/WebQuest Ideas
Students use the ECO Exploration, the Fur Trade and Hudson's Bay Company, the ECO database, as well as other sources identified to complete a report or essay on some aspect of Hudson's Bay Company and life in what would one day become...
Curated OER
Kumara From the Farmer's Field
Students discuss the essay, Kumara From the Farmer's Field and examine strategies for organizing facts for future reference. In this reading comprehension lesson, students pretend they are advertising executives who must create a grocery...
Curated OER
"All About Me" Paragraph
Fifth graders write a paragraph titled "All About Me" in the computer lab after they have drawn graphic organizers to fill in background information about themselves and used a "10-Point Writing Checklist" to do peer editing.
Curated OER
Creative Inventions
Ninth graders develop ideas for an invention and write a persuasive essay explaining why their invention is best. In this invention essay lesson, 9th graders review persuasive essay writing. Students create a graphic web for an original...
Curated OER
Writing and Publishing Skills
Seventh graders experience the satisfaction of writing for a purpose; their self-selected piece be published for an audience. They write using techniques appropriate to the selected genre.
Curated OER
The Art of Persuasion
Students practice persuasive writing by creating a travel brochure. For this creative writing lesson, students research a popular tourist destination they would like to visit and create a brochure enticing readers to come....
Curated OER
Who Was Responsible for the Start of the Cold War?
Young scholars determine who is responsible for the start of the Cold War. In this Cold War lesson, students conduct their own research about the evolution of the war and write essays that reveal their opinion on how the war began.
Curated OER
Of Mice and Men: Persuasive Paper
Students write a four paragraph persuasive paper on Of Mice and Men. In this Of Mice and Men lesson, students take a position on whether or not George should have killed Lennie. Students are given a paragraph-by-paragraph guide to assist...
Curated OER
So and Neither
In this so and neither activity, learners respond to sentences given to them with either the word so or neither at the front of the sentences. Students write 37 sentences total.
Curated OER
Grandparents’ Day Interview
In this interviewing skills worksheet, students read tips for conducting interviews as part of the research process and then use the tips to interview their grandparents about their life experiences related to economics. Students write...
Curated OER
Pass the Peace Pipe
Students investigate the history of smoking in the United States. In this history of smoking lesson, students read about the Native American influence on early settlers before researching the Internet for information about the history of...
Curated OER
Babes in Electronic Toyland
Young scholars read a New York Times article in order to explore the use of handheld electronic devices in schools. They investigate, through surveys and essay-writing, the pros and cons of this technology.
Curated OER
Assessment Rubric
Middle schoolers complete their activities related to writing persuasive essays. As a class, they review the components and structure of a rubric. They use this information to write their final essay on educational opportunities at...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Final Drafting
Students are able to revise their own essays for greater clarity and fluency, adding explanation where needed and cutting extraneous information where appropriate. They are able to compose an academic essay with a complete introduction,...
Curated OER
Hyper for Expository Writing!
Fifth graders use the internet to research a plant or animal they read about in "The Talking Earth". Using notes, they develop a graphic organizer and use the main topics to create a HyperStudio stack. Using all of this information,...
New York City Department of Education
What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue: How Did Jazz Influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man
How did jazz influence Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man? Class members read some of Ellison's non-fiction writings about blues and jazz, listen to records, watch videos, and engage in student-centered discussions. They then produce podcasts...
Literacy Design Collaborative
A Pale Blue Dot: That's Here. That's Home. That's Us.
21st-century learners live in such a visual world that many are unused to letting their minds imagine the picture that words create. An excerpt from Carl Sagan's lecture, "The Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,"...
Prestwick House
Touching Spirit Bear: Individual Learning Packet
Whether using Touching Spirit Bear in the classroom, as an outside reading assignment, or in a homeschool situation, your readers will benefit from this eight-page packet of essay and discussion questions, vocabulary lists, and reading...
Curated OER
Change of Perspective
After reading an example of a Cultural Connection about a particular person, class members are asked to think about what this person might experience on a daily basis. They then craft a narrative from the subject’s point of view.