Lesson Plan
Curated OER

School Renovation - What's Your Idea?

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students discuss the upcoming renvoations to their school. As a class, they develop their own proposals for what they would like to have available to them. Using a digital camera, they take pictures of the new school and compare them...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Community Connections

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders with a number of disabilities visit people and places in their community while using digital cameras to record their visits. They take digital pictures which they include in books, posters, and other publications which...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Language Arts: Creating Original Fiction

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders create fictional stories and demonstrate the use of various writing techniques. After selecting their main ideas, they find appropriate graphics to use as illustrations. In groups, 4th graders apply Hyperstudio in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Portraits That Capture Character

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students explore the definition of a portrait. In this portrait analysis lesson, students discuss two of Dorothea Lange's portraits and create their own portraits of their classmates.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Taking Notes from Written Documents

For Students 7th - 9th
In this notetaking skills instructional activity, students discuss the main events and opinions of a document, as well as listing three things the document tells about life at the time it was written. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Elder's Cloud Observations

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Young scholars study cloud types and Native language terms for clouds and cloud types. In this cloud types lesson plan, students listen to a Native American speaker discuss clouds and the words used to describe clouds. Young scholars...
Activity
Other

Interview With Abe Neri

For Students 9th - 10th
This is quite an interesting interview with the daughter of the famous Japanese writer, Abe Kobo. It is a translation, so the language doesn't flow as smoothly as it would in the original, but Neri talks about a lot of the influences in...
Primary
Other

Interview With Linda Sue Park

For Students 3rd - 5th
This site provides an interview with 2002 Newbery Newbery winner Linda Sue Park.
Primary
Other

School Library Journal: The One and Only Ivan: Author Katherine Applegate

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about Newbery award winning author Katherine Applegate's writing career and how she was inspired to write "The One and Only Ivan."
Primary
Virginia Tech

The Alan Review: An Interview With Ruth White

For Students 5th - 8th
This is an interview with Ruth White, author of Belle Prater's Boy, conducted by Pam B. Cole of the ALAN Review.
Website
Other

January Magazine: Profiles and Interviews: Mario Vargas Llosa

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides an in-depth interview with Peruvian writer Vargas Llosa concerning past literary works, political involvement, and role in present literature.
Website
PBS

Pbs News Hour: Interview With Tom Stoppard

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a transcript of an interview with Stoppard that was done on "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." Stoppard talks about his writing process and creativity.
Website
Other

Interview With Children's and Ya Author Diane Gonzales Bertrand

For Students 9th - 10th
The transcript of an interview with Texas poet and children's author Diane Gonzales Bertrand. (Date of Interview: March 2002)
Website
Reading Rockets

Reading Rockets: Author Interview: Transcript From Interview With Pam Munoz Ryan

For Students 4th - 7th
This article shares the transcript of an interview with the author Pam Munoz Ryan. Conducted by one of the writers from Reading Rockets, autobiographical information is shared regarding the topics for some of the author's most famous works.
Website
Reading Rockets

Reading Rockets: Video Interviews With Top Children's Authors and Illustrators

For Students Pre-K - 1st
A large collection of video interviews, along with biographical profiles, with well-known children's authors.
Website
Reading Rockets

Reading Rockets: Author Interviews: Norton Juster

For Students Pre-K - 1st
This video interview with children's book author Norton Juster includes a brief written biography.
Website
Other

Book Page Interview: New Discoveries From the Author of the English Patient

For Students 9th - 10th
The author of this article examines Michael Ondaatje's novel, "Anil's Ghost," while tying in the Ondaatje's own thoughts and quotes from a previous interview. A good look at the novel's setting, theme, subject matter, and connections...
Website
The Book Report

Teen reads.com: Lois Duncan Interview

For Students 9th - 10th
Duncan talks about her writing in an interview with a young writer.
Primary
Other

Author Interview: Sarah Dessen on "Just Listen"

For Students 9th - 10th
Sarah Dessen talks with author Cynthia Leitich Smith about "Just Listen" and other writing matters.
Primary
Other

University of Rochester: Interview With Robertson Davies

For Students 9th - 10th
A 1992 interview with Canadian author Robertson Davies, where the Arthurian influences of his "The Lyre of Orpheus" and "What's Bred in the Bone" are discussed.
Primary
The Book Report

Teen reads.com: Interview With Christopher Paolini

For Students 9th - 10th
Though it dates from the pre-Eldest days, this interview covers many of the details readers will want to know about -- how the concept was developed, what it's like to be a published author as a teen, etc.
Website
Other

Book Page: Yolen Interview

For Students 6th - 8th
This resource is an article about author Jane Yolen. It gives a little biographical information, pictures of book covers, and great quotes from the author.
Primary
Other

Harper Collins: Interview With Sharon Creech

For Students 3rd - 8th
Sharon Creech talks about "Granny Torrelli Makes Soup" and "Heartbeat" in this interview about writing and being a grandparent.
Handout
Scholastic

Scholastic Interview: Biography Emily Arnold Mc Cully

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
This site provides a biography of McCully with links to an interview she did with Scholastic students. This resource also includes a booklist with synopses.