Oklahoma State Department of Education
Sandwich Feast
Creative! Youngsters listen to the reading of "Recipe for a Hippopotamus Sandwich" by Shel Silverstein as a warm up activity for a lesson in punctuation. They use bread-shaped pages, one for each type of punctuation, to identify which...
Curated OER
Conditions of City Life in the Late 19th Century
Students examine tenement life. In this lesson on early urbanization, students research the role of journalism for social change in early American cities. Students write a journal article for themselves that demonstrate an understanding...
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Creating a Personal Symbol
Students inquire about visual arts by creating an artistic etching. In this symbolism lesson, students identify the work of Keith Haring by researching the web and analyzing images. Students utilize linoleum or wood to create an etching...
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Still-Life Painting: Arranging Nature—Lesson 2
Learners choose meaningful objects for a still-life arrangement and paint it using watercolors. After reflecting on their choice of objects and composition, students begin to write an artist's statement.
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Colonial Migration
Students, in groups, create a student book for an assigned group of immigrants to the Colonial United States (Huguenots, Scots, Irish, Africans.) They create drawings for the book and rhyming text that depicts three struggles that...
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English PowerPoint: Their Eyes Were Watching God
Students read, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," by Zora Neale Hurston. They explore the use of symbolism that depicts the main character's quest for self knowledge and identity. After identifying the significance of clothing in relation...
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Rather Cut a Little
Students create podcasts of Measure for Measure. In this Measure for Measure lesson, students decide which lines are the most important and edit scenes to create a shorter version of the play that includes the important...
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Defining Issues
Students work on a 'campaign committee' to define civic issues that are important to them and their community. They write letters to city officials with proposals for how to address these issues.
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You Can't Go Home Again (or, If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother)
Students read a scene from Hamlet, without stage directions. They recreate the scene using their own stage directions as they see fit for the scene.
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Imag(in)ing History Across Generations
Students find an image depicting events of September 11 or after and write a letter to their future grandchldren explaining the image and why those chose to preserve it for them.
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Special Edition Newspaper on the Trial of Julius Caesar
Tenth graders research the multiple perspectives held by the participants in the trial relative to the conduct and outcome of the trial. Practice writing pertinent and penetrating interview questions for oral interviewing. Take a...
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The Basics of Journalism: A Little Preview
Students define journalism and identify the basic components of a news story. In this journalism basics lesson, students define the word journalism, read a new story, and break it into parts with two major characteristics for each...
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Festival of Fools
Students act out lines from King Lear to show a character's folly. In this English literature instructional activity, students identify the 'folly' of a given character by choosing a passage from King Lear to demonstrate a...
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An Irish Blessing
Young scholars explore Irish culture by participating in a creative writing activity. In this good will writing lesson, students define "Irish Blessings" and utilize computer software to create a template for a blessing they will write....
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Lesson: Mathias Poledna: Crystal Palace
Film analysis takes critical thinking, connections, and context. Upper graders look at the film installation, Crystal Palace in terms of the film makers choices, presentation, and perspective of truth. After an analytical discussion...
Global Oneness Project
Far From Home
A timely and provocative activity inspires high schoolers to tackle the Syrian refugee crisis. They analyze a compelling photo essay before discussing and writing about it.
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 3
How far have California's Channel islands moved? What was the rate of this movement? Class members first examine data that shows the age of the Hawaiian island chain and the average speed of the Pacific Plate. They then watch West...
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 5: The Tragic Hero
Should identifying a tragic hero be based on a universal definition or a definition based on the morals and values of a specific culture? As part of a study of Things Fall Apart, class members read Sylvia Plath's "Colossus" and then...
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Teaching Strategies: The Word Wall: A Tool for Beginning Readers and Writers
Learners participate in various activities through the school week involving the high-frequency words on their word wall in order to increase familiarity with reading and spelling the selected words. For this word wall lesson, students...
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Critical Thinking & Writing: Brainstorming
Have your young writers organize their thoughts before writing. They generate ideas through various brainstorming activities prior to writing a mock feature news story for USA Today. A series of USA Today articles debating the level of...
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Using Commas and Semi-Colons Correctly
Pupils review the rules for correct usage of the comma and semicolon. Then, in groups, they complete worksheets, discuss answers, and reference grammar rules that support their usage of commas and semicolons.
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The Preposition Song
Pupils, after watching and listening to a video on Grammar Rock, recite and sing the words to The Preposition Song. They rehearse it several times before they stand up in front of class and recite it out loud for their classmates as well...
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Interpreting Dramatic Works
Action! Delve into character development in the play Fences by August Wilson, setting the stage for learners to analyze character nuances. Thespians choose a scene from the script, responding with a written account of the...
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Writing an Effective Resume
Rating prospective teacher candidates based on sample resumes opens this discussion of effective business communication. After generating a list of interview candidates based on their resumes, pupils justify their choices. A study of...