Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
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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Reading: Oldest College Graduate 2007
In this reading for comprehension learning exercise, students read a passage about a ninety-five year old graduating from college. Students choose 8 multiple choice answers based on their reading.
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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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Cyrano de Bergerac Nose His Terms
Students use the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" to identify and analyze drama vocabulary, literary terms and elements of fiction. They write an original version of scenes from the play and develop a character analysis for the lead.
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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.
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How Often Do You Interact with People of Another Race or Ethnicity?
Is interacting with people from different backgrounds part of a well-rounded education? A big question awaits young readers as they explore two New York Times articles that discuss modern-day segregation, population statistics, and...
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...
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Context Clues, Plot Structure, Conflict, and Personal Narrative Essay
What are the elements of a personal narrative? Get your class talking by reading "The Necklace" and "A Dangerous Game." The lesson focuses primarily on defining certain vocabulary terms (like context clues, plot, conflict, climax, etc.)...