Indian Land Tenure Foundation
Tribal Origin Stories
The teacher reads and retells Californian tribal origin or creation stories that come from the traditions of a variety of California Indian tribes. Then, pupils get together in groups and retell the stories they just heard; just as...
Curated OER
Tech Integration Project Lesson Accelerator: Project Overview
Talk about technology in the classroom. This plan has all the resources needed to create a non-linear or branching story. Included is a step-by-step tutorial that walks middle schoolers through the project description, a model of a...
Curated OER
Who? What? When? Where? Asking Questions
Sixth graders interview Veterans or role play to answer who, what, where, when questions. In this Veteran's Day questioning activity, 6th graders learn about the events in the military service of veterans. Students may simulate...
Project Noah
Writing Goes Wild
Young scientists develop their observation and writing skills as they craft and then post a detailed description of a plant or animal they have spotted and photographed.
National Endowment for the Humanities
“House by the Railroad”: A Painting and a Poem for the Common Core
Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading...
Curated OER
Sense, Sensibility and Sentences: Examining and Writing Memorable Lines
Involve your readers in finding works of literary genius. Have each individual write down compelling sentences that they read or hear, whether in a newspaper, advertisement, book, movie, song, or any other place! Once each person has a...
Agriculture’s Lasting Heritage
Apples Around Us
Apple tasting launches an investigation of the story and travels of John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed. After listening to his story, class members craft a summary of the tale, chart his journeys on a map, and sample different...
Curated OER
Welcome to the Blogosphere
Create a blog spot for your classroom and promote online discussions. There are several blogging websites listed here, and you can create one specific to each class or one collective site. Teach your learners how to post on the blog, and...
Curated OER
Blogging to Create a Community of Writers #6: Writing a Review
Looking for a good social media lesson for your class? Then, this lesson is for you! They study various written reviews, then must choose an item to review of their choice. They can choose from: a book, restaurant, CD/musical...
Curated OER
"I" Witness to History
Young journalists write diary entries from the point of view of a person involved in a historical event. They focus on including facts, clear narration, and accurate description of the individual's feelings.
Curated OER
Using Poetry As Inspiration for Composition
A reading of Robert Frost’s "The Road Not Taken" launches an interdisciplinary study of the connection between the meters of a poem and a melody. After identifying the number of beats in each line of the poem, young musicians use...
EngageNY
Choosing a Book That Interests Me: Seeking the Superhero Reader in Me
Selecting a "power book" and engaging in a structured class discussion are the learning targets for this fourth lesson plan in a larger unit. It is designed as a beginning of the year unit for establishing norms and routines in the...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: Inferring About the Silversmith Trade in Colonial Times
The seventh lesson plan in this unit on colonial trade assesses fourth graders' ability to use details from an informational text to make inferences and create a piece of informative writing. The included assessment begins with learners...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Oh! You Shouldn't Have!
Young scholars, working in pairs or small groups, examine various ways of responding to a gift. They match gift giving and receiving pictures on a worksheet to the correct responses. As an added activity, they role-play as guests at a...
Curated OER
Why Rules or Laws
Here’s a fresh approach to establishing classroom rules at the beginning of the school year. Class groups brainstorm what they know about rules for baseball, basketball, and football. They then consider how the games would differ without...
Curated OER
Fact Or Opinion
Groups of junior highers find newspaper articles which contain both facts and opinions, and present examples of each to the class. The focus is on discerning between fact and opinion. Two excellent worksheets are embedded in the plan...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Justification for Character and Scene Selection
When it comes to love and midsummer nights, confessions are tricky. Learners place themselves in the shoes of a character from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and explain how a character manipulated another character in...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 3, Unit 2, Lesson 7
Now that learners have honed their inquiry-based projects down to their strongest few questions, they can conduct independent research. High schoolers pursue answers to their inquiries while assessing sources, establishing a research...
Curated OER
Like It Or Not?
Write a review of the film adaptation of Holes. After viewing the film, your young reviewers make recommendations about viewing the film. Using details to support their opinions, they highlight the important parts of the movie without...
ESL Kid Stuff
Rooms of a House
Language learners create and label the rooms in a house and then add and label images of objects that may be found in each room.
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 1
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is an illustrative source of rich prose, deep character development, and strong literary themes. Use two of the book's key chapters, which focus on Waverly's relationship with chess and with her mother, to...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 1: Unit 3, Lesson 2
What was life like for William Shakespeare's sister, Judith? Scholars continue reading Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own to find out. They complete a Quick Write to explain how Woolf's comparison of the siblings develops a central...
EngageNY
Point of View: Comparing Esperanza's and Isabel's Perspectives About Life in the Camp (Chapter 7: "Las Cebollas/Onions")
Explore point of view and more with a Common Core-designed instructional activity. Learners experience different points of view by representing one of two characters from Esperanza Rising during a partner discussion. They must use...
EngageNY
Introducing “If” and Noting Notices and Wonders of the First Stanza
After reading chapter 14 of the story Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, scholars take part in a read-aloud of the poem If by Rudyard Kipling and compare it to the reading of Bud, Not Buddy. Learners then go deeper into the poem...