Curated OER
Life Snapshots
Learners create Inspiration webs using graphics or photographs that depict high and low points in their lives. This technology-based Language Arts lesson for the upper-elementary or middle-level classroom is excellent for improving...
Curated OER
Is That Movie OK?
Discuss movies and movie enjoyment with your middle school language arts class. They interpret movie review information, determine appropriate movies, and then write film reviews to share with the class. Focus on using context clues to...
Curated OER
Persecution
Eleventh graders determine the causes and effects of persecution. They read The Crucible by Arthur Miller. They analyze the historical significance of persecution. They use technology to research types of persecution.
Curated OER
Children of War
Take a closer look at the impact of war in this language arts and social studies instructional activity. Middle schoolers use primary sources to conduct research as they relate to the effects of war on children. They compare and contrast...
Curated OER
The Presidential Quotation Report
Famous quotations by American Presidents are the focus of this Six Trait writing activity, which could be used in a U.S. History class or in language arts. After reading the picture book Theodore by Frank Keating, have your 7th graders...
PBS
What Is Newsworthy?
What is news? What is newsworthy? Who decides and what criteria do they use? Introduce young journalists to the basics of reporting with this media literacy lesson plan.
Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
You can't read Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory without craving the rich treats described in Dahl's vivid prose. Young writers try their hands at sensory language with a lesson plan that prompts them to write about their...
Curated OER
Making Inferences While Identifying Similes and Metaphors
Use this lesson plan to study similes and metaphors and the inferred meaning. In this language arts lesson plan, 5th graders write their own similes and metaphors. A worksheet is provided for extension work or to check understanding as...
Curated OER
Using Personal Pronouns Correctly
Complete personal pronoun practice activities. Pupils use correct personal pronoun form in sentences the teacher writes on the board. They review the function of a pronoun and the various cases and practice placing personal pronouns by...
Curated OER
All About Me
Using technology, learners create and deliver a multimedia autobiographical presentation to present to the class. This ambitious lesson has learners use a variety of sources both old and new; magazines, poster board, the Internet, and...
Microsoft
Plagiarism Fair Use Copyright
Nothing makes junior high and high school teachers more frustrated than plagiarism. Instruct young writers about copyright laws and the correct ways to paragraph information without copying the exact words. A set of secondary-level...
Curated OER
Keyboarding - Story Grafting
Bring some humor and fun to your keyboarding or language arts class! Middle and high schoolers begin a story in response to a prompt and then move from keyboard to keyboard, continuing to add to the story while the monitor is turned off....
Curated OER
Kumeyaay Indians
Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this lesson about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their own...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 21
Class members read the chapter, "Serfs and Sweetness" from Sugar Changed the World, and identify the central idea that the development of beet sugar and modern farming technology changed the reliance on the plantation system and made...
EngageNY
Grade 9 ELA Module 4, Unit 1, Lesson 24
Who bears the most responsibility for ensuring that goods are ethically produced? Using evidence drawn from Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science, the unit's central text, and from the...
Curated OER
Easy Access: Creating Annotated Versions of News Articles
How can news coverage be made more accessible for teens? Model for your class how to use technology to annotate news stories containing unfamiliar references that hinder their interest in and understanding of a news story. Use the...
Curated OER
Basic Search Methods Using Online Resources
Second graders practice using technology to gather information. In this online research lesson, 2nd graders use technology to find information for a research project. Students write a research paper, and give a presentation to the class...
Curated OER
What Does Art Sound Like?
Help your charges investigate visual art by identifying sounds that are associated with the images. They view art galleries online and discuss which sounds would be present if the image was a real life situation. Additionally, they...
Curated OER
Using Context
Teams practice decoding and using context strategies to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words. After verifying the meanings of words through the use of dictionaries, the Internet, thesauruses, and other sources, learners write the...
Curated OER
"Sentences - Can You Make Them?"
Here is a great lesson on how to make a complete sentence. Young writers "drag and drop" the words using the mouse. This is a fantastic activity to use with "Word Wall Words." It provides practice in making sentences, as well as...
PBS
Master of the Airwaves: How FDR Used Radio to Ease the Public’s Fears
The political and economic climate during the 1930's was uncertain and tumultuous. But Americans' minds and hearts were eased with the reassuring words of their president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and addresses over the radio. High...
Curated OER
Nouns Name!
First graders use an Inspiration template to complete a graphic organizer listing nouns that name people, places, and things. They use the "Notes" feature in Inspiration to write complete sentences using the nouns that they have chosen...
Curated OER
Poetry Writing Unit: Writing a Film Poem
Film poems? To concluded a poetry unit, writers select one of their own poems and create a film that brings to life the sounds and images of their work. Included with the detailed unit plan are daily lessons, student examples, a list of...
Curated OER
Using Rhythm Instruments to Tell a Story
After watching a video of Peter and the Wolf, and identifying the instruments used to represent each character, class members use rhythm instruments to represent the actions in the song, "What Would I do."