National First Ladies' Library
Funding America's School Libraries
Young scholars discuss ways in which their own school library is funded, explore organization and funding of other school libraries, research Laura Bush's initiatives for school libraries, and gain experience planning projects and/or...
Curated OER
Library Visit
Libraries are places of wonder for young children. All of the books, displays, and things to discover! Here is a simple lesson on learning about the local (or school) library. After a fun role-play on going to library and getting some...
Curated OER
Learning About Fiction Genres in the Elementary School Library
Teaching about fiction genres can be challenging. The lesson here, designed for library media specialists, offers a fun way to do it. In the lesson, learners visit the library and learn about the different types of fiction through book...
Curated OER
First-Day-of-School Activity: The Kissing Hand
Looking for an interactive back to school activity? Start by reading the book The Kissing Hand, and having your class discuss their feelings about the first day of school. They trace their hand onto paper, cut out the paper hand, paint a...
Curated OER
A House is a House for Me: Library Skills for Young Readers
Read Mary Ann Hoberman's book A House is a House for Me to introduce the idea that a library is a house for shelves of books. Young readers practice alphabetizing in the picture book (easy fiction) section of the library. They learn how...
Bully Free Systems
Bully Free Lesson Plans—Seventh Grade
Having a hard time defining bullying with your seventh graders? Discuss the different types of behavior one would see in a bullying situation with a series of lessons, worksheets, and group activities.
Curated OER
Mapping the Library
Students compare their school library with another library such as: town library, for example, or a virtual library and identify the most important features. Students use their observations to create a map of the school library that can...
Curated OER
Learning Life Lessons through Fables
Explore a variety of fables to learn life's lessons through engaging stories. Add rigor to the learning process with activities that include matching a a fable to the story's moral, short answer exit slips, and a three-column graphic...
Carnegie Library
Creative Writing: Middle School Lesson Plan
Enhance a unit on historical fiction with an engaging writing lesson. Learners bring the Industrial Era to life as they compose their own historical fiction pieces based on primary source images of Pittsburgh steel workers.
ReadWriteThink
Dear Librarian: Writing a Persuasive Letter
Everyone deserves to read a great book! Here, pupils write a persuasive letter to the school's librarian detailing their favorite story and why it should be found on the shelves. Class members' persuasive reading passages are shared with...
Curated OER
Relationships for Students in Middle School
Boundaries are important in relationships, no matter how close the relationship is. Middle schoolers explore the ideas of boundaries and personal space with two units about relationships. After discussing the boundaries in their own...
National First Ladies' Library
Trouble in Little Rock: The Desegregation of Central High School
Middle schoolers study one aspect of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States; the battle over desegregating the public schools. They study the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas by producing a newspaper,...
Facing History and Ourselves
The 1968 East LA School Walkouts
The East LA School walkouts are the focus of a lesson that looks at the importance of an education that honors the culture of all learners. Class members watch videos and read an article on the LA student demands to gather background...
Library Sparks
Bridge to Terabithia: Library Lessons
Foreshadowing, flashbacks, and imaginary places are the three topics of focus in this two-lesson packet written especially for the book, Bridge to Terabithia. Each lesson also comes with worksheets and activities to support student...
Facing History and Ourselves
Speaking Up and Speaking Out
The final lesson in the Standing Up for Democracy unit offers class members a way they can stand up and speak out by crafting spoken word poetry, or Slam poetry. After analyzing several examples, individuals reflect on one positive...
Project Articulate
Textured Landscapes with Grant Wood
Explore the world of textured landscapes through the eyes of the famous artist, Grant Wood. Here is an elementary art lesson in which scholars learn about Grant Wood's life, view his work, draw their own textured landscape, and then...
Teacher.org
Christmas Around the World Part 1
A creative lesson shines a spotlight on Christmas celebrations throughout six different countries. Scholars read an informative text and share their new-found knowledge with their peers. After hearing about each country, pupils choose...
Curated OER
Orientation to the Library
Students participate in an orientation to the high school library and locate various resources. In this orientation to the library lesson, students are introduced to the library by the media specialist. They learn the layout and...
Curated OER
Library Lesson Plan
Explain the differences between fiction and non-fiction and the characteristics of a biography. Learners analyze three pieces of literature on the same topic to determine which is fiction and which is non-fiction. In the end, relate the...
Curated OER
ASL: Lesson 16
ASL lesson 16 covers adverbs of time, sentence structure, and asking questions. Each blue link takes you to an image, instructions, or video of the word/s being signed. Great resource!
National First Ladies' Library
Why Do We Have Libraries?
Students investigate the reason and origins of libraries and conduct an information search using a variety of resources. They are divided into groups that have a specific set of questions they are to answer. Each group will then complete...
Curated OER
Melba Pattillo and Ruby Bridges: Two Heroes of School Integration
Learners put themselves in the shoes of young scholars who integrated Little Rock High School in 1957-58. Note: The primary resources in this activity provide powerful and poignant descriptions of what those students faced.
Curated OER
I Want To Go To the Library
Students are introduced to the library as a resource to obtain reading material. After a review of the way to correct reading mistakes, students travel to the school library to select a book according to their reading level. They...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Picture It: JFK in High School
Elementary schoolers learn about young John F. Kennedy. After a teacher-led discussion about his high school years, pupils examine a photograph of Kennedy and four of his friends taken on the grounds of the Choate School in Connecticut....