Curated OER
Library Media: Poetry
Fifth graders explore different kinds of poetry. They work in groups to collect different styles of poetry. Then they use charts to organize the attributes of various poems. Conclude the instructional activity by having each individual...
Curated OER
Using Informational Books: Index, Table of Contents & Alphabetical Order
Students recall and use previous knowledge of the library's reference and nonfiction sections. Also they utilize various forms of reference (encyclopedias & dictionaries) and nonfiction books.
Teacher's Corner
Diamonte (dee-a-MON-tay)
Did you say a diamonte? Ask your young poets to craft and polish this gem of a form poem. The fifth in a series of ten poetry writing exercises.
Teacher's Corner
Haiku
The haiku, one of the most popular fixed forms, is the subject of this writing activity, the seventh in a series of ten poetry exercises.
Teacher's Corner
Limerick
Young poets try their hand at one of the most popular fixed poetry forms, the limerick. The eighth in a series of ten poetry writing exercises.
Curated OER
After Reading: "Plot the Plot" Activity in the Library Media Class
"Plot the plot" of "The Adventures of the Speckled Band" with your young readers. Take a few days to read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short story as a class or in pairs, having learners write down what they consider to be the most important...
EngageNY
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 8
Lights, camera, action! Math educators consider how to improve their instruction by examining a model of the five-practice problem-solving model involving a movie theater. Participants examine cognitive demand in relation to problem...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Arts Showcase
An art showcase encourages class members to explore the themes of social justice and tolerance. They create an original artwork, engage in group discussions, and journal writing. The art gallery also provides a chance for families and...
Teacher's Corner
Tanka
The Tanka, another fix from of Japanese poetry, is featured in the final exercise in a 10-part series of poetry writing activities.
Curated OER
How to Locate and Evaluate Information, Part I - Online Catalog
Using the online catalog, researchers locate and record on a citation template specific sources for their research paper. A library specialist models searching strategies while the teacher introduces the research paper process. Daily...
Library of Congress
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance brought forth many American art forms including jazz, and the writings of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Using a carefully curated set of documents from the Library of Congress, pupils see the cultural...
Curated OER
How to Locate and Evaluate Information, Part III - Internet Sites
This is the third in a series of lessons scaffolding the research paper. It purports to teach researchers how to evaluate internet sites, but the lack of links, specific criteria, or site evaluation rubrics would require additional...
Curated OER
Analyzing Poetic Devices: Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays" and Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz"
Students examine how Robert Hayden and Theodore Roethke incorporate poetic devices to convey meaning in the poems, 'Those Winter Sundays,' and 'My Papa's Waltz.' They listen to audio clips, explore websites, and write an analysis of the...
Digital Writing and Research Lab's – Lesson Plans
Teaching Close Reading through Short Composition/Revision
This activity may have writers evaluate short compositions, but their subjects are quite tall: great Americans. Pupils read one another's compositions and closely examine how specific phrases and diction contribute to shaping American...
New York State Education Department
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 3
Teachers turning into high schoolers? It's not Freaky Friday! It's a thoughtful workshop that teaches participants how to plan professional development for staff. Third in a 15-part series, the workshop provides a platform for the other...
Curated OER
Invent a Critter
Students create a living animal that could survive in at least one specific region and use the digital desert library to gather information. In this invent a critter lesson, students draw a picture of their animal, describe their animal...
Curated OER
Mouse
First graders are exposed to a variety of texts that deal with mice. The use of the library is recommended to saturate the classroom with available books. Young students work in groups with the help of the teacher to define traits and...
Curated OER
Service Learning/Then and Now
Eighth graders explore service learning projects. They work, in groups, to choose a video project. Students collect information and present it in a storyboard. Next, they use music, video clips, and still pictures to create their video...
Curated OER
Words into Pictures
Students discover the history of writing through images, and the universal themes that are still relevant. In this communications lesson, students analyze a group of symbols on the black board and must translate them into a complete...
Curated OER
Write All About It
Fourth graders use research skills and the writing process to create a newspaper. Although students work in groups to complete the final draft of the newspaper, each student is responsible for doing his or her own research and writing...
Curated OER
Online Project Center
Students write two haiku poems in appropriate form. Writing haiku allows students to practice in the skills of dividing words into syllables, counting syllables, and searching for words to fit a structure.
Curated OER
Cloud Types and Formation of Clouds
Young scholars take cloud and weather related photographs during the year, making certain to make notes of when, where and what time the photograph was taken. At some point all the pictures be gathered and a scrapbook or "cloud library"...
Middle Tennessee State University
Help Is on the Way: Civil War Women and Relief Work
The role women played in the Civil War, especially in relief efforts, is the focus of this seven-page resource. Groups examine primary source materials to determine how this work reflected and expanded the traditional roles women held in...
Curated OER
The Writing Tips: One, Two, There, You're Out!
Introduce your class to the importance of using active verbs in writing. Learners read sentences in which the word there is used, and identify an active verb that can be used instead. The lesson comes with a comprehensive worksheet for...