Curated OER
Lily's Crossing
Students listen to a story, "Lily's Crossing," about life during a World War. After completing worksheets, they compare and contrast characters in the story. Using math skills, students develop a time line of the war, calculate the...
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Poetry: When the Rain Sings Poems by Young Native Americans
Poetry can express feelings, values, and culture; it also provides insight into a time and place. Young analysts discuss the meanings of several poems from a collection of Native American works entitled, When the Rain...
Novelinks
The Hobbit: Writing Assignment
As a culminating assignment for a unit study of heroes that uses The Hobbit as the core text, class members engage in a multi-genre writing project.
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Give Yourself Some Credit
Eighth graders identify information and skills necessary to transition to high school. They complete a graphic organizer comparing middle school and high school. They discuss earning credits and specific requirements for graduation from...
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A Journey to Language Arts
Young scholars explore events of the Lewis & Clark expedition. Students observe a PowerPoint presentation. They demonstrate journal writing using first person point of view. Young scholars describe life in North America during the...
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Kindergarten
Students engage in a discussion about their preconceived ideas about kindergarten. They share their feelings about being in kindergarten and listen to the book "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss.
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Viewpoint and Persuasive Writing
Practice persuasive writing skills in this thorough lesson. After selecting issues and discovering viewpoints, middle schoolers write letters or brochures created to express the individual's perspective. The ideas are presented to the...
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The Treaty Trail: Examining an Artist's Perspective
Elementary school leanrners examine artwork from the time period of the United States and Native American treaties. They discuss the causes and effects of the treaties being signed. They also examine how cultural perspective influences art.
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You Can't Hear Me!
Teach the skill of reading silently through modeling. The teacher demonstrate how to read silently and also gives instructions on decoding skills. Individuals then read silently using the book Polly's Shop . The teacher...
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The Popular Bully
Fifth graders investigate bullying and nonviolent ways to deal with bullies. In this conflict management lesson, 5th graders discover the definition for the word ahimsa and examine ways to incorporate that philosophy into their...
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Maus: Problematic Situation Strategy
Do people really need “a newer, bigger Holocaust” in order to change? Or is it possible that by making text-to-self connections to the stories of others people that they can change? In order to connect to Art Spiegelman’s Maus, class...
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Night: Socratic Questioning Activity
We construct meaning through discussion, so help your readers of Elie Wiesel's work Night with a socratic questioning activity. The strategy is outlined on the first page, and the second page offers some example questions you give to...
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What's Your Style?
Sixth graders complete a learning style assessment and evaluate the information gained to determine accuracy in terms of what they know about themselves as learners. They then identify and implement strategies related to their preferred...
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Turtle Legends
Learners listen to the legend, Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back. They create a new moon for the calendar based on this natural part of everyday life in the seasons. They illustrate it under the story using water color paints.
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Paragraph Building
Build the skills your budding authors need to develop to compose well-structured paragraphs. Give them the topic sheet (included here), and have them write a cohesive paragraph using the ideas listed. Consider having them include two...
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Message in a Bottle
Students acquire a pen pal in a foreign country and write letters at least twice a month throughout the year to exchange with them. At the end of the year, they write an essay that compares one important difference and one important...
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Research a Poet and Explicate a Poem by that Poet
Seventh graders choose a poet to research and find a poem by that author to explicate/analyze using a variety of sources for their research that will include their textbooks, the school library, and the internet. After conducting...
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Read and Get Smart
Use the class textbook to read a full story about Martin Luther King, Jr. The class writes facts about him and outlines his life, then they read the author and illustrator summaries at the end of the story. They compare and contrast the...
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Johnny Appleseed
Students engage in a study of apples using children's literature. They conduct research using a variety of resources. Student list facts about apples and compare them while answering some guided questions. They plant some apple seeds and...
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From Photo to Printed Word: Getting Second-Graders to Write
Use photographs to entice your children to write! In this digital storytelling instructional activity, young scholars study the functions of digital cameras. They review their sentence-writing skills, then take digital photos and write...
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Crossing the Delaware with Historic, Cultural, and Personal Interpretations
Sixth graders discover the importance of information sources by researching the United States History. In this research gathering instructional activity, 6th graders examine a historical painting of George Washington and analyze...
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On the Beach: Disabled and Mother's Pride
What do an early 20th century poet and a 1980's rock star have in common with a novel from the 1960's? Using Wilfred Owen's poem "Disabled" and George Michael's song "Mother's Pride," learners answer questions about the lyrics and themes...
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Childhood Through the Looking-Glass
Junior high learners discuss Lewis Carroll's classic story, Alice in Wonderland. They observe the image of childhood in his photographs and compare them to present-day images. There is a plethora of ideas and links for discussions...
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Storybook Theater
Tell a story visually using this resource. Learners design a storybook theater by creating a book and painting watercolor pictures describing scenes from the story. This is a creative means to have your class practice summarizing skills.