Curated OER
Literature Through Silent Movies
Students watch Charlie Chaplin films and discuss film elements. They select a story written by Edgar Allen Poe to write and produce a movie of. They film scenes, edit, and create a final iMovie project.
Curated OER
Roger Robot
Read the story of Roger Robot included in the instructional activity and have kids move creatively by interpreting how a robot might move. Read a part of the story, then stop and let the class act it out. Read some more, and let them...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.7
Use this resource's pairings of classical literature and paintings to practice the skill of comparing different artistic mediums with your ELA class. Addressing standard 7 for literature in the Common Core, the resource encourages your...
Curated OER
Short Story Commercials
Middle schoolers read short story selections, and work with classmates to produce commercials using digital video equipment.
Curated OER
Mississippi Trial, 1955: Imagery Guide
Class members take on the role of jurors in this guided imagery activity designed to be used with chapter 15 of Mississippi Trial, 1955.
Novelinks
Wildwood Dancing: Guided Imagery
Reader's of Wildwood Dancing engage in a guided imagery exercise designed to encourage them to visualize the setting of Juliet Marillier's young adult fantasy novel.
Curated OER
Beautiful Noise Poetry
"What a beautiful noise comin' up from the street; got a beautiful sound, it's got a beautiful beat..." Use Neil Diamond's "Beautiful Noise" to guide your class through a Six Trait writing activity, in which they write an original poem...
Curated OER
The Drum
Students complete a variety of activities related to the folktale from India, "The Drum." They listen to the story and answer comprehension questions, construct a coffee can drum, and complete a phonics and matching worksheet.
Curated OER
Nurture Poetry
Students create a poetry book. In this poetry instructional activity, students write a cinquain poem, name poem, haiku, limerick, and preposition poem.
Google
Animate a Name
What's in a name? Pupils use the Scratch code blocks to animate letters in a name. They learn about events, sequencing, and loops in computer science by taking part in the project.
Curated OER
Those Fabulous Fables
A video leads off this activity on fables, introducing the class to this important form of traditional storytelling. The group defines fable and hears an explanation of the origin of this type of folk tale. They summarize the story they...
Curated OER
Keep Your English Up to Date: Wannabe
Language is a fluid and ever-changing entity! Take a week to cover the changing English expressions and slang as related to the word "wannabe." Go through vocabulary, spelling, worksheets, and quizzes on the topics with your class.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a “Favorite Things” List Poem
If your students made a list of their favorite things, would writing poetry be on it? After this poetry writing lesson, it might! Young writers make a list of what they like—or what they don't like—before crafting the list into...
Curated OER
Bambara's The Lesson
Twelfth graders read the short story The Lesson. They research the socio-economic and cultural context of the story and author. They examine the author's point of view. They analyze the first person narration in the story. They rewrite...
Curated OER
Thumbs Up For Movie Reviews
If your class loves movies, this instructional activity is sure to interest them. After discussing the purpose and structure of movie reviews, young writers compose a movie review and discuss why people may read a review before they go...
Learn NC
Buffalo Soldiers
"Stolen from Africa, brought to America,/Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival." Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldiers" provides high schoolers an opportunity to explore the rich history of the Rastafarians in Jamaica and the Buffalo...
Curated OER
Aristotle's Six Elements Of A Play
Fifth graders view the play, The Ant and the Grasshopper. They define Aristotle's six elements of a play. At the end of the lesson plan, 5th graders be asked to participate in the play by acting like busy ants. This lesson plan would tie...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Walt Whitman to Langston Hughes: Poems for a Democracy
Explore the idea of democratic poetry. Upper graders read Walt Whitman, examining daguerreotypes, and compare Whitman to Langston Hughes. They describe aspects of Whitman's I Hear America Singing to Langston Hughes' Let America Be...
Curated OER
Cite Right
What do you need to cite, and how can you avoid plagiarizing? This presentation is aimed at beginning writers, and it details some of the ways people plagiarize (even accidentally) and what sort of information needs to be cited. The...
Anti-Defamation League
10 Ideas for Teaching Black History Month
Celebrate Black History Month with the help of 10 ideas that delve deep into the history, major events, contributions, famous African Americans, and sheds light on how scholars today can take a proactive stance on current civil rights...
Curated OER
Summertime
Explore expressive reading through the read-aloud Summertime: From Porgy and Bess. Readers will make predictions about the text and listen to the song Summertime. They will also identify how the story relates to the song lyrics.
Curated OER
Pronoun Reference
Do your young readers have a hard time with using the correct pronouns? Use this resource to help them practice identifying and fixing incorrect pronouns. The worksheet includes twenty sentences, some of which need to be fixed, and some...
Curated OER
Plagiarism Worksheet
Explore plagiarism in-depth with this resource. Start by reading the short passage provided on Krumping, a new dance style. Then, study the examples provided to determine which ones plagiarise and which ones don't.
Library Sparks
When Marian Sang: Reader's Theater
Put on an eight-actor show based on Pan Munoz Ryan's When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson. The resource comes with a color-coded script that includes some images from the picture book.