Curated OER
Colonial Migration
Students, in groups, create a student book for an assigned group of immigrants to the Colonial United States (Huguenots, Scots, Irish, Africans.) They create drawings for the book and rhyming text that depicts three struggles that...
Curated OER
Animal Farm
Students read Animal Farm and examine how power corrupts. They role-play situations involving power and control. They investigate corruption and abuse of power in society. They write propaganda articles and hold panel discusssionsabout...
Curated OER
1984
Young scholars read 1984, noting the potential dangers of government. They keep private diaries to parctice freedom of expression. They create political cartoons for a secret publication and design posters and T-shirts with warnings on...
Curated OER
Heroes and Role Models
Students identify heroes and role models they are familiar with. They write a paper about people they know or celebrities they admire. They research people using the Internet and other research materials.
Curated OER
Non-Fiction Texts
Third graders examine different types of non-fiction texts. In this non fiction lesson, 3rd graders use different types of texts to gather information. Students work in groups to analyze the texts for author's purpose, common...
Curated OER
A Report From the 21st Century - Mark Twain
Students look at Twain, the humorist - considered America's favorite storyteller and the funniest man in the world at the time. Students stretch the truth about a personal experience, and consider how delivery affects impact.
Curated OER
For Sale - Ageless Water
Students discuss the topic of everlasting life after completing the novel, Tuck Everlasting. They examine advertisements for bottled water on the Internet and in magazines. Then they create their own advertisement for ageless water.
Curated OER
Walter Cronkite: Witness to History
Students brainstorm a list of news sources. They interview people about today's media and discuss their results. After watching segments of a film about Walter Cronkite, they role play as reporters and subjects from an historic period...
Curated OER
Your Angle on the Story
Students review several articles on same current event, and then cover news issues themselves while assuming secret identities of various individuals who have vested interests in issue. Students write newspaper articles from these...
Curated OER
Immigration Research Project
Students formulate guiding questions to use as an aid for research and then use the guiding questions worksheet to help gather information necessary for meeting all criteria for completing the project. They then work together to collect...
Curated OER
The Freedom to Fight
Students study the African American troop experiences in the Civil War. In this American history instructional activity, students examine primary and secondary sources regarding the experiences and contributions of African American...
Discovery Education
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
After reading Ken Kesey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, class members view the 1975 film version and then craft a critical review in which they compare the two versions and evaluate the success or failure of Milos Foreman's...
Curated OER
Tall Tales Today
Students explore the attributes of American tall tales. In this folklore activity, students read several tall tales, describe the elements of tall tales, and then use hyperbole to write their own tall tales.
Curated OER
The Whole Story
Students collect and convey information about a current event. By focusing on who, what, when, where, why, and how questions, students study to thoroughly analyze and report on important world events.
Curated OER
Talking Trash - Online Message Boards
Young scholars consider their own experiences with online message boards and chat rooms, discover how teens are using the Web to talk about people in their lives, discuss the issues surrounding online conversations.
Curated OER
Joltin' Joe Has Left and Gone Away
Learners assess admirable qualities in entertainers. They discuss Joe DiMaggio's obituary, focusing on his accomplishments and place in American society. They research and create their own descriptive biographies of athletes and...
Curated OER
Spreading the Word
Students analyze the use of propaganda in the war against terrorism, focusing specifically on the attacks in Afghanistan, exploring the distinction between ideas spread to benefit a cause and those spread to damage an opposing cause.
Curated OER
Is All Cinema Verité?
Young scholars explore the relationship between movies and culture, looking at movies as both a part of and a reflection of popular culture. They research the specific historical and cultural realities present during the run of a...
Curated OER
Jingles All the Way
Students explore various tactics used in advertising by studying the advertising campaigns of well-known companies. They earn about methods of political advertising in China by reading and discussing Political Power Grows From the Point...
Curated OER
Making the Personal Political
Students identify controversial topics on which they have strong opinions and model their own persuasive opinion pieces after the featured article. They compose persuasive essays on controversial issues that "hit home" for them.
Curated OER
The Long and Short of It
Young scholars take a look back at the week's news by exploring the news summaries article offered in The New York Times' Week in Review section each week. They look further into ongoing news stories of interest to them in order to...
Curated OER
It's a Draw!
Students assess the ways in which editorial cartoons, both current and historic, offer insight into events that shape our world. They create a poster that includes a current editorial cartoon and their explanation of the details of the...
Curated OER
Charity Begins At Home
Students read and discuss "Prosperity Extends Its Reach, but Not Far Enough to Benefit All," and examine the difficulty, for the working poor, in making ends meet, and propose philanthropic solutions.
Curated OER
Saving Face
Students research the allegations of unfair or illegal business practices of various corporations, then create media campaigns that seek to improve the companies' images.