Curated OER
Women: Struggle and Triumph
Students perform research using primary resources in order to create a knowledge base for the place of women in society. The sources are synthesized by students to reveal the true story of the extraordinary women of America.
Curated OER
Literary Elements and Vocabulary: Mini Quiz
Readers match five literary terms -- personification, narrator, tone, dialogue, foreshadowing -- with their definitions. They also spell, identify the part of speech, define, and write a creative sentence for each of five dictated words....
Curated OER
Goldilocks and the Coordinate Grids
Where this lesson idea is lacking in materials, it makes up for with creativity! Using "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" as the background, mathematicians plot points on a coordinate grid to create props for the story. The polygons all...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 10: Writing Really Good Dialogue
Boring dialogue can run a great story into the ground; get your novelists using dialogue as a tool to move their story into deeper and more developed territory. As part of a larger writing series, this lesson has a worksheet that can...
Learning to Give
Start Cleaning the Air
Advocate for the environment! With the short story included, learners are prompted to think about radon (the odorless and colorless gas) and possible ways to get donations or raise money to purchase detection equipment. The plan spans...
Griffen Publishing
Learning From the Past
The big idea for this instructional activity is that the past enriches our present and future. Learners explore the origin of the Olympic Games and how one man took an event from the past and reinvented it for modern times. They compare...
Curated OER
Virtual Winter Count
Learn more about the North American Plains Indian tribes and their unusual methods of recording historical events. Learners examine the winter count, a custom by which these groups illustrated information after each winter passed. They...
Curated OER
Lots of Lessons from Aesop
Aesop’s Fables offer young learners an opportunity to study figurative language. After reviewing theme, simile, alliteration, and metaphor, model for your pupils how to identify examples of these devices in the fable. Class members then...
Curated OER
Flying Too Close to the Sun
Students research the myth of Icarus and his father and discuss the associated metaphor. They view the work of a number of artists and create a painting depicting the myth.
Curated OER
The Meaning of Rock Art
Students examine the significance of rock art. They discuss and view examples of historical rock art, and create a design on a rock that tells a story using African and American symbols.
Curated OER
Pass the Painting
After reading a story or informational text describing an animal, your class gets creative and collaborative with paint. In groups, they brainstorm all the parts of an animal, they then take turns painting those parts. One child starts...
Curated OER
People are People
Explore human diversity in this human rights lesson. Middle schoolers compare novels, speeches, videos, and short stories that promote diversity and basic human rights. They complete daily coursework as they read the selected literature...
Curated OER
Verb Tenses
Have the class complete a two-page grammar activity which includes fill-in-the-blank, completing sentences, and finishing a conversation to practice using proper verb form. They assess each of the 30 sentences and use the proper form of...
Curated OER
Cultivating Caring - Filling Buckets of Caring Carrots
Young scholars practice compassion. In this character education lesson, student read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. Students discuss the book as well as ways to demonstrate they care for one another. Young scholars...
Curated OER
Allusions, Slang, and Literary Analogies
Partners identify literary allusions using a provided worksheet and use this knowledge to examine the allusions in Toni Cade Bambara's "Raymond's Run." The class also examines the impact of allusions and slang on the tone of the story.
Curated OER
Writing Process- Narrative Writing
Graphic organizers are a wonderful tool for young writers to use to help them get their thoughts in order for a piece of writing. Here, learners are coached on what a piece of narrative writing is, and how they must have a distinct...
Curated OER
Elaborating the Main Idea, Using Supporting Details
A desk is used as a visual analogy to construct the main idea and supporting details in a story. The top of the desk is the main idea, and each of the four legs provides supporting details. The legs of the desk provide support for the...
Curated OER
Literary Analysis of Theme
Remember reading "The Lottery" and "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson? Learners can experience and analyze the tension, themes, and human experience found in these pieces through reading and class discussion. They use...
Curated OER
Lily and Miss Liberty
Students discuss ways to earn money and why they might need it. Students create crowns to wear all day like in the story. Students create a play using characters in the story. Students interview "eyewitnesses" at the unveiling of the...
Biology Corner
Cell Theory Rap
All that this will link you to is a rap about cell theory and organelles. Use it as an example for a creative assignment in your biology class. Divide the class into groups and assign them a topic for which they write and perform a skit,...
Curated OER
Ratio and Proportion: Basic Operations and Applications
Learners explore example problems dealing with ratios and proportions. Afterward, they read story problems and solve them using ratios and proportions. This four-page worksheet contains six multi-step problems.
Curated OER
Declarative and Interrogative Sentences
Learners write interrogative and declarative sentences in a short message. After seeing many examples of these types of sentences, students write sentences of their ownl.
Curated OER
Multiple Meatballs
The book Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, is read aloud,and students listen for regular and irregular plurals in the story. They record their words on a worksheet which is embedded in the plan. This lesson provides good practice...
Curated OER
Foreshadowing: A Definition
Define foreshadowing for your upper graders with this well designed resource. While there are only two slides, the definition and example provided are excellent and if coupled with additional literary devices could make for a great lesson.