Curated OER
Painting Portraits with Words
Students examine how an exhibition of an author's writings can become a portrait or biography of that author . They work in small groups, analyzing various poems by Yeats.
Curated OER
Life of a Stage Man
Students analyze Arthur Miller's views about his works, characterizations as played out on the stage, and the role of theater in today's society. They act as casting directors for a
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
The United States in a "School Daze"
Students identify key issues existing in the American education system, work in committees to speculate on reasons and propose possible solutions for one of these issues, and design campaign posters illustrating the potential outcomes of...
Curated OER
Defining Issues
Students work on a 'campaign committee' to define civic issues that are important to them and their community. They write letters to city officials with proposals for how to address these issues.
Curated OER
Fair Judgment
Learners consider the demands of the judicial process and work in small groups to write editorials in response to the one that is read in class. For homework, they grade a television judge and write reflective essays.
Curated OER
A Good Government Is Hard to Build
Students explore the challenges that Iraqi leaders are facing while working to create a new government. They engage in a class simulation in which they create a new governing council to preside over their school.
Curated OER
Sizing Up The Senate
Students consider Senate leadership by examining specific positions and staging a mock legislative session. They write reflective essays considering the inner workings of the Senate.
Curated OER
Redefining Addiction
Students study about how addiction can have both physiological and behavioral effects. They synthesize their knowledge by creating a sensitivity training session for counselors working with teenagers who are addicted to drugs.
Curated OER
Come On, You Can Trust Me
Fourth graders see how to define and then recognize a variety of propaganda techniques at work in their everyday world. Choosing one technique, they creatively demonstrate a thorough understanding from real world experiences. A very rich...
Curated OER
Exhibiting Hope
Young scholars watch a video clip about the effect of Hurricane Katrina. They examine the challenges that New Orleans still faces a year after the hurricane. They work together in small groups to create a museum exhibit on a topic of...
Curated OER
To Freeze or Not to Freeze
Students examine the non-verbal elements of a theatrical performance. They read an article, answer discussion questions, conduct Internet research, and stage frozen tableaux based on lines from Shakespeare's works.
Curated OER
SHAKESPEARE IN TODAY'S WORLD
Learners, after an introduction to Shakespeare's "Othello," compare/contrast the themes in the play to today's society. In addition, they write their own script for the play of "Othello" based on predictions of what they think will...
Curated OER
Life in Letters
Young scholars explore the relationship between an author's life and their work. Students research the historical and personal events surrounding a Nobel Prize winning author and how they are reflected in the author's writing. They...
Curated OER
When Clay speaks
Learners listen as the teacher reads "When Clay Sings," by Byrd Taylor. They discuss clay, and view a variety of clay items. Students watch a video clip "Interests in One of a Kind Pots." They watch a demonstration on working with clay....
Curated OER
Producing a skit for the morning announcements
Students produce a skit to appear on their morning announcement that is in lined with their franchise topic. For this producing lesson plan, students produce a 2 minute skit including originating, scripting, editing, directing, and...
Curated OER
Conflict in"the Interlopers"
Students read "the Interlopers" and define the four conflicts in the story. In this conflict lesson, students write an original story about three of the four conflicts in the book.
Curated OER
Aztec Myths 1
Students write a diary entry or a letter from the viewpoint of a character in a myth. For this Aztec myths lesson, students define myths and read "The Heart of Copil" and "The Eagle of Tenochtitlan" and find the land of the...
Curated OER
What's All the Fuss about Harry Potter?
Students complete a survey to explore the popularity of Harry Potter books. In this literature and controversy lesson, students examine why certain books are controversial or popular. Students write original plays about their...
Curated OER
Alphabetical Order
In this alphabetical order worksheet, students working in pairs or small groups match up letters of the alphabet to their images. Students then match up letters of the alphabet to market items (a-apples).
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...
National First Ladies' Library
Writing (and Rewriting!) History
Middle schoolers differentiate between fiction and non-fiction, discuss historical fiction, which combines both genres, choose historical novel from list and read independently, and write original short stories that combine elements of...
National First Ladies' Library
Workers, Take a Holiday! the Beginning of Labor Day
When your upper elementary class returns in the fall, have them identify and define the beginnings of the labor movement and Labor Day in the United States. They thoughtfully reflect on changes that have occurred in the way we think...
Curated OER
Halloween
Discover the origins and traditions of Halloween with a crafty lesson plan! Second graders create bats, monsters, witches, and ghosts with masks and puppets. Next, they share their work with their classmates in a fun...