Newspaper Association of America
Using the Newspaper to Teach the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment
Of all the amendments found in The Bill of Rights, the First Amendment contains some of the most important freedoms for American citizens. A unit plan on the First Amendment features interactive lesson plans designed to teach about those...
Curated OER
The Seven Continents Scavenger Hunt
Who doesn't enjoy an engaging scavenger hunt? Here, scholars listen to, and discuss, the informative text, Where is my Continent? by Robin Nelson. They then explore the seven continents and four major oceans using...
US Department of Energy
Hydrogen and Electrolysis
Electrify your science class with this simple electrolysis experiment. After first reading about hydrogen and its potential as an alternative energy source, a demonstration is performed showing young scientists how water molecules can be...
Pulitzer Center
The Crisis in the Ivory Coast
Through reading a variety of news articles and other informational texts, learners discover the political turmoil and intense ethnic and religious tensions that envelop the Ivory Coast today. Class members research the historical...
Peace Corps
Family
Family traditions are the focus of a instructional activity that explores the lives of children in India and those in your classroom. Scholars examine their own family roles and traditions, then respond to an informative text...
Peace Corps
Community
What is a community? Find out with a lesson that sheds light onto the different types of communities—school, local, and global. Scholars read informational text detailing the life of a young girl from Cape Verde and take part in a...
Civil War Trust
Contrasting the North and South before the War
Learners create a standing cube with four panels that display information on the North and South's economy, geography and climate, society, and means of transportation before the Civil War. Through discussion and reading...
University of Minnesota
Sheep Brain Dissection
Bored with frog and earthworm dissections? Had your fill of fetal pigs? Anatomy students will be intrigued by the sheep's brain, and you will be prepared with guiding questions, extension activities, and pictures as they dissect one —...
Prestwick House
Connotative vs. Denotative Meanings
Besides the dictionary definition, words also carry the added weight of meanings that are inferred or implied, meanings conferred on words, or connotations. To gain an understanding the importance of connotation, class members...
Curated OER
Author's Purpose
A simple activity for young readers, this introduces the idea of author purpose. Learners analyze various types of texts (newspaper articles, magazines, books, advertisements, etc.) and determine if the author's purpose for writing was...
Curated OER
Writing Process-- Revision and Editing
As guided practice, class members work together to revise a model persuasive paragraph. Then they practice independently with their own writing. The included rubric looks at prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, nonfiction text...
Curated OER
The Tug Says Uhh!
Kindergarteners and first graders discover the /u/ sound! After practicing making the sound with the funny tongue twister, youngsters use their Elkonin letterboxes to divide a set of words into their phonemes. Then pairs read Bud...
Curated OER
Comparative Religions: Islam
Engage theologians through online text resources during this comparative religions activity. Designed to interact with the online Glencoe text World History, there are many free tools on this site that stand alone. Scholars read the...
Curated OER
Movement
Students experiment and explore a variety of instruments and movements. They play rhythms on instruments, spell words using their bodies, act out the movements of a song, role-play machine parts as a group, pantomime an activity, and...
Curated OER
The 5 W's
Examine how to answer who, what, when, where, and why when reading text. Young writers listen to the story Skeleton Hiccups, and as a class answer and discuss the five W's. Independently they read the story silently, and write the...
Curated OER
The King of the Birds vocabulary
Science and language skills come together in The King of the Birds. After reading, discuss the names and types of birds in the story and write given sentences to portray the difference between comparative and superlative adjectives....
Curated OER
Writing a Summary
Skim, reread, and then take notes. The step-by-step procedure outlined in this resource can be used to help pupils write a summary of a reading passage. Using their notes, class members then draft a summary focusing on the main idea and...
Curated OER
Spider "How To" Make a Spider
Young chefs follow the set-by-step instructions of a recipe and use their prior knowledge of the body parts of a spider to make edible spider cookies. After completing a pre-writing graphic organizer they then write a "how to"...
PBS
Their Eyes Were Watching God: Socratic Seminar
A Socratic seminar wraps-up a study of Zora Neale Hurston' Their Eyes were Watching God. Using the text and their notes, scholars focus on how characters in the novel accept or reject the societal norms of the times.
Curated OER
Finding Self-Reliance
Fourth graders relate what is read to their own experiences and feelings and use active listening to respond to other students' comments. After a lecture/demo, 4th graders utilize an Active Listening Chart imbedded in this plan to gain...
Curated OER
Get a Leg Up
Traveling through space is an amazing experience, but it definitely takes a toll on the body. After reading an article and watching a brief video, learners perform an experiment that simulates the effects of zero gravity on the...
Curated OER
Analyzing Verb Use: Part 2
With the Wordle ap in one hand, and their favorite writing piece in the other, 3rd graders analyze their verb usage. They select a piece they have written, type it into Wordle, then analyze their word choices and alter them using synonyms.
Curated OER
The Kite Runner: Cloze Procedure
A passage from Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner is the text for a cloze reading activity designed to determine the comprehension skills of class members. The resource includes the worksheet, an answer key, and step-by-step directions.
University of Chicago
Addressing Stereotypes
How is a stereotype defined, and what are some mechanisms we can use to combat negative stereotyping? Your young historians will discuss how and why stereotyping occurs, as well as consider the roots of modern conceptions of...