Curated OER
Tracing The Origins of Autism: A Spectrum of New Studies
Has the occurrence of autism increased over the years, or do the changes in diagnostic criteria account for the difference? High schoolers read an article about autism spectrum disorders and the related epidemiological studies that have...
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Viewpoint and Persuasive Writing
Practice persuasive writing skills in this thorough lesson. After selecting issues and discovering viewpoints, middle schoolers write letters or brochures created to express the individual's perspective. The ideas are presented to the...
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How Does Who I Am Relate to Employability?
Sixth graders participate in question and answer sessions and develop a skill-based resume. They identify and explain resume-writing situations in which an ethical dilemma may present itself. Finally, 6th graders identify and project the...
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Lean Mean Coping Machine!
Seventh graders apply coping skills to manage life-changing events. They plan and make written, oral and visual presentations for a variety of purposes and audiences, and then exchange information, questions and ideas while recognizing...
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The Sounds of Daydream
Based on the poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by Irish poet William Butler Yeats, this resource is well constructed and guides learners through examining the Yeats poem (rhyme, meter, content) to composing a poem of their own about a...
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Author's Purpose
How do you determine an author’s purpose? You ask the author, of course. Invite a local journalist into the class to respond to scripted student questions about his/her writing process. A review of basic classroom etiquette is also...
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Latin Roots spect, sta, vert: Synonyms and Antonyms
Advanced readers strengthen their vocabulary repertoires by pairing synonyms and antonyms with six words derived from the Latin roots spect, sta, and vert. A word bank of 24 possibilities provides support (each blank has two appropriate...
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Writing a Newspaper Article
The perfect resource for a beginning journalism teacher or someone designing a journalism unit, this activity prompts students to write a newspaper article. It covers all aspects of the writing process, such as a guided warm-up...
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Night: Socratic Questioning Activity
We construct meaning through discussion, so help your readers of Elie Wiesel's work Night with a socratic questioning activity. The strategy is outlined on the first page, and the second page offers some example questions you give to...
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Peter and the Starcatchers: K-W-H-L Strategy
Bookend your study of Peter and the Starcatchers with a KWHL centered around treasure and power. Pupils work in small groups to compile knowledge and questions and then revisit this chart after reading and research.
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The Color Purple: K-W-H-L Strategy
Learners can chart what they know, what they would like to know, how they plan to learn, and what they have learned from Alice Walker's The Color Purple. Using questions about women's rights, kids study the themes of the novel...
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Proofreading with Peer Editing
A standard peer editing activity, young writers get into groups and pass their papers to each of their peers in turn; each person checking their peer's paper for spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes. In a fun twist, your class...
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The Case of Regulation in Cells
After your biologists have learned about transcription, translation, and gene regulation, they work in a small group to create a poster of a system that serves as an analogy of the gene regulation process. They share their creations with...
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A VIP - Present Perfect Simple and Continuous
Here is an interesting way to teach the present perfect and present perfect continuous. Individuals practice these verb tenses as well as the simple past by asking a partner questions about an imaginary biography. The biography...
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Build a Tasty Sandwich
The subject doesn't sound to interesting, but with a child's imagination even a trip to the store can be an adventure. The class writes a narrative story about a trip to the store. They organize their stories to include an introductory...
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Using Each Trait to Improve Student Writing
Students examine examples of the qualities of good writing skills and discuss how each of the traits add to the process of good writing. A variety of excerpts from literature provide samples for the exploration.
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Taxi: A Book Of City Words
First graders engage in a literature study that helps them to focus on the concepts of goods and services. They describe the various skills people may need at home, school, and work. Students create a map of businesses found in the city.
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From Photo to Printed Word: Getting Second-Graders to Write
Use photographs to entice your children to write! In this digital storytelling lesson, students study the functions of digital cameras. They review their sentence-writing skills, then take digital photos and write sentences that describe...
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Writing to a Specific Topic
After a class discussion where learners make predictions about what will happen in a book based on its cover illustration, pupils are asked to compose a written response about an aspect of the story and include some of their own...
Computer Science Unplugged
You Can Say That Again! – Text Compression
Compression, the process computers use to store information, is the focus of a resource that presents two different stories that describe the concept of compression by eliminating repeated letters and replacing them with a...
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum
Harry S. Truman And Korea
Engage the class in researching oral histories and historical revision, in order to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for the sacrifices made by Americans in the Korean War. The inquiry process is scheduled to take one week....
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To Quote or Not to Quote
Introduce your middle and high schoolers to the correct use of quotation marks. They identify examples of correct and incorrect quotations in magazines and edit a paragraph in groups. Use this lesson as a way to reinforce proofreading...
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Many Cultures
Fourth graders study about several aspects of human culture, specifically those in California. They examine California's agriculture, industry, and economic changes; and cultural changes since 1850.
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Unlocking Soliloquies and Unleashing "the Dogs of War"
What is a soliloquy, and who is Julius Caesar? Explore soliloquies with this lesson that gets your kids up and moving! Learners line up, facing each other. Then they read the soliloquy (one side reads one line, and the other side reads...