EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: Challenges Bosnian Refugees Faced Fleeing and Finding Home
What challenges did Bosnian refugees face as they fled home during the Bosnian War? Scholars read an interview with four refugees and identify common themes that connect the universal refugee experience. They also engage in a...
EngageNY
Carl Hiaasen’s Perspective of Florida: Part 2
Look it up. Scholars read Florida: A Paradise of Scandals Excerpt 1 and use a dictionary to look up any unfamiliar words. They then do a close read of the text and answer text-dependent questions. Learners analyze author perspective by...
Curated OER
The Ancient Art of Shadow Puppet Plays
Shadow puppetry has an ancient past, it is also a great way to build oral expression and reading fluency. Young thespians research folk tales, compare and contrast reality and fantasy, then create and perform a shadow puppet play based...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: A Guided Tour
Albert Bierstadt's painting Wind River Country shows viewers how a reader progresses through a story. Your class studies the light and dark areas, how the eye moves across the painting, and what attracts the audience to the work, and...
Curated OER
Lesson Ideas for Comparing and Contrasting Content
Here are three lesson ideas to help students learn how to compare and contrast information in any content area
Curated OER
Communities in Crisis Lesson 1: Primary Source? What is That?
Distinguish between primary and secondary source documents using the theme of philanthropy. Middle schoolers discuss Anne Frank: The Diary of Young Girl as a way to study the past using a primary source. Then they investigate how to...
Curated OER
Lesson: Urs Fischer: Controlling our Logic, Metaphors, and Semantics
Kids use poetry and contemporary art to start thinking about logic and personal expression. They read Sylvia Plath's poem "Metaphor," and critically examine the art of Urs Fischer. After working though a few logic problems they write...
Curated OER
Study: Largest Wealth Disparities in 25 Years
The New York Times has produced an article specifically geared to its younger readers. They read an article entitled, "Largest Wealth Disparities in 25 Years" to answer six comprehension questions. They'll be asked who, what, where,...
EngageNY
Writing: Drafting Body Paragraphs and Revising for Language
Begin the drafting phase of the writing process with a lesson plan focused on logically writing three body paragraphs. Then, revise the writing to make it more formal after a teacher-directed mini-lesson plan. Each paragraph highlights...
Anti-Defamation League
Microaggressions In Our Lives
Defining, identifying, and learning how to counter microaggression is the lesson's focus for high schoolers. Learners examine a definition of the term, write about their own experiences with microaggression, watch short video examples,...
EngageNY
Analyzing the Author’s Perspective: “The Shakespeare Shakedown”
Simon Schama's article "The Shakespeare Shakedown" allows young writers to see how authors respond to conflicting viewpoints. Class members participate in discussion appointments with five peers to explore the author's point of view.
Greater Good Science Center
Seeing The Good In Others
Showing gratitude is an intentional act and it's the glue in relationships. That's the big idea in a instructional activity for tween and teens. Scholars leave post-it thank you notes on other's character strength posters that...
Curated OER
An Ideal for Which I Am Prepared to Die
English language learners have an opportunity to closely examine the academic language in portions of Nelson Mandela's famous 1964 Court Speech, "An Ideal for Which I Am Prepared to Die," with a lesson that looks at key passages from the...
Curated OER
Lesson: Urs Fischer: Reviving the Past Art Movements
Seven major abstract art movements are analyzed by learners in groups. Each group analyzes various works by determining which work belongs to which movement. They then read Flatland, engage in an art and literary analysis discussion,...
Curated OER
Compound Words - Two Words In One
Compound words sure do come in handy! For young readers, learning how two words can go together to make one word is a big deal. It's also a confidence builder because they are suddenly able to read "big" words. This sweet presentation...
Novelinks
The Graveyard Book: Concept Analysis
Neil Gaiman's award winning children's fantasy novel, The Graveyard Book, is the focus of a literary analysis overview. Those new to the novel can decide whether the book is appropriate for whole-class discussion or as a book circle...
August House
When Turtle Grew Feathers
Friendship is a valuable part of growing up. Learn about the importance of friendship with a variety of activities based on When Turtle Grew Feathers by Tim Tingle. Kids practice making musical instruments, discussing plot points,...
Genesis Energy
Harnessing Solar Energy
How does additional daylight hours affect people and nature? With the help from the legend Maui and the Sun and a grand conversation, scholars complete a graphic organizer to distinguish between the positive and negative effects that...
Rainforest Alliance
Looking at Leaves
Discover the Colombian rainforest through a presentation that follows a young girl named Chayo. Chayo describes her daily life, exploring the rainforest filled with plants and animals. After getting to know Chayo, scholars go on a nature...
Curated OER
Abigail and John in Love
The second instructional activity in the series asks groups to analyze an exchange of love letters between Abigail and John Adams. Scholars identify the many allusions and references in the letters and consider what they can infer about...
Curated OER
Why did the Homestead Strike turn violent?
Fifth graders practice reading skills while looking at different accounts of The Homestead Strike. In this reading skills lesson, 5th graders practice sourcing, close reading, and corroboration through reading a timeline and primary...
Curated OER
Guided Reading: Family Picnic
Students blend phonemes. In this guided reading instructional activity, students create words by blending isolated phonemes. Students read a book discussing families.
Curated OER
Reading Connected Text Accuracy
Students read a story and make important connections relating to text accuracy. For this reading connected text accuracy lesson plan, students read with their teacher to correctly decode words. Students practice pronunciation of words...
Curated OER
Read Aloud Lesson Plan: Water for One, Water for Everyone
Students listen to a read aloud about African animals as they access a watering hole. They discuss the characteristics of Africa such as the temperature, it distance from the students, and lifestyle of the animals. They talk about how...