Curated OER
The Odyssey Lesson 6
"How are belief systems represented and reproduced through nature?" This essential question guides lesson 6 of this unit on The Odyssey (the rest of the unit is linked). Students first write about a scenario in which they are...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan for "Little Red Riding Hood"
Grow young performers with storytelling. Elementary schoolers listen to the story "Little Red Riding Hood" by Mike Lockett, highlighting dialogue as they listen, and then act out the story. This is based on a story told by Mike Lockett...
Curated OER
Ray Bradbury Short Stories - Independent Reading Activity
A straightforward lesson about the themes in Ray Bradbury's short stories, this activity allows learners to first work independently and then share their analyses with the class. They read "The Other Foot" as well as another story from...
Curated OER
Connotation: Three Lessons for Effective Word Choice
Over the course of three days, middle schoolers explore the concept of connotation. They differentiate between the connotative and denotative meanings of sports team names, develop their own team names, logos, and text, and revise a news...
Curated OER
Esperanza Rising: Lesson 2
Sixth graders explore adversity. In this summarizing lesson students compare their culture to the Hispanic culture. Students reflect on a time they were met with adversity. Students summarize Chapter 1 of Esperanza Rising.
Curated OER
Writing Lesson Plan
Third graders will create a postcard in order to improve reading and writing skills. They will track the pretend progress of a postcard to a destination. The learner will access the resource of the post office and realize its importance...
Curated OER
Stellaluna Lesson: Increase Oral Language Development and Story Comprehension
To be used with the BRAIDY system, this activity works to increase oral language and reading comprehension. Special needs pupils review parts of a story, sequence of events, and create a Venn diagram showing the differences between birds...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 7: The Elements of Story
Budding novelists work on character development by relating to the characters in their stories. They imagine their own hopes and dreams and recall those of characters from books they've read. Learners also consider struggles the...
Curated OER
Read My Expression
Pupils create a facial expression in clay using slabs of clay and coils that convey a feeling inspired by a poem in this excellent cross-curricular lesson suitable for the Laqnguage Arts or Art classroom. National Standards met during...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan - The Barbara Frietchie Story – Fact or Fiction?
Middle schoolers differentiate between fact and legend. In this Barbara Freitchie lesson, students read poetry and non-fiction accounts regarding the story of Freitchie. Middle schoolers analyze the story of the American patriot to...
Curated OER
Validating Votes
Explore the discrepancies in Florida's vote counting process in 2000 and 2002 with this New York Times reading lesson. Middle schoolers study the viewpoints presented in informational text, paying attention to how word choice can...
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 12
Class members compare the final 30 minutes of Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope with Act V of Doescher's play, William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope and consider how the choice of media influences viewers' impression...
EngageNY
Reading for Gist and Analyzing Point of View: Moon Shadow
Character analysis isn't always earth-shattering. Using a graphic organizer, pupils analyze Moon Shadow's point of view following the earthquake in Laurence Yep's Dragonwings. Also, scholars co-create an anchor chart showing the...
Curated OER
Local Motives
Investigate current local elections across the United States with this New York Times reading lesson. Using informational text, middle and high schoolers research local elections and create their own news reports about what they...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Poet's Voice: Langston Hughes and You
Middle schoolers complete a unit of lessons that explore the poetic voice of Langston Hughes. They define voice, read and analyze various poems by Langston Hughes, and complete journal entries for each instructional activity.
Curated OER
Reflection
The tenth lesson in the 12-part poetry unit asks seventh graders to reflect on their learning about poetry and share their work with other poets.
Star Wars in the Classroom
"Shakespeare and Star Wars": Lesson Plan Day 4
Class members have an opportunity to compare how a film and a play handle the same source material by viewing the opening chapters of George Lucas's Star Wars: A New Hope and acts I and II of Ian Doescher's play, William...
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Fractured Nursery Rhyme
Scholars take a popular song or nursery rhyme and make it their own as they write a fractured nursery rhyme. Writers seek out a nursery rhyme's rhyming words and change them to create an original poem.
Teaching Tolerance
Picture Books
Aspiring artists and budding writers combine their skills in an interactive lesson. Young scholars become authors when they create their own picture books focused on social justice. The resource guides learners through the writing and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The World of Haiku
Learners complete a study of Japanese culture through haiku. They read and interpret haiku poetry and write haiku of their own.
Curated OER
The Iditarod Race Compared with the Movie, Iron Will
Feel the freezing rush of an Alaskan sled dog race in this reading lesson. Using research about the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, seventh graders compare and contrast the depiction in the movie Iron Will. The lesson lasts for seven days...
E Reading Worksheets
Idioms
This idiom worksheet will give your reluctant grammarians a change of heart about figurative language. Scholars read 15 sentences and then write the meaning of the idiom and the sentence in the space provided.
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to the Works of John Green
The novels of John Green cover the gamut of teenager emotions. A guide to his works provides classroom lesson plans for the novels Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, The Fault in Our Stars, and Paper Towns. Each lesson...
All for KIDZ
The Orphan of Ellis Island
Everyone comes from somewhere. An interdisciplinary lesson on Elvira Woodruff's The Orphan of Ellis Island includes discussion starter and writing prompts for the novel, as well as a graphic organizer to help learners begin their...