Curated OER
Colonial Writing Project
Fourth graders write from the perspective of a child in the colonial period. In this writing lesson, 4th graders create a fictional character living in the colonial period and write about daily life from their perspective.
Curated OER
Women in History: Research for Expository Writing
After reading an excerpt from Amelia Earhart's autobiography, The Fun of It, learners explore various nonfiction resources about her life and write a short newspaper article on a specific event. They then develop a longer piece of...
Curated OER
Poems Put to Use
Students listen to sample poetry recitations. They discuss times when poetry might be used in real-life situations to move/motivate other people or audiences. They identify particularly moving passages and then quote them effectively to...
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Kindness Graffiti Wall
Students discuss acts of kindness. In this character education lesson, students use a large sheet of poster paper, tempera paint, and markers to create a graffiti wall. Students write down their ideas of kindness and share their wall...
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Heaven or Ground Hog Day?
Students discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical lesson, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....
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A New Look at Romeo and Juliet
Students explore life and language development in the Elizabethan Age. In this English lesson students complete web-quests and other activities surrounding Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
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A Nero Wolfe Mystery
Discuss a Nero Wolfe mystery on brining criminals to justice. Secondary students will read the book A Nero Wolfe Mystery: The Doorbell Rang. They then will watch the movie depicting this story and answer discussion questions. There are...
Curated OER
I & M Canal: Technological, Economic
High schoolers read about and discuss the reasons European countries were interested in the Ohio Valley. They complete a puzzle to review vocabulary and watch a video on the Illinois Prairie and the I & M Canal. They rewrite the...
Curated OER
Building Friendships
Students engage in four separate friendship-building activities. They develop social skills and ethical responsibility by role playing and interacting with each other through reading, art, music and dance.
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Best Part of Me
Young scholars find the best part of their body. In this positive self-concept lesson, students listen to the story The Best Part of Me. They come up with their best feature and write a poem about it.
Curated OER
Narrative Writing--The Hobbit
Hobbits, dwarfs, wizards, trolls, and goblins. Readers track these fantastic creatures through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit noting passages of character description and habitats. Using specific passages from the novel, class...
Orange County Department of Education
Integrity and "Thank You, M'am"
Ninth graders explore the definition of integrity through a class discussion. They provide positive/negative examples from the story and their own experiences. Students determine character traits by analyzing the dialogue in a short...
Orange County Department of Education
Dear Mr. Henshaw
Fifth graders read Dear Mr. Henshaw and identify the character trait of self-respect as exhibited by Leigh throughout the story. They evaluate the author's use of letters to tell the story and discuss how the story would be different if...
Curated OER
Stick Your Neck Out
Students research stories of teens who care using a website embedded in the lesson. In this character education lesson, students read about students who performed philanthropic acts and discuss the projects that most influenced them.
Curated OER
What Is a Promise?
Students brainstorm the definition of honesty. In this honesty lesson plan, students read Ostrich Egg Wife and discuss events in the story relating to honesty and breaking a promise. Students explore ways the main character showed he was...
Curated OER
Caring Makes a Difference
Learners define caring. For this character education lesson, students examine the attributes of compassion as they read a folktale and discuss plans to help those less fortunate than themselves.
Curated OER
Rotten Ralph's Rules
Start by predicting what kind of character Ralph must be in the book Rotten Ralph. Then, read the book with your youngsters. After reading, provide each learner with the attached handout, having them write two rules to help Ralph be...
Curated OER
Types of Literature
Explore a short piece of French literature with intermediate French scholars. Either assign readers to each character, or divide the class into groups to give the story some life. There's a student task sheet included as well, although...
Orange County Department of Education
Integrity and a Boy Called Slow
Fifth graders identify the character trait of integrity in the main character, Slow, in "A Boy Called Slow." They participate in a discussion to determine what steps the main character took to earn his new name. Students write an essay...
Orange County Department of Education
Katie's Trunk
Fifth graders read the story of "Katie's Trunk". They identify the traits of integrity and fairness in the characters John Warren and Katie. Students explore how people can experience the same event but interpret it differently. They...
Curated OER
Trustworthiness
Sixth graders evaluate trustworthiness in others. In this character education lesson plan, 6th graders brainstorm items that are trustworthy, and then list attributes of trustworthy friends. Then students read a story to evaluate the...
Curated OER
Reader Book Review Sample: The Last Loon
A 5th grader's review of Rebecca Upjohn's book The Last Loon is useful as an example and the questions she answers would make good template material for your class to review books they're reading as well. Resource is part of a mom's site...
Curated OER
Refusing to Budge
Middle schoolers explore fair play. For this character education lesson, students examine being fair in decision-making as they participate in role plays and read The Zax.
Orange County Department of Education
The Lost and Found
Third graders explain the definition of integrity and respect and provide examples from the story The Lost and Found's characters and their own lives that illustrate both. They describe in their journals why and how they think Wendell...