Curriculum Corner
Sports of All Sorts
Do your students love sports? Do they love math and reading? If the first answer is yes and the second is no, a resource with sports-themed math and literacy games may change their minds! Learners move through stations to practice...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
The Declaration of Independence
Your class can write a PSA about the Declaration of Independence! They write public service announcements and present them to the class. They also engage in reading and discussion activities to further understand a challenging—yet...
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Funny Epitaph Poem
What can happen if you eat too much cafeteria food? Or wear dirty clothes every day? Or talk back to your mother? Use a lesson on humorous poems as a way for students to practice silly rhymes as fictional epitaphs.
ProCon
Net Neutrality
Should net neutrality be restored? Scholars prepare for a class debate on the topic using the included website. After reading a brief introduction to the issue, they review the main pros and cons in an attempt to arrive at an informed...
Tumblehome
Resisting Scientific Misinformation
How do scholars determine if a scientific claim is true? Learners investigate scientific misinformation by watching video clips and reading false advertising claims. They engage in discussion in both class and small group settings to...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 6
How do authors use rhetorical devices and word choice to emphasize their ideas? Pupils consider the question while reading paragraphs 16–19 from Julia Alvarez's essay "A Genetics of Justice." Readers engage in evidence-based discussion...
EngageNY
Grade 10 ELA Module 2: Unit 2, Lesson 7
"No flies fly into a closed mouth." Pupils consider the proverb's meaning as they read paragraphs 20–22 from the essay "A Genetics of Justice" by Julia Alvarez. They also engage in small-group discussions about how the author refines her...
PBS
Cesar Chavez: Labor Leader and Civil Rights Activist
Cesar Chavez believed so much in the cause of farmworkers that he put his money where his mouth was. Chavez quit his well-paying job to organize them into labor unions. Using a speech, photograph, and short biographical video, pupils...
PBS
Primary Source Set: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
What did Jo write her stories with? How did the March sisters dress? A primary source set designed for Louisa May Alcott's Little Women prompts learners to look over images of household items and clothes from the 1860s before...
National WWII Museum
Communities at War: Reading Primary Sources Imaginatively
Uncle Sam wants you to support the troops. Learners use an engaging lesson plan to analyze primary and secondary sources to discover what life was really like for American citizens at home during WWII. Pupils complete...
Lexington Children's Theatre
Play Guide: A Charlie Brown Christmas
What's your favorite seasonal tradition? Before viewing a stage production of A Charlie Brown Christmas, language arts students explore the music and literary themes of the story. After they have watched the show, learners compare...
EngageNY
Analyzing the Content of a Model Essay: “How Ha’s Mother Is Turned ‘Inside Out’”
What are the psychological and emotional effects associated with being a refugee? Scholars consider the question by reading and analyzing an essay, "How Ha's Mother is Turned 'Inside Out.'" Once finished, they engage in a whole-class...
EngageNY
Close Reading: Paragraphs 2 and 3 of “Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison” and Introducing the NYS Expository Writing Rubric
What factors make adaptation successful for refugee and immigrant children? The class explores the topic by reading two paragraphs from "Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison." Next, they engage in a think-pair-share to discuss...
EngageNY
Introducing Final Performance Task and Analyzing Statistics
How do statistics help people understand the universal refugee experience? Using the resource, scholars engage in an activity called a Chalk Talk, working in teams to analyze statistics from informational texts about refugees. Also, they...
Steve Spangler Science
Boo Bubbles Bouncing Smoke – Dry Ice Bubbles Experiment
Don't let your lesson plans go up in smoke—unless they include Boo Bubbles, of course! An engaging laboratory mixes liquid soap and dry ice to create smoky bubbles that burst on impact, making it the perfect way to celebrate Halloween in...
EngageNY
Writing and Argument Essay: Peer Critique with Rubric (Chapters 29-31, Including Synthesis of Scenes in Previous Chapters)
Hungry? Try a quote sandwich! Writers discover the concept of using a quote sandwich to introduce and analyze a quote in an argumentative essay properly. Additionally, pupils engage in peer critiques, analyzing each other's drafts and...
EngageNY
Analyzing Character and Theme: Tracking Control in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Scholars examine how characters try to control one another in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. They engage in a read-aloud and class discussion to iron out ideas. They also work in small groups to complete a note-catcher...
Province of Manitoba
Leadership Skills
Pupils engage in a think-pair-share to identify the characteristics of effective leadership. Scholars also complete questionnaires to determine their personal leadership styles.
EngageNY
End of Unit 3 Assessment: On-Demand Writing— Photograph and Song Choices for a Film
Ready, set, write! Every great film begins with a script, and every presentation starts with a plan. Directors use their research and experience to compose an essay explaining the rationale behind their film's musical and visual choices...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Research Simulation
As part of a mid-unit assessment, scholars complete a research simulation about food deserts to mimic the research process. Afterward, they engage in a think-pair-share to discuss what they've learned throughout the unit.
EngageNY
Building Background Knowledge: The Lost Boys of Sudan
Get deep! Teach scholars how to make connections between texts to deepen their understanding of a topic. Using the resource, pupils read and annotate a short informational text about Sudan's Civil War and refugee crisis. Next, they...
American Battlefield Trust
Preserving Battlefields
Save that site! Budding historians go on a rescue mission to save important Civil War battle sites using a project-based lesson plan. After carefully researching the importance of critical engagements and evaluating current threats,...
EngageNY
Final Performance Task: Character Confessional Narrative
You wrote it, now what? Learners take their writing to the next level when they perform it for classmates. They then engage in a self-reflection and assessment of their work to determine how well they hit targets, such as identifying...
Radford University
Geyser Graphical Activity
Thar she blows! An engaging activity teaches pupils about geysers. They first read information about the Strokkur geyser in Iceland and analyze data on its eruptions by creating multiple data representations. Once finished, they research...