Curated OER
How to Write a Summary of a Book
Students explore ways to write book summaries. For this summary writing lesson, students discover the steps for writing summaries of fictional books.
Curated OER
Nonfiction Lessons That Motivate
Incorporating nonfiction lessons into literature instruction can be interesting and engaging for all students.
Curated OER
Mystery Eggs
Students investigate the properties of plastic eggs filled with solids, liquids, and gases and use these observations to hypothesize whether a chicken egg is hard-boiled or raw.
Curated OER
New York City Delights: The Taxi Cab
You set the rate! Step into the shoes of a taxi driver in New York City, and also pretend to be a person who uses taxis to get around town. The class will conduct collaborative research to learn about the history of taxis. Then, they...
Cornell University
Fibers, Dyes, and the Environment
Nanofibers can be made through electrospinning or force spinning in order to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Pupils study the role of fibers and dye on the environment through a series of five hands-on activities. Then,...
Center Science Education
Tracking Hurricane News
Here is a unique twist for your lesson on hurricanes. After examining extreme weather news headlines, your storm chasers view a PowerPoint about hurricanes and then zoom in on Hurricane Irene. They map a timeline of her trek up the East...
Curated OER
Ornithology and Real World Science
Double click that mouse because you just found an amazing lesson! This cross-curricular Ornithology lesson incorporates literature, writing, reading informational text, data collection, scientific inquiry, Internet research, art, and...
Curated OER
What's Special About Nonfiction?
Students examine the difference between nonfiction and fictional writing. They identify the characteristics of nonfiction literature and examine how a nonfiction textbook organizes information.
Curated OER
Finding Promise in Compromise
Examine how the 'safe passage' for Palestinians between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank affects those living in Israel and reflects both conflict and cooperation between the Israelis and Palestinians. The class compares the perspective...
Curated OER
Information Shuffle
Gather some information, print it onto sentence strips, and then have your class physically shuffle the cards to better understand the importance of organizational patterns in writing. Middle school learners examine information for a...
Curated OER
Can Scientists Discover a Limit to Discovery?
Is there anything left to discover? Evaluate opposing sides of the debate regarding whether or not there is a future for scientific discovery. Middle and high schoolers assess quotations from the articles included to evaluate claims and...
Curated OER
Puberty/Adolescence, Day 2: "Who AM I? Where Am I Going?"
A great unit! There is a lot of content that is personal so make sure you have created a safe zone in your classroom before doing this lesson. It will have much more meaning if your learners share their life with others in the class....
Curated OER
Life Cycle of a Butterfly: Kidspiration
Second graders view a video about butterflies and recall its life cycle. They will also complete a Kidspiration slide show to illustrate the life cycle of a butterfly and study a word list of butterfly vocabulary to include in their...
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day instructional...
Minnesota Literacy Council
Scientific Method
Here is a resource with a descriptive approach to explaining the scientific method. It's simple, but effective for both introduction and reinforcement of this concept.
Curated OER
"Old 300"
Fourth graders combine art and history to assess the importance of the "Old 300." They explore a group of colonists that Stephen F. Austin brought to Texas as the first settlers and then create a time line of major events leading to the...
Curated OER
Cinderella Around the World
Fourth graders compare and contrast different versions of the fairy tale of "Cinderella" around the World. They find the difference and similarities of the different versions that exist of Cinderella fairy tales.
Curated OER
Where Will I Go and What Will I Be?
Help your future college graduates prepare for higher education with this series of lessons. High schoolers complete research projects about the colleges they would like to attend, and create PowerPoint presentations about their careers...
Curated OER
Let's Put You in a Louisiana University
Considering a college search project? After picking a possible career choice, and determining if that career needs a technical college or university education, individuals examine a wide variety of sources and select three schools...
Denver Art Museum
Tea Gathering Quick-Write
Japanese tea gatherings are the inspiration for a great activity. Learners are provided with an image of a tea caddy made for thick tea and asked to describe what they notice and what that might mean. This leads into a larger activity...
Curated OER
Knowledge or Instinct? Jack London's "To Build a Fire"
Students examine the relationship of man and nature in "To Build a Fire" and discuss the juxtaposition of knowledge and instinct. They investigate third person, omniscient point of view.
Curated OER
Puberty/Adolescence, Day 4: "Will I Fit in?"
What are healthy friendships? What makes a friendship unhealthy? There are several worksheets for your high schoolers to do to answer some of these questions and more about their friends and ideas about friendship. Inspire some great...
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1
Translate the first speaking and listening standard for yourself and your ninth and tenth graders! Learners can focus on communicating in small groups with the two activities presented here. Both activities center around group creation...
Curated OER
Poetry Project
Choosing a poet or a theme, eighth graders conduct research in the world of poetry. They conduct Internet research and select five poems that fit their poet or theme, and create a seven slide PowerPoint presentation on their selected...