Curated OER
Primary Sources and Protagonists: A Native American Literature Unit
Introduce your middle schoolers to the lives of past Native Americans. First, learners work together to put photographs in a sequence. Then, using their sequence, they create stories to share with the whole class. No matter how old your...
Curated OER
Save a Reef!
Design a public information campaign to improve understanding of the coral reef crisis. Read about and discuss the biology and threats to the coral reef. The class creates a public information program about the problems facing the coral...
Curriculum Corner
ELA Common Core Checklists for K-6
In the hustle and bustle of life in the classroom, it's easy for teachers to lose track of the standards they have taught, and those that still need to be addressed. This Common Core checklist provides educators with an easy-to-use...
Curated OER
Navajo Code Talkers
An engaging lesson focuses on the contributions of the Navajo people during World War II. Learners read the book Navajo Code Talkers by Andrew Santella, answer a series of comprehension questions about the text, and write a letter...
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 17: Obituary
The Cay has been criticized by groups such as the Council on Interracial Books for Children because of the way race is portrayed. Explore the argument against the book while taking the author's perspective into account. Class members...
Curated OER
Reading the Movies: Another Approach To Teaching Critical Thinking Skills And Writing
Students explore the elements of film to analyze character, action, and the themes in the movie, "Quiz Show." The lesson encourages students to make personal connections and real life applications as they view the movie, critically.
Curated OER
The Seasonal Round and The Cycle of Life
Fourth graders are introduced to the concept of the seasonal round and how folklife traditions vary from season to season. They begin charting dates of personal interest on seasonal round calendars by starting with birthdays. Students...
Curated OER
Gandhi's Life and Guiding Principles
Second graders investigate philosophy by researching the life of Mahatma Gandhi. In this biographical instructional activity, 2nd graders listen to a reading of the book "Gandhi" and make a character map of his actions, feelings...
Curated OER
Museums in the Classroom Pumpkin Project
Students identify the 5 stages in the life cycle of a pumpkin. They create a model showing the correct order of pumpkin life stages. They explain a pumpkin's life cycle to a partner, using their model.
Curated OER
See how They Grow: Butterfly
Young scholars view butterflies and participate in a butterfly activity to learn needed vocabulary. In this butterfly life cycle lesson, students access prior knowledge of butterflies. Young scholars listen to a butterfly life...
Curated OER
Guided Reading: Desert Life
First graders read a book with the teacher while encountering unfamiliar words and learning how to use context clues and visual clues to understand the material. In this reading comprehension lesson, 1st graders...
Curated OER
Cruzin' to the Arctic
Learners, in groups, study life in the Arctic Region and connect their own life experiences to the experiences of students in the Arctic.
Curated OER
Walking by the Wall: A Virtual Trip to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Students study about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. They express and share their thoughts and attitudes toward wars. They listen to a picture book about the Wall and read an introductory text about the Vietnam
Shakespeare Uncovered
Suits of Woe: Grief and Loss in Hamlet
“Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die/Passing through nature to eternity.” Grief, and the response to grief and loss, is the focus of a series of activities that uses Hamlet as a launchpad. Groups examine Act I, scene ii to...
All for KIDZ
Building Relationships: The Orphan of Ellis Island
Family and friendship are two very important themes of the historical fiction novel The Orphan of Ellis Island by Elvira Woodruff. From video clips and writing prompts to reader's theater and family interviews, this resource...
Curated OER
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Problematic Situation
Present your pupils with some moral dilemmas to examine. The scenarios, which learners rank by seriousness individually and then in groups, require learners to think about right and wrong.
Novelinks
The Book Thief: Concept Analysis
Designed for teachers who plan on using Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, this packet includes background information about the author, themes addressed in and issues raised by the novel, a list of research and project ideas, and...
Prestwick House
A Long Way Gone
The memoir A Long Way Gone tells the story of a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. A crossword puzzle helps reinforce key ideas found in the memoir. The puzzle addresses characters, key events, and other details...
Curated OER
Life Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly
Third graders access prior knowledge of the monarch butterfly and discuss what they would like to know. In this Monarch Butterfly lesson,students read Monarch Butterfly and discuss the life cycle of the butterfly. Students gather...
Curated OER
A Life Without Flight
Students explore impact of Ohio's aviation pioneers on life in America, discuss what life today would be like without people like the Wright Brothers, John Glenn, and Neil Armstrong, and brainstorm and research list of items that space...
Curated OER
A Colony is Born : Lesson 6 -To Leave or Not to Leave
Fifth graders connect reasons for coming to the New World with identity. The create identities and place them in one of three settled regions. They refer to prior study notes in their Colonial Notebooks to establish their identities.
Curated OER
The Road to California - A Journey to Freedom
Students complete a Web quest about Biddy Mason's journey Westward to California as a slave and her ultimate rise to one of the wealthiest and generous woman of the Westward Movement. They present an exhibit of their research.
Curated OER
First Grade Goes to the Zoo
First graders summarize their trip to the zoo. In this summarizing lesson plan, 1st graders will study animals that they may see at the zoo including their characteristics and habitats. Once the trip is done, they create a word document...
Curated OER
The Tell-Tale Heart
Bring Edgar Allan Poe's spooky story to life! After reading the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart," middle and high schoolers identify the theme, character traits, irony, and other story concepts. During pre-reading, they take notes,...