Curated OER
Divided We Stand
Students research historic issues and events that have divided Americans in the past. They assess the division in American society shown by the 2000 presidential election by writing from the perspectives of people who have seen other...
Curated OER
Helping the Adolescent Cope with Family Life
Students are introduced to the proper ways to deal with conflict at home. In groups, they define family based on what it means to them and identify factors that lead to a breakdown in communications. They participate in role-playing...
Curated OER
Seeing Things From the Someone Else's Point of View
Young scholars examine the cultural trait of sharing, trying to view it from the point of view of someone in another culture. They question what we gain from trying to see the world from the perspective of another person or culture and...
EngageNY
Writing Interview Questions
And now for the star witness! Scholars take a look at a model newspaper article and discuss the importance of eyewitness accounts. In groups of three, they take turns underlining text from eyewitnesses. They then regroup to talk about...
Advocates for Human Rights
The Rights of Migrants in the United States Lesson Plan: Fleeing for Your Life
A role-playing scenario has middle-schoolers imagining that they are refugees forced to flee their community and integrate into a new one. Then, some play the roles of members of the new community and the class brainstorms ideas about...
Curated OER
The Four Freedoms
Seventh graders consider the freedoms they hold dear. In this historical perspectives lesson, 7th graders identify 4 freedoms that they have and then compare them to the listed freedoms in Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech.
Curated OER
LOU GEHRIG: THE IRON HORSE
Sixth graders review with the teacher from what person the story is written in and how they have reached that conclusion. They brainstorm ten qualities that Gehrig possessed and create a statement that describes him; giving three...
Curated OER
Security Is...
Students brainstorm examples of how they have heard or seen the word "security" used. Examples might include: security blanket, Social Security, security deposit, or security guards. They create a class list of responses, then create a...
Curated OER
Elements of Fiction
The metaphor of a pot of soup and a series of colorful templates remind young writers of the elements that make for a rich story. Pepper the plot with carrot/character, potato/point of view, corn/conflict, tomato/theme, and season with...
Book Units Teacher
Story Elements
This 97-slide PowerPoint uses Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows, and Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember, to illustrate the elements of a story. Setting, plot, characterization (both flat and...
Premier Literacy
Point of View
Incorporate technology into a literature lesson with an innovative language arts lesson. Middle schoolers read an electronic version of original stories or fairy tales, and after determining the point of view, rewrite the tale from a...
National Endowment for the Arts
Reader Resources: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A handy guide offers high schoolers support as they read the American novel, The Great Gatsby. Complete with a biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald, a timeline of the Roaring Twenties, discussion questions about the novel, and more, this...
Curated OER
What Makes a Novel a Novel?
They always say to write what you know. This approach is used to get middle schoolers prepared to write novels of their own. Using a favorite book as a model, potential novelists respond to prompts that ask about characters, plot, main...
Curated OER
Author's Day
Have your learners choose an author to study. One resource link gives a list of approved authors. Scholars read at least three works produced by that author and produce three separate book reports as well as a two-page author report....
Curated OER
The Right Point of View
Helping students identify and apply point of view in reading and writing.
Curated OER
Setting Up Camp
Draw on what learners know about conflict resolution and the situation in the Middle East to build understanding of the Camp David summit meeting beginning on July 11, 2000. They develop an understanding of the functions of summit...
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Narrative Prompt
Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...
Cornell University
Constructing and Visualizing Topographic Profiles
Militaries throughout history have used topography information to plan strategies, yet many pupils today don't understand it. Scholars use Legos and a contour gauge to understand how to construct and visualize topographic profiles. This...
Newspaper Association of America
Cereal Bowl Science and Other Investigations with the Newspaper
What do cereal, fog, and space shuttles have to do with newspapers? A collection of science investigations encourage critical thinking using connections to the various parts of the newspaper. Activities range from building origami seed...
Syracuse City School District
Literary Elements
Address the literary elements in a piece of writing using these materials. The packet includes plenty of resources, and focuses mainly on theme, character, and point of view, with some materials for setting, symbolism, and author's...
EngageNY
Reviewing Visual Elements of a Graphic Novel: Max Axiom
Pass the tea! Using the resource, scholars participate in a Tea Party protocol to analyze text and images about inventions that helped meet societal demands. After sharing their observations with each other, they discuss visual elements...
NOAA
Coastal Dynamics
Life's a beach! The 16th installment of a 23-part NOAA Enrichment in Marine sciences and Oceanography (NEMO) program first examines different types of coasts and how they form. An activity then has learners investigate the shoreline...
Curated OER
Have You Heard About the Clinton, New Jersey Story?
Students role play one of the three given situations. They discover how to deal with a conflict in a positive way. They discuss the role of radon in their community and complete another role-play scenerio.
Curated OER
Story Webbing: Tennessee Blueprint
In this Tennessee Blueprint worksheet, 6th graders complete a story web for Tennessee Blueprint including setting, characters, point of view, and more. Students complete 9 sections.