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 lesson, day one...
Curated OER
Moral Development in Camus' The Stranger
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” Readers of The Stranger rate Mersault’s moral development (or lack thereof) using Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development scale. Using...
Curated OER
Knowledge or Instinct? Jack London's "To Build a Fire"
Students closely read " To Build a Fire," to explore the use of narrative point of view and debate the distinction between knowledge and instinct. The elements of literary naturalism and how they relate to Jack London's work is examined...
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
Introduce Vocabulary: Night Shift Daddy (Spinelli)
Do any of your budding readers have parents who work the night shift? Eileen Spinelli's book Night Shift Daddy, which can be found on YouTube if you don't have it, examines this family dynamic in a positive light and is an...
Prestwick House
Into the Wild
Chris McCandless's life, adventures, and untimely death is the subject of Jon Krakauer's nonfiction work, Into the Wild. A thorough crossword puzzle includes quotes, characters, and key details from the book as clues.
Curated OER
Winter of Red Snow
Sixth graders read and respond to historically significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their studies of history and social science. They engage in group projects, such as replicating Valley Forge.
Curated OER
National Gallery of Art: Jackson Pollock
Students paint a picture in the style of Jackson Pollock. In this painting lesson, students learn about Jackson Pollock and the method that he used to create his famous pieces of art. Students use objects other than paintbrushes to...
Curated OER
National Gallery of Art: Leonardo da Vinci
Students study a portrait of Ginevra by Leonardo da Vinci. In this art appreciation lesson, students study this unique double-sided work by Leonardo da Vinci and are asked to create their own double-sided piece of art.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Family Traditions
Honor family traditions with a instructional activity that examines the variety of winter celebrations. Class members discuss their family's traditions then complete a cut-and-paste practice page in which they match a picture to the name...
E Reading Worksheets
Persuasive Writing - Introductory Paragraph Review
Master a well-organized thesis statement with a short activity for a persuasive writing unit. Young writers read five different introductory paragraphs about various topics, find the main ideas addressed in each thesis statement, and jot...
Teacher's Corner
Diamonte (dee-a-MON-tay)
Did you say a diamonte? Ask your young poets to craft and polish this gem of a form poem. The fifth in a series of ten poetry writing exercises.
Curriculum Corner
December Writing Journal
December writing activities galore! With everything from poetry to research to descriptive writing to writing about things that represent December, there's no way you will run out of options.
A to Z Teacher Stuff
Polar Bear Crossword
Show what you know about polar bears with a 10-question crossword puzzle. Questions pertain to a polar bears' habitat, food source, and more!
Curated OER
Understanding Theme with Fables
What is the moral of the story? Ask your class to read a series of fables from which the last line has been removed. After supplying this concluding statement, they must justify their responses. This could be used as an individual or...
Curated OER
MiniZine Writing Project
Pupils write on a chosen topic. Students brainstorm topics and practice writing on the topic using a variety of templates. Pupils print a final work and fold it in half to create a Mini Zine.
Curated OER
Digital Portfolio
In need of a good way to asses the work your art class has been working on all quarter? This quick-and-easy idea has young artists take digital photographs of each of their art pieces in order to create a digital portfolio. This is...
Lycoming College
An Author Study of Jan Brett
Jan Brett, the author of many beloved children's books, is well worth a study. Try out this winter-themed unit, which covers areas of language arts as well as art, math, science, and social studies.
Curated OER
The Ashcan School of Artists
Complete with explanations and many examples of relevant paintings, this presentation takes students through the characteristics of the Ashcan School of Artists. The slides include works by artists such as Everett Shinn, John Sloan, and...
Curated OER
Tug of War Exercise
Learners hone their acting and imagination by playing tug-o-war with an imaginary rope. Each group works together and pretends to pull the other group over the imaginary line with an imaginary rope. This could be a good improve warm up...
Curated OER
Here's an Instant Activity for September 19, 2005
Young writers study similes and then complete a writing activity for similes. They complete a teacher-led activity for similes and then work independently to write sentences using the given similes. A solid lesson!
Curated OER
Shakespeare Play Summaries in Four Words
This online interactive quiz on 10 Shakespeare plays is unlikely to be useful for your class; however, you could use it as a basis for your own assignment that asks class members to come up with four words to describe an entire work. An...
Curated OER
Hand And Foot Print Reindeer
Pupils create reindeer out of paper cut-outs of their own hands and feet in this fun and quick Art activity for the early-elementary classroom. The lesson plan may be accomplished as an individual or small group (partner) project.
Curated OER
Clay Pot Snowmen
Students create "clay pot" snowmen using clay pots, glue, mitten scraps, paints, and markers in this early-elementary Art lesson. The lesson may take 1-2 days depending on the amount of time it takes for the undercoat of each snowman to...