Curated OER
Descriptive Prompt: Precise Language
Incorporate sensory details into a piece of descriptive writing. First, elementary and middle schoolers improve a piece of writing by using precise, vivid language, as well as appropriate word choice. They then listen to a variety of...
ESL Holiday Lessons
Christmas Day
Celebrary the holiday season fluently with a packet designed for English learners. The resource includes reading comprehension, spelling, scrambled sentences, and writing worksheets focused around Christmas.
Curated OER
Creating a Collage
Fifth graders identify and describe the characteristics of collages. They familiarize themselves with the history of collage making. They select pictures from magazines that relate to their chosen word of the week. They design a collage.
Curated OER
Outline a Travel Narrative
Fourth graders are taught how to outline a fictional narrative essay. They review the definition and structure of narrative essays. Students use the activity to brainstorm specific ideas for narrative essays. They are given a...
Curated OER
Photo Essay
Young scholars examine the process of writing a photo essay. They examine and select a personal photo or photo from a magazine, and brainstorm a story that can go with the photo. They identify an emotion to go with their picture, then...
Curated OER
I spy (Camouflaged Animals in Art!)
Students create a picture of a camouflaged animal in its habitat. In this visual arts lesson, students look at Hans Hoffmann's painting A Hare in the Forest and discuss the animal's camouflage. They research their own animal to...
Curated OER
Finding Main Ideas
Elementary schoolers read paragraphs one at a time in order to pick out the main ideas. They choose which sentences are most important in a paragraph. This type of exercise prepares learners to identify the main idea in longer narratives.
Curated OER
Where Are You Coming From?
Pupils examine and discuss author's purpose and the influence of an author's perspective in his or her writing. In groups, they read scenarios and respond to them from the perspective of a designated character. Materials are attached.
Curated OER
"Size 6: The Western Women's Harem" by Fatema Mernissi
Intended for a mature, advanced placement audience, this set of questions accompanies an essay by Fatema Mernissi regarding clothing size and the possible implications for not fitting in with what is considered the norm. A very...
K20 LEARN
Hooking Your Reader
Hook your class into inquiry-based, hands-on learning with a activity on narrative leads. Pupils research different types of hooks and decide which one to use in their own writing. Carefully scaffolded to include all learners, the...
Curated OER
Answering Literal Comprehension Questions
Practice using the Turn the Question Around (TQA) method to answer reading comprehension questions based on short narrative paragraphs. Instructions and materials are included for direct, guided, and independent instruction. Responses...
Museum of Tolerance
Oral History Activity
Oral history has brought a multitude of lessons, stories, and factoids to our current knowledge of the past. Let us continue to use oral history traditions through a lesson that encourages pupils to discover and appreciate...
Museum of Tolerance
Artifact Research Activity
Artifacts give us the privilege of learning about the past, may it be family, culture, or traditions. Here, class members learn about their family's past with the help of an artifact, or family heirloom. Once an artifact is...
Nebraska Department of Education
Personal Roadmap
Sometimes you need a map to get to your destination. High schoolers list 10 short and long terms goals and personal assets they have that will help them achieve these goals. They then craft a paragraph in which they reflect on how these...
Bantam Books
The Tempest: Four Corners
Forgiveness can be a difficult step to take in any circumstance, but is it more difficult if the offense is more egregious? High schoolers consider the concept of forgiveness before reading William Shakespeare's The Tempest. As...
K20 LEARN
The New Colossus: Determining Author's Perspective
Introduce young scholars to the concept of the author's perspective with a lesson that uses Emma Lazarus's poem, "The New Colossus," as the anchor text. Groups use a T-chart to identify words that reveal the author's point of view...
Curated OER
Planning for A Letter to the Editor
In this letter to the editor worksheet, students brainstorm and fill in the blanks to a graphic organizer that would help them write a letter to an editor. Students complete 12 spaces in the graphic organizer.
Curated OER
School Day
Learners participate in a lesson that involves writing a persuasive essay. They use the prompt of "extending the school day". The paper should contain correct elements of sentence structure with clear purpose that is supported with...
Curated OER
Forced Potawatomi Migration
Fourth graders write about the forced Potawatomi migration. In this primary source activity students are read journal entries from an emigrating party of Potawatomi Indians. Students reflect on the items the Indians might have taken with...
Curated OER
Change Over Time
Learners write a personal narrative that is designed to help them reflect on the nature and meaning of change in their lives.
Curated OER
Story Books
Students discuss a narrative work of art, then write stories describing the action and publish their stories and illustrations in books.
Curated OER
Writing a News Article
In this writing worksheet, students learn the essentials about how to write a newspaper article in journalistic style. Students read about style, headlines, bylines, first, middle and ending paragraphs. After reading this, students will...
Curated OER
Ex-Slave Narratives and WPA Interviews
Students analyze documents related to slave narratives and slave interviews. They complete a document analysis form to analyze the contnet and historiography of the documents. They write a paragraph detailing when and why the document...
Curated OER
Find the Main Idea: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
An excerpt from Willa Cather's O Pioneer's! provides learners with practice in finding the main idea and supporting details in a narrative. As readers record the bleak details on the included graphic organizer, they can conclude that...