Curated OER
Using the Library for More than Research Papers
Use the repository of resources that modern libraries hold to your advantage during National Library Week.
Curated OER
Ocean Animals - A Kindergarten Research Project
Something’s fishy! Assign each of your pupils an individual sea creature and investigate the oceans. Young oceanographers utilize Kidspiration software to research a creature, illustrate an image, and create fact cards about their...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing: Using Art to Inspire description
Write with the senses! Try using art to inspire writers to consider all of the senses. Here, the class is divided in half. Each group looks at one of two images, imagines the senses that would be engaged, and records answers to five...
Shakespeare Globe Trust
Fact Sheet: Writing Plays
Who were some of the popular playwrights of Elizabethan England? Using the provided fact sheets, scholars research playwrights, explore three different types of plays, and learn about censorship in Elizabethan England.
Curated OER
College Research Skills: Evaluating Reliable Online Sources
Students analyze Public Art in preparation for college discussion, research, and writing, and create their own artistic creations. For this art and college prep lesson, students develop an original research question to explore an art...
Azusa Pacific University
Historical Landmark Project
Close a unit or the year with a five-step research project. Class members choose a US landmark, research the landmark, compose a report about it, build a model of it, and present their model and findings to the class. Each step is...
Curated OER
Celebrating Women: Toni Morrison
How authors address issues of their societies is addressed in this very detailed lesson. After researching Toni Morrison and her work, groups create a dramatization based on a scene from one of Morrison’s novels and act it out. Class...
Curated OER
Independent Research Worksheet
In this moving to music learning exercise, students research folk dance in Louisiana in part A. By completing part B of the learning exercise, students conduct their own primary research that will be shared with their classmates once...
Curated OER
The Eye; Structure and Function
Middle schoolers research the structure and function of the eye. In this anatomy instructional activity, students write a report about the eye and draw an illustration. They research a particular animal's eye then present their findings...
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Reindeer Research
Young scholars research reindeer habitats and purposes. They investigate the historical significance of reindeer and the Christmas holiday. Finally, they write a short fictional story about reindeer using the information from their...
Curated OER
1900 America: Primary Sources and Epic Poetry
Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and...
Curated OER
First Steps Toward Source Citation: Author Research
Students, in pairs, research a prominent author and design a presentation poster for the rest of the class. They complete a Works Cited page for their presentation, as well.
Teaching Tolerance
Film Festival
Everybody's a critic—even your pupils! Using the included resources as a guide, screen films related to social justice and ask film enthusiasts to critique them. Publish the reviews for your school community or develop a film festival...
Curated OER
Design a Coin
Young scholars research a state and then design a quarter for it. They use dough or foil to create the coin! students explore state quarters that have already been issued by the U.S. Mint. Their quarter is for a state that hasn't had one...
Curated OER
The Story of an Old Piano
Students read excerpts from The Story of an Old Piano. They choose a personal object and write paragraphs from the object's point of view. Their stories can be bound for the class library.
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McLean Train Yard
Students conduct online research and incorporate graphics and maps into a Powerpoint presentation that details life at the McLean train yard in its heyday.
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Duke Ellington
Students read Duke Ellington by Andrea Davis Pinkney. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the life of the 20th century composer. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and...
Curated OER
"Me" Resource
Learners elucidate themselves by writing up to six entries in different formats. Some formatting choices include a dictionary, encyclopedia, or atlas entry, a magazine article, a newspaper article, and a table of contents. Some...
Curated OER
The Ancient Art of Shadow Puppet Plays
Shadow puppetry has an ancient past, it is also a great way to build oral expression and reading fluency. Young thespians research folk tales, compare and contrast reality and fantasy, then create and perform a shadow puppet play based...
Sandra Effinger
Bulletin Board Project
Imagine a project that informs and entertains. Replace book reports with a bulletin board that highlights all the important elements of a novel. Readers research the author, create a timeline of events in the story, write a...
Teaching Tolerance
Community Arts Showcase
An art showcase encourages class members to explore the themes of social justice and tolerance. They create an original artwork, engage in group discussions, and journal writing. The art gallery also provides a chance for families and...
Curated OER
Colonial America
Young scholars discover the history of Colonial America by creating a class presentation. In this U.S. History lesson, students utilize the Internet to research one of 20 topics in which they will create a PowerPoint or other type...
Curated OER
Guess Who's Coming to Our Classroom
Students use their research skills to determine the famous person given in clues. Using a character recently dicussed in their classroom, they discuss how they would create a costume for them. They write sentences to be used as dialogue...
Curated OER
Mother's Day Trip
Help your class develop their public speaking skills. They write original scripts for informative infomercials, plays, or poetry. They work to present their information with purpose.