Curated OER
We Are All Authors: Create a Book
Every child is an author with this engaging reading activity. First the class reviews the various parts of a book such as the title, author, dedication, and author-biography. Then each individual will choose a story of their own to...
Curated OER
Hamlet's Soliloquy
Everyone is familiar with the beginning of Hamlet's soliloquy, "To be or not to be..." While reading Hamlet, help your middle schoolers analyze the lines that follow, but how do you help them make personal connections to the text? Use...
Curated OER
Scientific Notation II: The Mantissa
Practice converting a conventional number into scientific notation, and vice-versa. Using an applet, they perform the operations of multiplication and division on numbers expressed in scientific notation.
Curated OER
Printing Lowercase M
Watch the magic pencil! Beginning printers practice lowercase m, first examining how the magic pencil writes it. Consider creating a "magic pencil" for your class, and inviting willing participants up to demonstrate proper handwriting...
Curated OER
Animal and Plant Cell Journaling Activity
Jump into the classification of animal and plants cells, through this inviting lesson comparing Elodea leaves and Epithelial cells. Middle school learners will create wet mounts, write journal entries that compare specimens, and finally...
Scholastic
Follow the Clues
Invite your text detectives to bring their magnifying glasses to school to examine the clues in a text and make predictions. They write down three clues and a prediction on the graphic organizer.
Curated OER
Auxiliary Verbs
Auxiliary verbs are the focus of this language arts presentation. These types of verbs are very specific, and are taught quite effectively during the PowerPoint. Pupils are invited to do their own pieces of writing that use auxiliary...
Curated OER
What Time Is It? Part 2
Tell time to the half hour with these analog clocks! The first six problems invite first graders to write the correct times below, while the second set of problems provide the time and empty clock faces. A great way to review your time...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Poems that Tell a Story: Narrative and Persona in the Poetry of Robert Frost
Dig in deeper with Robert Frost's, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Learners will read and discuss poems by Robert Frost and learn the meaning of terms such as narrative and personal. They journal, collaborate, and present poetry...
Joy Uzarraga
Famous American Research Project
Designed specifically for lower elementary pupils, this is a great biographical research project in which students research a famous American, and then design creative poster boards to help them "become" the famous American they have...
Curated OER
Guided Reading: Three Little Pigs (Plus Wolf: Javalinas)
Guide your class through reading various versions of The Three Little Pigs. Talk about the traditional story line and then discuss a different point of view: Maybe the wolf was just an innocent bystander! This lesson plan, which has...
Curated OER
Martin's St. Patrick's Day
In this reading comprehension worksheet, students read the passage once and then read it through a second time, pausing to write in the best words they can think of to fit in the blank. There are 10 blanks to fill.
Curated OER
Who Am I?
Middle schoolers use a graphic organizer to brainstorm information about their lives. They utilize brainstorming techniques in a writing exercise, and create a graphic organizer describing their lives. They set personal goals for the...
Curated OER
Who Works for the Common Good in Our Community?
Learners identify community organizations that help those in need. In this service learning activity, students listen to members of local service organizations present information. Learners write journal entries based on the information...
National Security Agency
Sampling for a Rock Concert
Over the course of three class periods, middle schoolers design an experiment to provide learner input to administration about which rock band to invite to play at school. They practice several random sampling exercises, all well...
Curated OER
Retelling the Tiny Seed
Here is a very age appropriate idea that can be stretched, modified, or used as is. Learners review plant parts, discuss pollination, read the story The Tiny Seed, and write a retell sentence. Their sentences describe to way a seed...
Curated OER
What Happened?
Learners read legends about volcanoes. They develop their own legend and shares them with the class. They practice their writing skills as well.
Curated OER
Captain Keller's Business Letter
Students write a business letter similar to one Captain Keller might have written asking the Perkins Institution to recommend a teacher for his daughter in The Miracle Worker.
Curated OER
Yakety-Yak!
Students examine the use of dialogue while writing stories. They decide what two different characters would say to each other based on their character traits of being nasty and nice. They complete an activity page.
Curated OER
Owl Eyes.
Students create an animal with clay and use toothpick to draw or carve features. Students write descriptions of their animal and tell why they created it in a certain way. Students write legends on their own, perhaps using their created...
Curated OER
Virtual) Poetry Slam
Students create a "virtual poetry slam." This project can easily be implemented at any grade level where students have created short pieces of personal writing. They write, edit, and revise a short piece of poetry or personal writing.
Curated OER
El Ballet Folklorico de Mexico
Students conduct Internet research on the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico. They complete a worksheet answering questions about the Ballet Folklorico, and create an award and write a speech to present to the class.
Curated OER
Coming To America
Students investigate the history of America with the help of children's literature. The story is structured as a timeline that begins at the time of Columbus and progresses to the present. The teacher reads the story with the class and...
Curated OER
Officer Buckle and Gloria
Young scholars write a class letter to a local policeman asking him to come and talk to the class and create a list of safety tips as a class. Students research information on police dogs: type of dogs used, where they come form, how...