Curated OER
Poetic Elements Are Fun!
Engage your class in the elements of poetry with a series of lessons and activities. The plans cover simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and imagery. Learners come up their their own metaphors, identify poetic...
ESL Holiday Lessons
Kwanzaa
Teach English language learners about the week-long holiday of Kwanzaa that is celebrated around the world during December. It includes holiday-themed reading comprehension passages, phrase matching, fill-in-the-blanks, and journaling...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You
Ask not what the lesson here can do for you, but what you can do with the lesson. The answer is quite a lot! Young scholars revisit JFK's famous inaugural address with a focus on his plea for civic engagement. There's a letter to JFK...
Curated OER
Effective Back-to-School Nights
Here is an engaging and creative project to do with your ESL learners in preparation for back to school night. A digital camera is used to photograph each pupil, and everyone completes a short writing assignment that goes along with...
Curated OER
Trek Across America
Bring a time machine into your classroom with this writing lesson, in which young writers project themselves back in time and have a variety of choices from that point forward. They either write a conversation with a historical figure,...
EngageNY
Read Expressions in Which Letters Stand for Numbers III
Those key operation words sure come in handy. Groups continue their work with converting between different notations for algebraic expressions. They work in stations to write the symbolic form for given verbal phrases. This is the 17th...
Curated OER
Mark Twain and the American West
Students analyze Mark Twain's "Western" voice. In this literature instructional activity, students read Roughing It by Twain and watch "The West." Students examine Twain's history and compare it to the history of America's developing...
Curated OER
Pedometer Activities to Enhance Cross-curricular Learning
Young scholars complete different activities involving pedometers such as writing a creative story, calculating step averages, researching pedometers, calculating calories, and much more.
Novelinks
The House on Mango Street: Vocabulary Word Squares
Chanclas, muerto, cuando. Spanish words are plentiful in The House on Mango Street and may be unfamiliar to many readers. A vocabulary words squares activity will help kids remember the meaning of these words and add to their...
British Council
Smoking Stinks
There are lots of good reasons not to smoke. Make sure your middle and high schoolers understand each and every one with a lesson plan that prompts them to read anti-smoking posters, note the main points, and write a short response on...
Curated OER
Pride and Prejudice: Problematic Situation
What would you do if your sister ran off with a man whom you didn't trust? Explore a scenario based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Once kids work though the problem, they read the appropriate chapters from the book and write a...
Curated OER
T-shirts Build School & Community Pride
Students explore ways to promote community pride by creating t-shirts. In this community lesson, students utilize a digital camera to take photographs of their hometown and transfer them to a t-shirt. Students complete a creative...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: A Guided Tour
Albert Bierstadt's painting Wind River Country shows viewers how a reader progresses through a story. Your class studies the light and dark areas, how the eye moves across the painting, and what attracts the audience to the work, and...
Novelinks
Walk Two Moons: Story Impressions
Story chains connect literary concepts, reinforce context clues, and even help learners predict what's coming next! Using words from the next chapter of Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons, middle schoolers craft story chains to determine...
Curated OER
Creative Characterization
Students write a character description journal in which they take on the voice of one of the character's made-up friends or relatives. They write a sketch of that character from the friend or relatives' point of view.
Curated OER
Dear Diary
Learners analyze a piece of writing by creating diary entries based on a character. In this reading comprehension instructional activity, students read an assigned book with their classmates and create a sketch of what they believe the...
Curated OER
Anne Frank Brochure/Newsletter
Any lesson that includes time at the computer lab is a favorite for the kids! In this plan, the class heads to the lab to research Anne Frank and her life. Using both Internet and print resources (like the book), pupils compile...
Curated OER
Pride and Prejudice: Discussion Web
Both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy have proud moments, but who is more prideful? Explore Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice with a discussion web that compares both characters in a brainstorming graphic organizer. Each side provides enough...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Learning About Opioids
Feeling high is not the only side effect of abusing prescription opioids. Middle and high schoolers learn more about specific painkillers, including Fentanyl, Oxycodone, and Clonazepam, as well as their common brand names and extensive...
Curated OER
Masks of Many Cultures: Celebrations of Life
Bring art and society together with this highly creative and interesting lesson. Learners research various uses of masks in ceremonies. They then create a ceremony of their own and a mask to go along with it. They film themselves...
Curated OER
Ancient Greece Podcast
In this writing a podcast lesson plan, 7th graders create a podcast involving Ancient Greece. Students follow a rubric and outline to create their podcast. Students present their podcast to their fellow students.
Curated OER
Slaves, the Labor Force, and the Economy
Students examine critical role that slaves, freemen, and plebeians played in the Roman Empire. They complete creative writing that addresses how the Roman class system and the use of slavery contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire.
Curated OER
Invent a Holiday
Who wouldn't want to create their own holiday? Use the 12 elements of a holiday to have learners of all ages create their own holiday. These days, it seems like we make any excuse for a holiday! Consider having some fun with your kids...
San Diego County District Attorney
Just Because... Stereotypes and Gender
Help young learners identify and break down stereotypes with this these lessons and worksheets, which discuss expectations placed on others based on such factors as gender, race, and sexual orientation.