Maine Content Literacy Project
Dramatic Structure of the Short Story
The second lesson in a series of fourteen, this plan takes the short story basics a step further. Learners complete a quiz about the story from the previous day, discuss the text, learn about Anton Chekhov, and work in groups to begin...
Curated OER
Sentence Auction
Students read sentences and try to identify which ones are grammatically correct and which contain grammatical errors.
Curated OER
A Monster of a Metaphor
What do Jeep advertisements and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath have in common? They both employ the art of the extended metaphor! Using the Six-Trait Writing model, learners begin to work on their own extended metaphors. Development...
Curated OER
Back to School: Style Analysis
Jump back into expository writing and analysis at the start of a new school year! Start with a review of an authors' stylistic choices in diction, syntax, treatment of subject matter, and figurative language. Writers choose a text to...
Curated OER
The Structure of DNA
Students describe the structure of the double helix, explain how DNA copies itself, and recognize that the sequence of DNA is what makes each individual unique.
Folger Shakespeare Library
Pre-Reading Hamlet with "Hamlet: An Insider’s Guide"
Prove that Gertrude did kill Ophelia from practicing the word inflections activities with these pre-reading strategies for Hamlet. Thespians practice the line, “Is that your sandwich?” as they stress and accent different words, and...
Curated OER
Learning Grammar Through Wordplay
Students use wordplay to investigate the grammatical components of a sentence. They read a New York Times article by analyzing the writer's use of nouns and verbs in the article and then constructing original sentences using those words...
Curated OER
Building a Better Argument
Students create good arguments by exploring the basic structure of an arguments. They determine premises and conclusions for analyzing the effectiveness of arguments. In addition, they explore the differences between arguments and...
Curated OER
What Is Life?
In this life characteristics worksheet, students answer 16 questions about living things, Redi's experiment, basic needs, growth and development.
Curated OER
Introduction to Functions
Students explore functions, function rules, and data tables. They explore terms of linear functions. Students use computers to analyze the functions. Students write short sentences to explain data tables and simple algebraic expressions.
Curated OER
The Argument
After brainstorming, middle schoolers write an expository essay for a writing project. They focus on supporting points, organization, and writing conventions to develop a well-integrated paper. In addition, they revise, proofread and...
Curated OER
E-mailing the Chamber of Commerce
Encourage effective internet research and e-mail correspondence as scholars investigate a US capital city they've never visited to find pertinent and relevant information. They begin by picking a city, then visit that city's chamber of...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Introduction to Ernest Hemingway
What is a white elephant, and what does it have to do with Ernest Hemingway? Study "Hills Like White Elephants" in-depth by following the procedures outlined in this lesson, the fifth in a series of fourteen. Learners start the day with...
Curated OER
Creating Personalized Stationery
Students write, format, enter, save, revise, edit a full block style letter with open punctuation for printing. They produce a personalized letterhead using a computer and access information from the Internet using a variety of search...
Curated OER
Reading a Newspaper
Students define the terms associated with parts of a newspaper. They identify various sections of a newspaper and the type of articles found in each and provide the responses to who? what? when? where? and why? contained in a ...
Curated OER
Novel Creation
Students create an alternate ending with digital animations to illustrate their text. In this novel creation lesson, students read a novel and analyze the plot in small groups. Students collaborate on an alternate ending and create a...
Curated OER
The News Article and The Editorial
Here is an outstanding series of lessons on journalism, writing newspaper articles, and writing editorials. This type of writing has long-been neglected in our schools, so this collection of writing activities is most-valuable. Along...