Curated OER
Screen Play
High schoolers examine the New York Times review of the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and explore the elements of scriptwriting. They read the article about the film adaptation screenplay and examine a sample...
Curated OER
Stonewall and Beyond: Gay and Lesbian Issues
Help learners understand their own biases and how their perspectives may have been influenced by biased media sources. They keep a journal while viewing videos, exploring websites, and engaging in class discussions related to gay and...
Curated OER
Modern American Theatre: Intro to Drama
Set this slideshow up at as an independent work station, or to provide your theater arts class with a look at the many manifestations of modern literary drama. Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, and Arthur Miller are the focus of the...
Curated OER
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Students study about the stages of metamorphosis of a butterfly and then listen to and participate in the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The students then listen to the story in French and translate the French food words to English....
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Punch in the Stomach...uhhh
Students discover that letters and their correspondences will lead to successful decoding, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. They recognize the letter u and the correspondence u=/u/. They repeat the tongue twister with the...
San José State University
Sentence Fragments
Work on sentence fragments with your class using this handout and brief exercise. This resource, which could be used as a reference sheet for learners, goes into detail about complete sentences and the different errors that cause...
Curated OER
Truth in Advertising: When to Ask Questions
Students view different commercials and ad campaigns that present opposing notions of "truth." Students use these commercials to evaluate what makes an effective public service announcement (PSA) or advertisement, then choose a national...
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The Learning Network Fill-In: Macbeth for Children
Help your learners attain vocabulary and practice reading comprehension with this cloze activity. Created by The Learning Network, this resource provides a New York Times article with the words already removed. Pupils can fill in the...
National Constitution Center
Address America: Your Six-Word Stump Speech
Stump speeches are the focus of this exercise that combines politics and language arts. After learning about this type of speech, the class listens to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign stump speech and answers a series of questions that...
Curated OER
The Medium is the Message: Covering the Final Chapter of the Elian Gonzalez Story
Pupils discuss the case of Elian Gonzalez and collaborate in small groups to act as editors in assigning facts, quotes, and details to be included in a newspaper article. They judge the accuracy of their predictions.
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Naya Nuki's Journey
Students read "Naya Nuki Shoshoni Girl Who Ran" by Kenneth Thomasma. Students chart Naya Nuki's route on a map and identify the navigational signs she used to find her way home. Students also analyze the weather she encounters.
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True and Honorable Wives?
Students discuss whether men or women are smarter. They divide into groups and review Act 2 of Julius Caesar and look for incidents of characters reading or mis-reading "signs", and making either wise or foolish decisions.
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Rain Forest Reporters
Students research and write articles for an imaginary scientific magazine about rain forests. In this rain forest lesson, students research both ecosystems and magazine writing styles. They act as reporters and editors of their own...
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The Powers That Be
Young scholars investigate past energy legislation, then write letters to Congress from the perspective of citizens trying to influence the original passage of these bills. Each small group does their research using a website imbedded in...
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Traffic signs and signals
Students understand and follow directions based on traffic signs. In this traffic signs lesson plan, students play the game red light green light and are asked why they stop and go according to the colors. They then are introduced to the...
Curated OER
Fighting the War in Your Head
Students analyze the experiences of a fictional soldier in a war and create a mental health profile for that individual. They emulate psychiatrists and propose treatment strategies for their particular soldier's post-traumatic stress...
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Reality Check
Students evaluate different types of reality television programming in "focus groups" and then submit their opinions on this type of programming to a television network.
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Literary Criticism
Students evaluate and debate whether movies, television shows, and other mass media cause violent behavior in students and whether books are the same as or different from these other media in their potential for causing violent behavior...
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Tackling Hunger on "Souper Bowl" Sunday
Students envelop basic plans, in small groups, for fundraising projects that they could actually organize and execute.
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Recalling History by Pulling Strings
Students investigate the role and nature of story-telling as it preserves history and culture and discuss how puppetry serves as an effective method of presentation. They create basic outlines for puppet shows that relay important...
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Shedding Light On An Invisible Problem
Students explore the lives of homeless people, focusing particularly on Students. They develop ideas to increase awareness about this issue and create campaigns that educate their peers about the large number of homeless students and...
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A Whale of a Problem
Students evaluate the possible causes contributing to the decline of the killer whale population from a number of differing perspectives. They present their findings in a talk show format and in letters of advocacy regarding
Curated OER
What Do You Want to Sell?
Students explore how companies describe their products and services. They write business plans for companies based on their interests or needs.
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'Twasn't the Night Before Christmas
Students describe the elements that make up particular writers' styles. Small groups then choose an author, write something in his or her style, and invite other groups to play 'literary detective' in identifying whose style they have...