Stanford University
A Healthy You
Go beyond counting calories with a healthy eating unit that focuses on reading nutritional labels, making healthy choices, and incorporating fitness into daily life. After four lessons about the different ways kids can improve their...
Novelinks
The Martian Chronicles: Response Writing
Follow the format of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles with a journal-writing activity. Readers choose a character and examine the character's life and circumstances through brainstorming, research, and discussion before writing a...
Scripps Ranch High School
The Crucible Journal Project
While reading Arthur Miller's The Crucible, start or end each day with a journal activity. The project includes a list of prompts for each act of the play. Pupils choose a prompt every time they write and connect their own experiences to...
K12 Reader
Self Reflection
Instill the positive study habit of reflecting on learning by reading this passage with your class. The passage describes how reflection can be a powerful learning tool, and how learners can start reflecting. After reading, class members...
Cleveland Metro School District
Novel Lesson for The Giver
Lois Lowry's The Giver is one of the most engaging and thought-provoking works of literature in the middle school curriculum. Round out your novel unit with a collection of reading activities, comprehension questions, memoir and journal...
Curated OER
Fast Food Nation: Study Questions
Are you introducing your class to the horrors of eating unhealthy? This lesson contains 24 reading comprehension questions relating to the non-fiction book. Readers are encouraged to copy these and answer them in their reading journals.
Curated OER
Short But Sweet
After analyzing and evaluating news summaries found in the New York Times "Week in Review" section, middle schoolers study the steps for summarizing a news article briefly and accurately. They write two news summaries: one on a newspaper...
Walden Woods Project
19th Century Lessons for 21st Century Lives
The words of Henry David Thoreau on Civil Disobedience seem particularly relevant today, as are his writings and those of other transcendental thinkers who ask what it mean to live deliberately and what are the responsibilities of...
Daughters of the American Revolution
Lesson 2: How Do We Determine the Value of Education?
Have women always had the same educational opportunities as their male counterparts? Young historians read an 1819 essay by Emma Willard on the state of female education in the 19th century before discussing their views regarding women's...
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...
Curated OER
My Four to Six Year Plan (My Personal Plan of Study)
Eighth graders examine what they need to do to meet their career goals. They design a four to six year plan for the classes they need to take in high school after listening to high school mentor tell about their experiences with this...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
La Mobile: A Case Study of Exploration and Settlement
The Le Moyne brothers, Jean-Baptiste and Pierre, were among the first explorers of the Gulf Coast. Class members read biographical information and journal entries about these men, study maps showing where the settlements they established...
Montana Natural History Center
Studying Grassland Ecosystems
At first glance, grassland ecosystems might seem dull and uninteresting, but once you start to explore it's amazing the things you'll find! Through this series of engaging lessons, activities, and experiments, elementary students examine...
Penguin Books
A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac has enjoyed popularity since its debut in 1897 due in large part to the themes it addresses. Instructors planning on using the play with their classes will find much to like in this teaching guide. The...
Whole Person Associates
Teen Choices Workbook
The exercises and activities in the 28-page Teen Choices Workbook are designed to provide teens with the tools they need to become thoughtful decision makers, to act responsibly, to reflect on past decisions, and to take responsibility...
Anti-Defamation League
Slurs, Offensive Jokes and How to Respond
How to respond to slurs and offensive jokes is the topic of a lesson designed for middle and high schoolers. After journaling about their experiences with slurs and nasty jokes, participants read an article about a Florida State Senator...
Curated OER
A Study of the Principles of Kwanzaa
Discover the seven principles of Kwanzaa and the ways they apply to everyday life. High schoolers use the Internet to research two examples of the principles of Kwanzaa, and share their findings with their peers.
Curated OER
Strategies to Build Comprehension Skills
Reading strategies that realy work. Here is an introduction of six active reading strategies to improve reading comprehension. Super helpful for newer teachers.
Curated OER
Valentine’s Day Unit: Writing & Literacy Center Activities
Students participate in Valentine's Day writing and literacy center activities. In this writing and literacy lesson, students develop Valentine's Day journals using recycled cards and small blank sheets of paper. They write sentences...
Curated OER
Analyzing a Writer's Stance
Should college admissions decisions be based on whether whose family members attended? Secondary students read and respond to a New York Times article on the issue of 'legacy preferences' in college admissions. Following class...
Curated OER
Talking Sticks Literature Circle
Following the six-step process for a talking sticks literature circle, group members choose a leader for the discussion, summarize the reading, discuss journal entries and questions, set reading goals, and write reflections. I think this...
Curated OER
Mini Literature Circle
In this literature circle worksheet, students form groups and choose a leader, summarize the book, discuss journal entries, make connections, and write reflections about the novel they are reading. Students provide short answers for...
Curated OER
Journal Guidelines for OLS 388
Journaling can be a great way to get learners to open up more than they would in a whole class discussion. These guidelines prompt scholars to form groups and answer questions in their journals. Most questions refer to certain concepts...
Curated OER
Ornaments for Nursing Home Tree
Students participate in an activity that will allow them to create a gift for a nursing home patient and give their gift to someone who needs a caring hand. In this community service lesson, students learn compassion, and also understand...