Beacon Learning Center
Challenging the Human Spirit
High schoolers select a theme-related essay topic from Night, by Elie Wiesel, or The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, and develop an essay that relates the theme to modern-day personal experiences. The essay follows a preset rubric...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Giving Things a Name
Students label images seen on an interactive website. In this early writing lesson, students do their best to write the name of the object seen on the screen.
Curated OER
Ancient History Cyber-Journalists
High schoolers research a major historical event from the ancient world and write a newsletter about the event.
Curated OER
Survival Story
Students discuss the pros and cons of being deserted on an uninhabited island. Then they write their own survival stories and complete a story jacket.
Curated OER
A Courtin' We Will Go
Learners investigate dialect in poetry as an indication of a people's culture in literature. They write a poem about dating in this era.
Curated OER
Publishing Written Reports
Seventh graders discuss the importance of presentation in report writing. They prepare and publish written reports on pre-selected topics. Students use various media, including covers and visual aids.
Curated OER
The ABC's of the Three Little Pigs
Writers use varied sentence patterns. They listen to the story of Cinderella rewritten so that each sentence starts with the next letter of the alphabet. They create their own version of The Three Little Pigs using the same concept.
Curated OER
Change of Perspective
After reading an example of a Cultural Connection about a particular person, class members are asked to think about what this person might experience on a daily basis. They then craft a narrative from the subject’s point of view.
National Endowment for the Humanities
A “New English” in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”: A Common Core Exemplar
To examine the “New English” Chinua Achebe uses in Things Fall Apart, readers complete a series of worksheets that ask them to examine similes, proverbs, and African folktales contained in the novel. Individuals explain the meaning...
Curated OER
Swimming with Crabs
Students explore Earth science by completing several graphic organizer activities in class. In this oceanography lesson, students research ocean inhabitants such as blue crab and oysters. Students complete graphic organizers about the...
Curated OER
Analyzing Persuasion
A reading of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech launches a study of rhetorical devices such as hyperbole, allusion, metaphor, simile, personification, connotative language and parallel structure. Class members then...
Curated OER
Details and Observations IQ or the Eyes Have it
Fourth graders study Chaucer as a master of details. Then, they create a short story linking unrelated details into a logical plot with a clear setting and established characters. This lesson has some excellent worksheets attached!
Curated OER
Pinckney Benedict's "The Sutton Pie Safe" from Town Smokes
Students read Pinckney Benedict's "The Sutton Pie Safe" to learn about family symbols and social commentary. In this close reading lesson, students read four journal prompts for the story and answer the listed questions for each section.
Curated OER
Health: The Three Dimensions
Students examine the three dimensions of health, wealth, and happiness from both emotional and social perspectives. Among the week-long activities are discussions about good and poor habits, minimizing risks by proper planning and...
Curated OER
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
Sixth graders discuss how people, society, and technology change over time through a unit of integrated lessons. In these changes in society lessons, 6th graders discuss the answers to many questions about how changes effect the...
Curated OER
My Wilderness Adventure
Middle schoolers use a story starter and given questions to continue their adventure. They use the Internet and books to research about winter survival skills, how to find food, water and shelter in the snowy mountains and discover...
Curated OER
Photoelectric Devices
Fourth graders view a teacher-made PowerPoint presentation on how photoelectric devices work, and then they answer FCAT-like questions on the material presented. They answer questions about what they viewed in an assignment imbedded in...
Curated OER
Community Brochures
Second graders research facets of their community in order to create an informational brochure. After brainstorming ideas of what could be included in the brochure, student groups get information from the internet, the library or a...