Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Waterproof that Roof!
Stop the raindrops from getting into the house! Eager engineers learn about roofing history and waterproofing by nanotechnology. They get into groups and work on designing a waterproof roof for a small model house. The accompanying...
Vosonos
Interactive Minds: Solar System
Travel through space as you learn about the galaxy, solar system, planets, and much more. An extensive resource for studying astronomy in upper-elementary and middle school classrooms.
Curated OER
Selecting the Tap: Water Safety
Examine water as a scarce natural resource instead of taking it for granted. Middle schoolers identify the traits of potable water, and research local water sources to determine if they are impaired or not.
Tallahassee Community College
Finding the Main Idea
A short excerpt at the beginning of the sheet provides learners with questions to think about when looking for the main idea. Followed by that, learners respond to four reading passages by answering multiple...
Do2Learn
Umbrella Organizer Frames
Being able to identify the details that support a main idea is an important skill. Have your pupils practice with this graphic organizer, which includes space for a main idea, three supporting details, and a final conclusion.
Polk Bros Foundation
Meet the Nonfiction Main Idea Challenge
Help your class develop the ability to determine a main idea with a packet of materials that you can introduce and use over a period of time. The packet includes some information for the teacher and rationale for the exercises. There are...
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Infer the Main Idea When I Read
While reading any text, ask your pupils to keep this graphic organizer on hand. They can note down the main idea and three supporting details during or after reading. The instructions allow for individuals to use words or images to...
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Identify a Nonfiction Writer's Main Idea and Supporting Examples
Use this page to quickly identify the central idea of a text and organize ideas for writing an informational or explanatory text. The worksheet is split into two parts. In the first part, pupils note down the main idea and supporting...
Polk Bros Foundation
Show, Then Write What You Learn
After reading a text or covering a new topic, have class members fill out the four boxes on this page with facts. Individuals can use words or drawings to represent the facts.
Polk Bros Foundation
Picture the Main Idea
Invite your learners to represent the central idea of a text visually. Individuals note down the main idea and then have the opportunity to draw four pictures that show the idea. Consider working out the main idea together and then...
Polk Bros Foundation
I Can Comprehend a Paragraph, then a Page/Section in a Text
Help your class tackle chunks of text with a simple graphic organizer. Pupils read three paragraphs and, as they read, draw pictures in the provided boxes that demonstrate what each paragraph says. There are three boxes on the page and...
Polk Bros Foundation
A Way to Analyze Paragraphs to Figure Out the Main Idea of a Nonfiction Text
Shrink up a section by asking pupils to write down the main idea for each of seven paragraphs. There is a space provided for each main idea. When students have completed this portion, they write down what they think to be the central...
Polk Bros Foundation
Collect Evidence to Support an Idea
In order to support an idea, writers must use evidence. Your class members can prepare their evidence with this basic worksheet. Writers note down the topic they are learning about and their own idea. Next, they come up with information...
Polk Bros Foundation
Main Idea Analyzer
Show the connection between the main idea and supporting details with a graphic organizer. Pupils fill in the main idea of a text in the circle and the supporting ideas in the boxes connected to the circle.
Curated OER
Express Yourself Lesson Seed 17: Obituary
The Cay has been criticized by groups such as the Council on Interracial Books for Children because of the way race is portrayed. Explore the argument against the book while taking the author's perspective into account. Class members...
California Academy of Science
Guess That Spice
From medical treatments to cooking, people have been using herbs and spices for thousands of years. Perform a blind smell test of household herbs and spices to engage students in learning about ancient spice trading. Research the history...
Common Sense Media
Cyberbullying: Be Upstanding
Peers discuss cyberbullying and how they can defend their friends that may be bullied online and offline. They discover the value in showing empathy for those who have been cyberbullied. Class members then generate multiple...
Common Sense Media
Identifying High-Quality Sites
Use a Huffington Post article focused on false pictures of Hurricane Sandy to launch a discussion about the reliability of online information. Groups compare and contrast how print and broadcast media regulate...
Curated OER
Pictures, Photographs, and Captions
"How do photographs contribute to an autobiography?" Laurence Yep's The Lost Garden provides learners with an opportunity to examine how photos and their captions contribute to and clarify events in a story. Class members use expressive...
Curated OER
What are the Main Ideas?
Prior to beginning Rosa Parks: My Story by Rosa Parks, model for your class members how to determine the main idea of a text. Exercepts from another story are provided to use for the demonstration. The focus then shifts to Rosa...
Curated OER
Lesson One: Characterizing Philanthropic People
Familiarize your class with philanthropy and involve individuals in philanthropic activities. First, determine the traits of philanthropic people. Class members attach sticky notes with character traits written on them to each side of at...
Curated OER
Just Lookin' For a Home
What is a boll weevil? Your class can find out that and more by following the activities included here. Pupils read an article, sing a boll weevil song, add to the song with their own original lyrics, illustrate the song, study the...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Walmart Middle School Litercy Initiative
Interactive, student-paced lessons on such literacy skills as categorizing, comparing and contrasting, summarizing, evaluating, determining cause and effect, using text features, connecting, inferring, sequencing, understanding problems...
Beacon Learning Center
Beacon Learning Center: What Caused It?: Student Web Lesson
Students are asked to be detectives while they read and to look for the cause/effect sentences in the paragraphs. In this lesson, students read paragraphs and answer questions about it by either typing in their responses or selecting...