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Lesson Plan
Shakespeare in American Life

Performing Modernized Shakespeare

For Teachers 7th - 12th
“All the world’s a stage…” What do Leonardo DiCaprio, Heath Ledger, and Kenneth Branagh have in common? They have all starred in modern adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. After viewing a series clips from modern Shakespeare videos,...
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Lesson Plan
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Annenberg Foundation

Service Learning in the Social Studies

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Active Citizenship Today (ACT) is a "unique social studies service learning program" that requires students to learn about the public policy associated with community issues they identify in their local community. This web site provides...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders: Disorders Extending Beyond the "Norm"

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners develop an understanding of autism by engaging in an inquiry-based discussion. Pupils are exposed to the vast array of defining characteristics of autism spectrum disorders. They create posters about the developmental...
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Lesson Plan
Desert Discovery

Leaping Lizards

For Teachers Pre-K - 6th
Here is a fine biology lesson that introduces youngsters to reptiles. They study their feeding habits, their habitats, and the adaptations they must make to survive in their environments. The outstanding lesson includes two excellent...
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Lesson Plan
Cheryl L. Mason and William G. Thomas

Comparative Effects of Financing the Civil War

For Teachers 9th - 12th
How do countries fund wars? Learners examine the economics of warfare through a comprehensive study of what measures were taken to fund wartime activities during the American Civil War. They'll start by reading a newspaper article from...
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Activity
Florida Center for Instructional Technology

A Human Number Line: Teacher Notes

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Twenty-one pieces of tagboard can lead your class to a greater understanding of integers when you use them to form a human number line. After creating this math tool, two strategies for adding and subtracting will have your...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Writing to Inform: Colonial Trades

For Teachers 4th Standards
Fourth graders who are studying life in colonial America engage in an instructional activity that has them create a "Help Wanted" ad that would have been written by a master craftsperson from back in the day. They utilize a graphic...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Advertising in the Contemporary World: An Introduction to Persuasive Texts

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Beginning a persuasive writing unit with your middle schoolers? Approach it through something that persuades us all: advertising! Through studying video and print advertisement, your class will practice Common Core skills for reading...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Persuasion as Text: Organizational, Grammatical, and Lexical Moves in Barbara Jordan’s "All Together Now"

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
A thorough lesson plan on persuasive writing takes middle schoolers through several activities, including group discussion, collaborative posters, and independent writing. They compare historical speeches and analyze the persuasive...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Launching Readers Theater Groups: Identifying Passages from Esperanza Rising for Readers Theater that Connect to the UDHR

For Teachers 5th Standards
Teach young readers how to compare two texts and select passages that exemplify a specific theme with Lesson 6 from Unit 3. Begin by modeling how an expert reader selects examples from a text, performing a think aloud on how Article 2 of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rational and Irrational Numbers 2

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Is the circumference of a circle always, sometimes, or never rational? Learners answer questions individually and also work in groups to look at sums and products of rational and irrational numbers. They must also be able to use the...
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Lesson Plan
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The New York Times

Stress Less: Understanding How Your Mind and Body Respond to Anxiety

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What could be more relevant to teens and preteens than experiencing stress? Use an article from the New York Times website to practice valuable Common Core skills for informational text reading, and also get a discussion going in your...
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Lesson Plan
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Utah Education Network (UEN)

Classical Appeals and War Speeches

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Discuss classical appeals of rhetoric through the speeches of Winston Churchill and FDR. Learners read, annotate, and analyze the speeches by the men before using a graphic organizer to track the use of ethos, pathos, and logos. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Media Literacy in Presentations

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers study the three types of mass media messages: visual media, written media, and audio media. After a class discussion which has them list examples of each, learners get into pairs and work on analyzing the "Four A's" in...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Persuasive Writing

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Fourth and fifth graders try their hand at persuasive writing. They listen to well-written persuasive articles so they can get a sense of what good persuasive writing is. Then, they brainstorm topics they'd like to write about and are...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Context Clues

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers receive a handout that lists the five types of context clues. The class divides up into groups of three or four, and each group chooses five unfamiliar words. They write a multiple-choice question for each of their five...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making a Magical Story

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Fourth and fifth graders use their knowledge of developing character, dialogue, and setting to produce an original story. An excerpt from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is used as inspiration to get everyone's creative juices...
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Lesson Plan
eGFI

Lesson: Zero-Energy Home Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Challenge young engineers to design a one-bedroom scale house to collect and maintain as much heat as possible. Particular constraints must be adhered to, but creativity is also allowed. Included is a diagram and background information...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comparing Theories: Lamarck and Darwin

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students compare the evolution theories of Lamarck and Darwin. They use self-assessment and a video to increase their knowledge of evolution theories. They research questions and present them to the class.
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

'Hunger Games' Science: Investigating Genetically Engineered Organisms

For Teachers 7th - 12th
In The Hunger Games novel and movie, a futuristic, dystopian society is the setting. In it, a genetically engineered bird escapes control of the government. Using this as a starting point, teenagers examine the realistic possibility of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Debate Over Stem Cell Research

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students complete a variety of activities as they examine the ethical issues behind stem cell research and cloning. They make their own ethical decisions on both subjects.
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Lesson Plan
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Student Achievement Partners

"The Glorious Whitewasher" from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain with Mini-Assessment

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
It's the classic scene: Tom Sawyer is whitewashing a fence. Expose your learners to Mark Twain's humor while reinforcing reading comprehension. Eighth graders are encouraged to read and reread, achieving as much exposure to the text as...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mississippi Trial, 1955: Pre-reading Strategy

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Pink and Say, a picture book by Patricia Polacco, and an anticipation guide, set the stage for a reading of Mississippi Trial, 1955, Chris Crowe's novel based on the true story of the murder of Emmett Till. Instructional routines, the...
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Lesson Plan
Media Smarts

Selling Obesity

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Learners examine health issues that are associated with our fast food culture, and the advertising of it. They begin with a snack-food survey to assess their own eating habits. Pupils are encouraged to think critically throughout the...