Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
The Backpack Travel Journals
Strap on those backpacks, it's time to travel through history with this literature unit based on the first four books of The Magic Tree House series. While reading through these fun stories, children create story maps, record interesting...
Curated OER
How To...
Students create "how to" presentations using speech skills, the Inpsiration educational software, digital cameras, and iMovie (or similar presentation software) in this technology-based Language Arts lesson. The lesson includes possible...
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Managing Medical Conditions
Your scholoars practice organizing and presenting information through written language. They gather information about a medical condition and share it with someone else. They then use a format where they organize their information using...
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There's a Monster in My E-Mail!
Don't be scared of these monsters! Middle schoolers make new friends as they practice their drawing, writing, and computer skills. They participate in a collaborative e-mail project in which they draw and describe pictures of monsters...
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Hold On to Your Hats
Elementary schoolers study the symbolism and influences found in advertising. First, they learn about the history and cultural significance of the Summer Official's Hat that was a symbol of status in ancient China. Then, they access...
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Where Do We Begin?
Primary learners grasp sequence of events by discussing morning routines and reviewing the story of Little Red Riding Hood. They explore the necessity of correct order of events. As a class, create a story with a beginning, middle, and...
Denver Art Museum
Descriptive Haiku
Even though this is technically an art instructional activity, haiku poetry is actually the main focus! Learners view photographs of Japanese tea caddies. They list five descriptive words for the caddies, then write haiku poems using the...
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Retelling Stella Louella's Runaway Book: Point of View
Stella Louella’s Runaway Book launches a study of point of view and storytelling. After reading the tale, class members retell the story from the point of view of another character. The scripted plan, developed by a teacher candidate,...
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Language, As Experienced Through Pin-Hole Photography
Students read about and discuss photographic principles and, under the direction of the art teacher, construct individual cameras from heavy black cardboard and thin sheet metal with a hole for the lens and black tape for the shutter.
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Snappy Solutions, Sizzling Sentences
An examination of the figurative language in Gwendolyn Brooks’ To Young Readers challenges your writers to think about the richness of language. Ask your class why Brooks says, “Good books are bandages.” This discussion of alliteration,...
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Finding Captain Hook's Treasure
Students use their map-reading skills to find Captain Hook's treasure. They see how the directions on a map correspond with "real-life" directions, and that symbols on a map represent real things.
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Meet Our Teachers
Learners of all ages interview, record, and photograph teachers and staff at their school. They organize the photo with a soundbite into a PowerPoint presentation. They transcribe the interview and write a response to it.
Education Outside
Chard Tabbouleh Raps
Pupils work with homophones and heterographs found in a recipe for tabbouleh wraps. They work together in groups to perform the tasks necessary to create this Middle Eastern dish, then they get to enjoy it. A fine instructional activity...
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Storytelling
Why are some people such good story tellers? Help youngsters demonstrate the art of storytelling. They start off by listening to a story and sharing what they noticed about the storytelling that made it exciting. Then, they study a story...
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Eugenics Lesson Plan: Button or Bumper Sticker
Young scholars investigate how fear can cause problems with policies associated with people with disabilities. In this people with disabilities lesson, students study the associated vocabulary, fill in a chart which contains policies...
Reed Novel Studies
From The Mixed Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: Novel Study
Claudia Kincaid decides to run away to bring some excitement to her life, but she never expects the adventure she finds. A helpful study guide takes readers through the novel From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler....
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Learning to Write and Send Email
Students generate more expressibe and receptive language by send emails to a friend. They improve their word processing and technology skills by sending and receiving emails. A rubric is included in this lesson plan for assessment purposes.
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Cameras and Careers
Applying photography basics they learn for this project, first graders take pictures of an adult at work focusing on the tools used, the work site, and job responsibilities. After making a career book that includes photos and...
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Community Through Northwest Coast Art & Traditions
Students view video and watch an artist create a potlatch (gift necklace). In this community and resources lesson plan, students understand the culture of Northwest Coast Art & Traditions . Students create their own necklaces and...
Alliance Theater
The Jungle Book Post-Show STEAM Lesson
An ecosystem is really just the flow of energy through many different living organisms. A study of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book leads to an environmental science activity in which learners study how various factors can affect...
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Depicting the Piscataways: The Government of Maryland Student Booklet
Fourth graders construct an original booklet that consists of summaries and artwork dealing with their study of the state of Maryland. They work on this booklet after their study of the Piscataways, a Native American tribe in Maryland,...
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African Folktales
Learners examine the art of storytelling. In groups, they write their own African folktales, design costumes, props and scenery, and videotape folktale presented in dramatic form.
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Inspector Readers: The 002 Book Club
This unit introduces book clubs/literature circles to lower elementary classes, but could be adapted to higher grades. It outlines the anticipatory activity that includes a WebQuest, a discussion to clarify questions about the unit,...
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Holes Comprehension Companion
Here is a one-stop planning resource for Louis Sachar's Newbery Award-winning book Holes. You'll find 21 links to worksheets and various activities designed to span the entire book. Learners draw to help analyze settings and make...