Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Songwriting Skill - Finding Your Voice: The Academy Is - “About A Girl”
The seventh in a series of nine exercises focusing on songwriting models for young lyricists on how to find and develop their unique voice. Class members suggest songs that they feel sound authentic and contrast the wording with songs...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Founding Documents
Teach the class about the predecessor to Declaration of Independence—the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Using the foundational documents, scholars examine the two writings to consider how they are similar and how they are different. A...
Curated OER
"Who am I?"
Pupils of all ages work in pairs to find information about themselves and record a digital "Who am I?" They observe and measure each other, write clues, and illustrate before having others guess who is described.
Curated OER
Fictional Narrative Writing in Mathematics
Fifth graders discuss variety of fictional writing genres and connect each to familiar story that has been read, use creative and analytical skills to develop original piece of fictional writing that incorporates math skill, and share...
National Math + Science Initative
Introduction to Decimals
Three activities make up an introductory lesson designed to create a strong foundation in comparing fractions to decimals and exploring and building decimal models. Pupils brainstorm and complete a Venn diagram to show how decimals and...
Curated OER
Story Problem Writing
Students write story problems which can only be solved with the application of multiplication facts. They write an extra fact that isn't needed to solve. When their partners do the problems, they must cross out the fact that they do need.
Curated OER
Your Story
Students discover ways to learn about the past. In this writing lesson students use a writing web to organize their ideas about how we learn about the past. The students then start a time capsule about their lives....
Curated OER
"Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Students complete a variety of activities that revolve around the book "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen. They view and discuss stills from the move "Hoot" and compose original storylines, conduct Internet research about the life of Carl Hiaasen,...
American Battlefield Trust
Gettysburg Address: Abraham Lincoln's Greatest Speech
Most Americans have heard of the Gettysburg Address, but may not know what it means and why is it so important. Following guidance and scaffolded prompts, scholars analyze the short document that left an undeniable impact on the American...
Curated OER
Who was affected by North American Colonization and How?
Conduct research on various aspects of American Colonization and explore how different groups were affected, including those involved in the Salem Witch Trials. Your class will read books, write journals, participate in class discussion,...
Curated OER
The Nineteenth Amendment: Susan B. Anthony
What would your scholars do if Susan B. Anthony walked into class? Shock them to attention with this lesson, which has the school secretary (or any willing participant) dress as the famous suffragette and answer questions as a surprise...
Curated OER
Folktales around the World (Middle, Reading/Writing)
Students analyze, synthesize, and use the elements of various US cultural folk tales to describe the elements of fiction in general and in folk tales specifically.
Curated OER
Mystery Strategy for Elementary Students
Learners of all ages solve historical mysteries. Elementary learners research historical topics by organizing information presented by their instructor, formulating hypotheses, and considering solutions to mysteries presented about...
Curated OER
Face to Face with the Great Depression
Students develop an analytical perspective of how historians record, preserve, and interpret data. For this US history lesson students read and interpret personal accounts of the Great Depression. They discuss how interpretation affects...
Curated OER
Sgt. Humiston, Where are You?
Students become familiar with the events of the Civil War. In this identification lesson, students use deductive reasoning to understand how the deceased soldier was identified. Students view primary documents for information...
Curated OER
Celebrating the Individuals in Our Community
Learners research, write and publish a biography on a community member. They interview the community member, collect and scan photos, produce and edit text and use software to puslish an online book.
Professional Development Institute
Which Is More Important?
Think about the roles of hunters and squaws in Elizabeth George Speare's The Sign of the Beaver. Whose work is more important? Young writers compare Attean and Matt's reaction to each gender's role, as well as arguing their opinion...
Curated OER
Weather Watch
Students complete a series of lessons in which they study daily weather patterns and examine extreme weather conditions. They complete activities that range from visual observation of daily weather to building a weather station and...
Curated OER
Alliteration
Students write and illustrate a sentence which names a letter of the alphabet. The sentence should have subject, verb, describing words, and incorporate alliterative techniques.
Curated OER
There's a World of Science to Read Today!
Students read a current science article. They write a summary of the article, take notes, write and edit a summary, and print their work.
Curated OER
The Civil War in Art and Literature
Students examine art related to the Civil War. They participate in activities that allow them to write poetry and drawings. They create their own journal and collect their work in a binder.
Curated OER
Oregon Trail Art
Students describe events that happened on the Oregon Trail and in the daily lives of Native Americans by writing a narrative essay of a family traveling through Nebraska based on Thomas Hart Benton's paintings.
Curated OER
Show Me a Flowerpot
Students compare and contrast handmade and machine-made products in a study about the evolution of production processes in American history. In this production history lesson, students explore a flowerpot in depth. Students make their...
DocsTeach
Examining Where Rosa Parks Sat
When Rosa Parks took her seat on a public bus to protest segregation, she also took her place in history. Learners examine a clue from this story—a diagram of the bus—to see if they can figure out the pivotal role of this...