Curated OER
We Love to Read!
Students find ways to share their favorite books. In this reading strategies lesson, students advertise books, create a top ten countdown, give a video book talk, simmer story stew, make book medals, play name that book, design a...
Out-of-School Time Resource Center
Nutrition and Physical Activity
Emerging nutritionists explore what it means to be healthy. In the beginning of the unit, your class will examine the five food groups and learn how food gets from the farm to our plates. This leads into the investigation of the...
Weekly Story Book
Folk Tales and Fables
Pages and pages of engaging activities, worksheets, and writing projects on teaching folktales and fables await you! You don't want to miss this incredible resource that not only includes a wide range of topics and graphic organizers,...
Curated OER
The Impact of Disease on Our Lives
Students write a report about infectious diseases where they demonstrate their understanding of new terminology. In this writing lesson, students analyze the effect of disease in their lives and and make scientific inquiry about the...
Curated OER
How Characters Get What They Want
Sixth graders analyze the primary force that drives a character's actions in a character analysis lesson. In this character analysis lesson, 6th graders analyze how characters present their actions and participate in a group activity...
New York City Department of Education
Colonial America and The American Revolution
How did the founding of the American colonies lead to a revolution? Use the essential question and sample activities to guide learners through a series of history lessons. Additionally, the packet includes effective strategies to...
Curated OER
Cold Sassy Tree: Multicultural Strategy
Analyze the characters in Olive Ann Burns's Cold Sassy Tree with this assignment. After reading the majority of the novel, class members choose a character and make a visual representation of the character, including any important...
Curated OER
Strategies for Success
Learners share opinions about common bad habits, read about behavior economics by reading and discussing article "Your Plate Is Bigger Than Your Stomach," identify goals and strategies designed to improve negative behaviors, and test...
Curated OER
Integrating Social studies and the Visual Arts: "Learning to Look" Strategies
Students observe and interpret artwork through conducting a variety of activities. In this lesson students will learn how to analyze art work in order to gain a better understanding of it.
New York City Department of Education
Egypt
This six-week unit encompasses all subjects with a focus study on world history and the development of ancient civilizations. As gifted and talented students dive into the interesting yet challenging topic of Egypt, they think critically...
American Forest Foundation
Who Speaks for the Trees?
Help young conservationists appreciate the important role that trees play in ecosystems around the world with this collection of six engaging activities. From a shared reading and class discussion of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, to in an depth...
Curated OER
Color Coded Reading
Students read text that is color coded to make it more exciting to read. In this reading lesson plan, students read text that is in different colors or highlighted differently in order to be inspired to read in front of the class.
Curated OER
Calling All Teens: Exploring Product Designs and Marketing Strategies Geared Towards Teenagers
Students consider the marketing of cellphones to teenagers as a springboard to designing products and related marketing strategies aimed at specific segments of the teen market.
Curated OER
Picture Perfect Poetry
Do your language arts students love to draw? Use this instructional activity to reinforce poetic techniques with illustration. After drawing what they think poem would look like with no words, middle and high schoolers work on several...
Curated OER
MTV's Poetry
Learners use several strategies in poetry to convey tone and speaker. In this language arts lesson plan, students read and build vocabulary as they gain a larger understanding of how to write poetry. Learners then work in groups in order...
Curated OER
Ancient Rome
Learners complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Ancient Rome. In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer questions, have...
Curated OER
Size Riddles
Learners investigate shapes and sizes by creating a riddle. In this geometry lesson, students read one of two books and investigate facts about an object's size. Learners write a riddle using the facts they have read and cut a piece of...
Curated OER
Where Were Your Ancestors in 1871?
Here is a nicely designed instructional activity on ancestry and family history. In it, learners read an article entitled, "Where Were Your Ancestors in 1871?" Then, they make up a series of questions to profile their family and their...
Curated OER
Water: From Neglect to Respect
The goal of this collection of lessons is to make middle schoolers more aware of the ways in which they are dependent upon water to maintain their standard of living. Learners compare water use in Lesotho to water use in the United...
The Kennedy Center
Fairy Tale Variations
Here are two great lessons that work together and are inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Young writers and actors will retell the story of "The Frog Prince" through games, improvisational script writing, and song....
Curated OER
Using Drama to Examine Communities: Walking in Others' Shoes
Encourage your readers to make connections between texts with this resource. After compiling notes for each text read (you choose the texts), groups craft skits in which major characters from each text meet. There is a rubric for the...
Curated OER
Spinning My Tale
Begin writing personal narratives in this writing instructional activity. Junior high writers start by writing a journal about their favorite holiday. They read a book at their skill level and use graphic organizers to record their ideas...
Curated OER
"Blackbeard's Ghost" Differentiated Lesson Plan
Develop a better understanding of "Blackbeard's Ghost" with this differentiated lesson. Working in groups on a creative project, middle schoolers can reinforce their reading comprehension and literary analysis skills. Use this lesson to...
Curated OER
Quilt Squares-Literature Reporting
Differentiate instruction with this crafty approach to demonstrating comprehension. Learners choose a fictional book at their reading level, and afterward create a quilt square. The square is "decorated" with words, illustrations, and...