Curated OER
All About Our Town
Pupils explore brochure writing. They work in groups to brainstorm and categorize important places in their community. In addition, they gather information from the Internet, take pictures using a digital camera, and create a community...
Curated OER
What's My Point: Persuasive Writing
Why do readers need to know an author’s purpose? How do you figure out what that purpose is? Guide your pupils through a series of activities that show them how to identify various techniques and structures used in persuasive writing....
Curated OER
Paraphrasing and Summarizing
Read an article about the migration of our ancestors and write a paragraph. Pupils paraphrase and summarize to restate the information found in a nonfiction text. They write a shortened version of the reading to demonstrate the...
Curated OER
Analyzing Messages in Various Media
Explore communication through media by analyzing different advertisements and artwork. Budding artists view videos, websites, plays, and other artistic endeavors while discussing the true meaning of the work with their classmates. They...
Curated OER
Latin Roots nat, tract, sequ: Vocabulary Matching
Your etymologists match intermediate-level words containing Latin roots nat, tract, and sequ/secu with their definitions. Part of a set of exercises and word lists containing these roots on MyVocabulary.com. Useful for rigorous review...
Curated OER
Maniac Magee: Fishbowl Discussion
Split the class into two groups for a fishbowl discussion using of Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee. The first group initiates the conversation by reviewing the important points of Chapter thirteen while group two...
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Picture It: JFK in High School
Elementary schoolers learn about young John F. Kennedy. After a teacher-led discussion about his high school years, pupils examine a photograph of Kennedy and four of his friends taken on the grounds of the Choate School in Connecticut....
K12 Reader
The Ransom of Red Chief
Readers identify the irony in the ransom note to Ebenezer Dorset and his reply as part of a reading comprehension activity using O. Henry's "The Ransom of Red Chief."
Curated OER
Scrabble Fitness
Hop, skip, and jump your way to picking up letters for a word spelling scrabble game. Get a little aerobic conditioning in while having fun with words. Keep the game simple for the younger learners. You might try putting the letters face...
Curated OER
Project Organizer: Follow an Explorer
This is both a great idea and a great way to help your class organize a themed project. They use these worksheets to assist them in writing a creative historical narrative about the life and travels of an explorer. They'll compare and...
Curated OER
Storytellers Past and Present
Students read and discuss an article about Olga Loya, a modern storyteller. They watch a videotaped performance of a story and then create a storytelling experience for a story of their choice to share with the class.
Curated OER
Attracting Business to Arkansas
Groups of learners research a city in Arkansas, then plan and create a brochure which would promote business growth in that city. The groups access the Internet in order to find out the necessary information about the town to put in...
Curated OER
William Apess and the Mashpee "Revolt" of 1833
Prompt your class with the following question: What was the status of American Indians in Massachusetts during Jackson's presidency? To answer this question, class members will read a series of primary source documents (attached),...
Curated OER
Main Idea in Informational Text
Individuals complete a pre-assessment to gauge their ability to determine the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction text. They examine a new piece of nonfiction reading by looking at the table of contents, headings, and index...
Curated OER
The Visual Thesaurus and the SAT
Demonstrate strategies for tackling unfamiliar vocabulary words in preparation for the SAT. Using Visual Thesaurus computer software, middle and high schoolers interpret contextual clues, solve sample sentence completion questions, and...
Curated OER
36 Public Policy Questions to Energize Your Government/History Classroom Debates
Need topics that are sure to engage your debaters? This list of public policy questions includes such topics as school mascots, regulation of major league baseball, physician-assisted suicide, and violence in video games. A great...
Curated OER
The Last Word: Using Critical Thinking and Analysis to Reach a Decision
Want to explore the process of writing a persuasive essay and tie it in with the upcoming elections? Class members use Venn diagrams and the hamburger model of persuasive writing to write a five-paragraph essay on elections and...
Curated OER
Plagiarism
Don't get caught plagiarizing! Before starting your research unit, use this lesson to help your young writers identify plagiarism. The truth is, many kids don't even realize when they're doing it! They practice citing sources when...
Curated OER
Checking Sources For Accuracy
Middle schoolers will paraphrase a resource without plagiarizing. Then rewrite after reading text. They then evaluate the site or reference they are using for accuracy. In the end, they complete a note-taking organizer.
Curated OER
Sequencing
Are you looking for a way to teach sequence of events in your narrative writing unit? Bring this lesson to your middle school class, as it prompts young writers to create a narrative sequence map of events that have happened at school...
Curated OER
Hopi Running
Young scholars identify why the Hopi tribe practiced running as it relates to health, delivering messages, defeating other tribes, and for ceremonial events. In this social studies lesson, students use maps to identify latitude and...
Curated OER
Using Commas with Coordinating Conjunctions
Teach your kids about FANBOYS! Coordinating conjunctions, or FANBOYS, join two independent clauses to make a compound sentence, but don't forget the comma! Review this popular comma rule, and give your learners this short worksheet. An...
K12 Reader
Pick the Pronoun
Which word is correct: he or him? Your pupils can practice determining if a sentence needs a subject or object pronoun by completing the 12 sentences on this worksheet. For each sentence, they are given an object pronoun and a subject...
San Diego Unified School District
On-Demand Persuasive Writing Samples
Young writers complete a timed persuasive writing assignment in which they argue for a club they would like to see established at school, and are then provided with real student samples of responses.