Smithsonian Institution
Ceramica de los Ancestros
Scholars join a field expedition team to unearth a plethora of treasures from Central America. Artifacts listed in alphabetical order come with an informational blurb and a picture designed for participants to color. Activity pages...
Montana State University
One Mountain, Many Cultures
Americans may think of Mount Everest as a region dedicated to adventurous hikers, but many cultures have flourished there! Learners read informative books, watch videos, participate in classroom discussion, analyze folk tales, and...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said" by Mahogany L. Browne
After watching an excerpt from a video of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before Congress, pupils do a close reading of Mahogany L. Browne's poem "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said," annotate words and phrases that draw their attention and list...
Curated OER
Perfect Tenses
As you explore the perfect tenses, direct your class to this resource, which provides explanation and examples for reference as well as an online interactive exercise for practice. They can first read up on haber and either continue...
Curated OER
Lesson 5: In the Courtroom: Understanding the Players and the Action
Young lawyers put Goldilocks on trial as they develop an understanding of the legal system in the final lesson of this five-part series. After learning about key terms relating to litigation, students are assigned roles and reading...
Fly Parsons
Crispin: Figurative Language Activity #1
As part of a study of figurative language Avi uses in his book, Crispin, individuals define the 10 terms listed on the instructional activity and then locate severals examples of each in the text of the novel.
NOAA
Ground-truthing Satellite Imagery with Drifting Buoy Data
Ground-truthing ... is it even a word? The last installment of a five-part series analyzes how scientists collect sea surface temperature data. Scholars use government websites to compare temperature data collected directly from buoys...
Curated OER
Water in the Atmosphere
A slide show serves as the backdrop for a lesson on the moisture in Earth's atmosphere. Through it, mini meteorologists learn about the attributes of the atmosphere and actually use data-collecting weather tools to make observations and...
Science 4 Inquiry
The Yin and Yang of Photosynthesis: Day vs. Night
Floating fragments of elodea can grow even without roots. Young scientists use eldoea plants to observe the oxygen production from photosynthesis. They study the difference between having access to high amounts of light and low amounts...
Education Development Center
Comparing Fractions
Three heads are better than one. After reading a conversation between three friends about how to compare fractions, scholars analyze and discuss each presented strategy. These include using unit fractions, using benchmark fractions,...
Curated OER
"Jabberwocky" Jive
Pupils review the fantasy of Alice in Wonderland and discuss the author. After reading the poem, "Jabberwocky," they look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary. Working as partners, they create a list of "protmanteau" or invented words...
Curated OER
Baseball Vocabulary Game: ESL Beginners
The most valuable part of this lesson is the instructions to "Vocabulary Baseball," which can be applied to any vocabulary or key terms list. The game uses word boxes and the autobiography of Roberto Clemente, which the lesson describes...
Curated OER
Reciprocal Teaching Strategies Worksheet
For this pre-reading activity worksheet, students respond to 3 questions that require them to list main ideas, generate questions, and clarify unclear items prior to reading a selection.
Curated OER
Time Words/Tenses Review
Focus on correct verb usage with your English language learners. There are 42 sentences listed; can your class correct them? The sentences are short, and the major errors are in verb tense.
Curated OER
Practica de Pronunciación y Ortografía: na, ne, ni, no, and nu
As you read the list of words provided (on the second page), your learners attempt to discern which syllable combinations they heard for each word. They fill each blank with one of the following combinations: na, ne, ni, no, or nu. After...
Curated OER
Practica de pronunciación y ortografía: pa, pe, pi, po, pu
If your beginning Spanish speakers familiarize themselves with the syllable combinations pa, pe, pi, po, and pu, they will have an easier time pronouncing unknown words that use the same syllables. Read the list of words provided here...
Curated OER
Emerald City
Learners read "The Wizard of Oz." They list descriptive words and information about the Emerald City. Students plan, design, and build their own 3-dimensional Emerald City. They create a dazzling Emerald City with recycled produce trays...
Curated OER
There Was An Old Lady...
Students participate in various activities using the story There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. In this reading fluency instructional activity, students read the story and then practice comprehension, fluency, and writing. An...
Curated OER
Places in a Town – Spot the Odd One Out
In this place identification worksheet, students read 10 lists of words, decide which word from the word bank at the top of the page belongs in each list, and determine which word is the "odd one out." They identify words such as travel...
Curated OER
Grammar - Combining Sentence
For this grammar worksheet, students read lists of words and phrases to help them to combine sentences. Students read 3 lists of words and phrases.
Curated OER
Learning Vocabulary by Using Reference Materials
Finding engaging ways to help your middle schoolers build their vocabulary is not easy to do. The instructional activity presented here offers a great way to motivate them to build vocabulary by making it into a game. Teams of pupils use...
Curated OER
Using Context Clues
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...
Curated OER
Sail on the Vocabulary Ship
Learners make paper ships on which to identify and write root words, prefixes and suffixes.
Curated OER
Apostrophes - possession
Students examine the use of apostrophes. From a given reading, students locate all words with apostrophes. Using these words as examples, students discuss rules for using apostrophes. Students match a person an an object from a list...