Curated OER
Water: Read All About It!
Students discuss newspapers and water and work in groups to develop their own paper focusing on water issues. In this journalism instructional activity, students discuss the value of newspapers and water as an issue. They work as a group...
Curated OER
Breaking News English: Argentina 3 Mexico 1
In this ESL activity, students read or listen to an article about the Argentina and Mexico World Cup soccer game. Students complete all or some of the 100 activities available here including discussion, listening, vocabulary and...
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Tea Overboard
While less well known than the event in Boston, the Yorktown Tea Party was equally decisive in turning community sentiment against Great Britain. To gain an understanding of why the colonists objected to the Tea Act, young historians...
Curated OER
Meaning of Philanthropy
Middle schoolers explore the concept of philanthropy. For this service learning lesson, students discover what philanthropy is and identify people who benefit from philanthropy. Middle schoolers read selected newspaper articles regarding...
Curated OER
Census Countdown
Students read and discuss the census and how the census is used by the government. In this census lesson plan, students use the data collected to compare different census's and their outcomes.
Curated OER
Growing Eyeballs
Students investigate vision and the anatomy of the human eye. They complete a Webquest, watch a video about the structure of the eye, take an online quiz, answer discussion questions, and read newspaper articles about activities that...
Curated OER
California Fights Sugar
Scholars read articles and have a class discussion on California's efforts to fight obesity. They will read and discuss the effects of sugar on the body and the soda tax that is being proposed in California.
Curated OER
Stanley's Story
Pupils create a newspaper story based on the events that occur in the novel Holes. They recall the basic facts of Stanley's story using the 5 W's plus H. Students write a fact based news story based on the information presented in the...
Curated OER
The Five Ws of Journalism
Students write a mock article. In this journalism lesson, students define the word "article" and learn the five W's of article writing. Students complete a worksheet and write a paragraph using what they have learned.
Curated OER
Un-Presidented Election
Students explore the results of the 2000 presidential election. They look back at important issues in the campaign and write newspaper articles which cover specific angles on the election.
Curated OER
Wounded Knee Massacre
Middle schoolers interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Westward Expansion lesson, students examine sources regarding the Battle of Wounded Knee from the perspective of Lakota...
Curated OER
Breaking News: GM Cows to Produce Human Breast Milk
Students explore current events by reading and analyzing an article in class. In this human diet lesson, students read an article about cows which are being genetically modified in order to produce human breast milk for consumption....
Curated OER
Social Activism In The United States
Students explore justice issues. In this social activism lesson, students watch "Social Activism in the United States," and then locate newspaper articles from the 1960's and 1970's about events during the era.
Curated OER
Saudi Arabia
Students investigate the country of Saudi Arabia. They complete a Webquest, watch video clips, answer discussion questions, explore the Lonely Planet website, and read and evaluate newspaper articles about Saudi Arabia and foreign oil...
Curated OER
"My Hero"
Young scholars investigate heroism through the ages. They complete an online Webquest, explore various websites, compare/contrast different types of heroes, answer discussion questions, and locate newspaper articles about someone they...
Curated OER
Presidents' Day
Students investigate George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and other American Presidents. They complete a Webquest, take a virtual tour of Mount Vernon, answer discussion questions, and evaluate newspaper articles about the current president.
Curated OER
The News Behind the Story
What a fun way to analyze plot, setting, and character. Learners review story elements, read a short fictional story, then turn the events of that story into a headlining news paper article. Not only does this lesson engage critical...
Curated OER
The Laundry News
In this reading worksheet, students answer 10 multiple-choice questions about the book. For example, "What happened to the very first edition of the Laundry News?"
Curated OER
Spelling Detective
Put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and become a spelling detective! Scholars hunt down the spelling errors in a short passage of a high-interest current events text. Here is a great way to develop editing and reading skills.
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Sentence Structure
Statements can be taken out of context and interpreted or used to support a very different view than the one originally intended. Young journalists start thinking about leading questions, sentence structure, context, and how they all...
Curated OER
Careers in science and careers that support scientific research
Examine some of the occupations which relate to science. Work in small groups of four. Group A is given a copy of a daily television guide to highlight all the television programs that have a science or mathematics focus. Group B is...
Curated OER
Strong Convictions
How can the rhetorical structure of an editorial help to develop its argument? Use this New York Times editorial to emphasize the importance of structure in a piece of informational text. Adolescent writers then use the editorial as a...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 18: Art Project! Design Your Own Book Cover
Finished your novel? What’s next? Designing the book cover, of course. But how to begin? After examining the covers of published books and noting the common elements of these jackets, young novelists design a front and back cover for...
Lawrence Virtual School
Context Clues
Considering a lesson on using context clues to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words? This packet includes a brief reading passage about strategies readers can use and 12 very different graphic organizers, including a template for a...