Curated OER
Teaching Descriptive Word Usage
Second graders practice their creative writing by using descriptive words. In this language arts lesson, 2nd graders utilize their best descriptive writing to elaborate on one of 20 different bean bag characters. Students...
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Imagining China through Words
When Europeans first came back with tales of China, they provided vivid written accounts and minimal visual imput. This resulted in art rendered mostly from descriptive language. Learners explore this phenomena by listening to...
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People Behind the Parks
Explore U.S. geography with your class by viewing a documentary. Show a portion of the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks," and identify the individuals responsible for keeping the parks in order. Elementary and middle schoolers...
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Now That's a Problem!
Help learners improve multiplication skills by skip counting and creating their own multiplication word problems. They will begin by practicing skip counting and then illustrate word problems using a software program. Pixie is a software...
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Poetry Gifts
What kind of shoe is this person? What time of day is this person? Aspiring poets’ responses to a list of questions provide descriptive words and phrases that can be crafted into a blank verse poem. A link to sample poems is provided.
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The Early Peoples
Students, after studying The Early Peoples, explain and give examples of how Native Americans and Europeans adapted to living in certain environments. They give examples of early cultures and settlements that existed in North America...
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"Knot" the Whole Truth: Writing a Modern-Day Story with a Tall Tale's Voice
Beyond Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, tall tales can be a great way to teach young writers about word choice and voice in their writing. Using Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee and the Six-Trait Writing process, they begin to write...
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"I" Witness to History
Young journalists write diary entries from the point of view of a person involved in a historical event. They focus on including facts, clear narration, and accurate description of the individual's feelings.
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Australian Aboriginal Art And Storytelling
Students explore Aboriginal storytelling traditions through the spoken word and through visual culture. They listen to stories of the Dreamtime told by the Aboriginal people and investigate Aboriginal storytelling in contemporary dot...
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Create a Word Graveyard to Teach Synonyms
Young scholars explore descriptive writing by creating headstones. In this memorial lesson, students utilize an 11" x 17" piece of paper to create a cemetery headstone memorializing a word rather than a person. Young scholars decorate...
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Hazardous Products Substitutes
Third graders write a hazardous products substitutes recipe book. In this Science lesson plan, 3rd graders identify words and symbols that indicate hazardous substances. Students investigate safe substitutes and write a recipe book to...
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Adventure Writing: Oregon's Landscape as a Setting
Students identify geographical features of different regions encountered by migrants on the Oregon trail. Students research how the Oregon landscape may have affected life and 19th century westward migration. Students write a narrative...
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Imagining China Through Words
Middle schoolers create a drawing from a written description and examine and discuss how European artists from the past created images of China that combined imagination with written descriptions and limited visual imagery.
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Terrific Taste Buds
Young scholars explore descriptive writing by eating food in class. In this descriptive word lesson, students assess different foods in class such as jelly beans and utilize their vocabulary to describe the taste. Young scholars read the...
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Milkweed Plants
Second graders view milkweed plants (or pictures). The describe the plant and discuss ways some butterflies use it as a food source. Students view four pictures of different phases of a milkweed plant's life cycle. They discuss the...
American Psychological Association
How Psychology Benefits Society
How do people form their opinions about certain social issues? Scholars research current global issues to find out how psychology plays a role in swaying thoughts. Using blogs, writings, and presentations, they uncover why people think...
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Village Descriptions
Students respond to teacher questioning about villages and how their senses help describe things. In this five senses lesson, students work in groups to make a written picture of another student in the class. Students find...
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Famous People
Middle schoolers create a database with information about famous people. They develop a custom word-processing template. They practice merging fields into their template.
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Word Books
Students explore art and writing. They create a word book consisting of new words that they come across in their reading or words they hear from people. Students create a cover for their word books.
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Mapping in Words
Students create maps to describe the Wabanaki's relationship with their environment. They discuss the names the Wabanaki people gave to areas of land and water. They review a map of their community to discuss the names of towns and their...
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Descriptive Essay
Students review previously written essays, draw pictures of shapes, and write descriptive essays.
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Lights! Cameras! Action!: Creating a Drama About the Lyme Art Colony
Discuss the lives of artists in the Lyme Art Colony in the 1900s with this resource. Young historians write and perform a short scene depicting individuals who lived in the Griswold boardinghouse, used by the colony artists. They use the...
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Mapping Your Identity: A Back-To-School Ice Breaker
Identify the unique personal attributes of your class members. Begin by viewing the Visual Thesaurus and discussing displayed attributes associated with famous American leaders. Using these identity maps as models, pupils generate nouns...
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Who Works at Our School?
Young interviewers will learn more about the school staff by asking them questions and creating a bulletin board display. They will learn how to make thoughtful interview questions, conduct professional interviews, and organize...